Same here

During the winter, I smoke a cigarette (outside the car) while the car warms up. Does anyone else's clutch move slower when it's below freezing? I've never experienced that in any of my other MT cars. During the summer, I give it about 30 seconds, then I go.

^^ I also smoke a cigarette while waiting for the water temp to go up to, or close to operating temperature.

I wait until Torque Pro says the engine has reached full operating temperature.

I'm pretty sure that my procedure is overkill for most cars built in the last decade or two. Modern engines are a lot tougher and have a much stronger sense of self-preservation than the "classics" I'm used to driving and working on. I wouldn't want to cold start and then immediately do a WOT 1/4-mile, but merging onto the freeway when cold (I live in S AR so my "cold" is pretty warm compared to what some of you see in Winter, plus I have a 1 mile cruise through the neighborhood before getting to a freeway) shouldn't be all that hard on a modern engine.

Till the rpm needle goes down below 1000

I just wait until the rpm's settle and drive slow until oil temps start rising.

For example I drove in to work today and morning temps were 33 degrees. I let the car idle for about 45 seconds until the rpm settled and kept it under 4k until engine temps reached 180. Only took about 5 mins.

When its warmer I do the same, but obviously the oil temps will reach 180 a lot sooner.

I'm in Phoenix and it's in the garage. I wait, but maybe a few seconds (I don't usually leave myself enough time in the mornings to wait it out like most of you). Start it up and go, but I don't go crazy the second I leave my driveway either.

Having an over-cooling oil cooler setup makes this stuff a lot worse. The thermo sandwich plate can only do so much, esp in the winter. Blocking off the oil cooler helps a lot. This winter I went with an ugly but effective solution: for non-track driving, I just blocked off ~3/4 of my front grille with rows of black duct tape, and put on my front license plate (that Stillen one in the tow hook adapter, blocks air).

If I'm not in a rush, and the car's been run the previous day at least, I always wait for the idle to come down to normal-ish (less than a minute, but never timed it), then back out of the garage, then I'll usually let it sit until the idle oil pressure gets down to around 40 psi (which is just a couple more minutes). Then I go ahead and drive to warm up the rest of the way, keeping an eye on the oil pressure gauge to guide how high I push the RPMs as I go (don't move the needle past ~90-95 psi).

If the car's been off for like a week and/or the car was sitting outside on a very cold night for some reason, I'll let it sit and warm up at idle for several minutes, usually long enough for the water temp gauge to reach the normal dot, sometimes even enough for the oil temp gauge to at least move off the bottom.

My old Jag needs a long warm up. The Z is ready in about a minute.

Same here, and i wait until my oil temp is past 180 before going over 4k RPM.:happydance:

In the morning, this ^

During the day, I just turn it on and go. I try to keep the revs down whenever I do this, but honestly, a good 1st to 2nd pull taking both gears to 4K RPMs does a fantastic job of getting everything up to temp for me :tup:

I'm rarely dealing with scenarios colder than 40 F in Texas as the car is garaged

4F this am, i started my dd and drove off immediately.

no need to warm up a car unless below -40C/F.

:iagree: with this.

If I am not in a hurry then I will let the car idle for about 20-30 seconds. If I am in a hurry then I will just start it up and drive.

Start up and drive is better for your engine in my opinion

yea ive noticed my clutch feels stiff in really cold weather when the car has been sitting for a while. also i couldn't roll my windows down the other day since the water in the door had frozen. once the car warmed up, they rolled down fine.

regarding warm up, i wait for the rpms to drop to around 1k, then keep them under 4k till the oil hits 180F. problem is my commute to/from work is so short, i rarely hit 180F before i arrive (especially in the winter).

Yeah start up and drive, warming up takes too much time, itll warm up when you are on the move. :rofl2:

Wow I am mistreating my Z...I have NEVER let it warm up. None of my rides for that matter ever. It was 29 degrees a few weeks ago. I jumped in hit start and was driving it well into up to 60mph within 20 secs with no real regard for anything warming up.

I'm ok with that

Honestly... I let the oil flow around a bit, but if I don't have the time, or I don't do it, I don't think twice about it braking anything (I wouldn't redline it, but I don't pay much regard either)
And if a car can't take day in day out of start and go without any I'll effects, it's a POS IMO

Enjoy it. Destroy it.

I remote start my car and get ready in the morning. My car is nice and warm for my mile drive to work. ... so about 15min idle.

I am determined to treat myself to that mod by the fall if I still have my Z. :tiphat:

I wait till the rpm's drop out from the 'warm up stage'. Yes, even modern cars have this. I voted get the juices flowing and drive like a granny until it warms up as I guess that would pretty much cover what I just said.

I almost always wait at least one full song on the radio unless im in a hurry. Usually thats long enough for the oil temp to move off the bottom.

I pretty much just wait for the idle to drop to normal. I don't usually get too crazy driving in the mornings but I don't make any special effort to drive like a granny.

P.S. I had remote start on my 350z. I miss it some times. Hard to beat a pre-warmed car on a cold day. :)

It's great fun to run out in your underwear first thing in the morning when there's a light sprinkling of ice cold dew only to find that you somehow forgot how on earth to operate your unlock button. Then you finally figure it out and hop in being careful not to let your bare back hit the Antarctic leather seat back while starting the car to warm up while you run back inside only to find that now you must fumble for the front door key.

Yeah I don't see the point of the remote start :roflpuke2:

Of course. You live in Southern California. Even though it's fairly rare here, when it's 20 degrees out and your sitting in traffic on a cold leather seat, you appreciate it.

It's also fun to start it from a distance when people walk by the car, just to see their reaction. :D

No seat warmers? Only takes a min for me to feel it kick in.

Depends on how much time I have after walking the dogs in the morning really but I generally don't wait long. Sometimes if I have time and it's super cold out or it's been a couple days without driving I will give it a few minutes but 45 seconds is the norm and then drive it easy until I get out on the highway which is about 2 miles. Honestly the car is under warranty and I am much harder on the car when I drive it aggressively than driving it cold.

I do agree with some about modern cars being better suited for start and go driving but I cringe when my neighbor starts up her car in the morning and puts it right into reverse before she even has her seat belt on. CLUNK!

Seat Warmers: used round year to warm buttholes since 1997.

/admit it, you use it in milder weather also.

:roflpuke2:

Heh. Okay, I am serious on all parts of my statement.

It is anywhere between -20 to 30 degrees in the winter. Needless to say it's f'ing cold out so I warm my car up completely. Having the car run for 15 min or so serves a few purposes. 1. The car is defrosted, 2. The cabin is warm 3. The electrical system gets to charge for a bit longer because cold weather sucks the life out the battery quicker.

I really do live a mile from work too... Again, it's stupid cold so I'm not walking. :ugh2:

....

Edit: I take longer than 15 minutes to get ready in the morning. That's just the car's average warm up time.

Ah! I wish! :(

Like many, 30 seconds which is about the time it takes for idle to go back to normal...definitely got longer after exhaust/intake/TP install

More cooler air going through, longer warm up time? I have no other clue why that would be with the UpRev tune...:icon14:

Fixed.

I let it warm up for a couple minutes. I feel bad tho...with my exhaust being loud in the cold morning...it wakes up the neighbor next door....but at the same time..it sounds so nice lol

I never shut off my car...

... If you live somewhere that cold, why don't you have an engine block heater? We had those in Canadia growing up

I voted 6 but 1 & 6 are almost the same I just took the time to read them all. As long as you aren't driving your car hard/spirited until all temps have warmed up you should be good