How detrimental is it to...

Originally Posted by TypeOne

Few things about this you should tell your "knowledgeable friend that tracks his car."

Oil gets thicker as it warms up. When your car sits and cools down, the oil thins out. The oil is thin so that it lubricates the engine better when everything is cold.

When your car is cold and has been sitting, all of the oil which is normally pumped through it, has settled back down into the oil pan. Once the engine starts to turn, the oil pump is primed, which in turn pumps engine oil throughout the engine...lubricating everything.

If you crank your car up and drive off when the car isn't warm, you are increasing the chance of wear on the engine. Most of the wear from an engine comes during cold starts when oil pressure is at its lowest.

As you rev the engine up, the oil pressure increases.

You need to let your engine properly warm up, as well as the oil. Not just for the engine, but for the gear box and all of the other parts that require proper lubrication.

Letting your car idle is not bad. It is the best way to let your car warm up properly. However because of modern multi-viscosity oils, it's not BAD to DRIVE the car, just don't redline it when the oil is cold.

**Edit**

Just to be clear, running your engine hard before the oil has reached the proper temps will increase wear on the rotating internal parts as the oil is NOT thick enough to properly lubricate it. Engine coolant temps are a little different and they are just as important. You want the engine to be warm, but you don't want it to be too hot. As metal gets hot, it expands... when it is cold, it condenses.

Originally Posted by TypeOne

Just letting you known that you should inform your friend. I am simply trying to stop the spread of misinformation about things like this.

No harm no foul, just want you to understand how it works.

By doing what you said, you could actually do more harm than good.

Sorry if it came out the wrong way.