it's not that it shifts better... it's that you have timed your shift speed to the RPM drop that normally occurs when the car is warm. when the car is cold, the RPM drop between shifts is much slower, and that means your shift timing is off, making the synchros work harder. and cold synchros don't like to work hard so... bad formula.

 

I used to have an Accord and its engine was not sensitive to temperature as the VQ. I find that the engine is a lot smoother after 5 min of driving to let it warm up. I floored it a couple of times before when it was not completely warm up and the engine felt like crap for a couple of weeks.

But as long as the engine is properly warm up, you can pretty much abuse it.

 

typically the higher the specific output of a motor, the more important it is to be warm when caned.

don't floor your car when cold. would you like to wake up to Revelly every morning at 4AM?

 

I usually wait till the RPM drops below 1000 before I pull out.

 

I guess maybe I should wait I usually get in and go

 

I remote start mine for at least a couple minutes as much as possible.

 

What kind of remote starter do you have? Did it come with a security system? Andddd how much did you pay for it?

 

The CATs have to come to a certain temperature before they begin burning the unspent fuel. This happens quicker if you are driving.
The reason cars run bad when cold if you "floor it" is that there is a lot of raw fuel going past the O2 sensors in the exaust, due to the CATs not operating yet. This causes the engine to lean out the intake mixture, which in turn is not good for a cold engine (another long story).
The moral of the story: Nissan recomends a short warm-up to allow the transmission temp to rise a bit. DEQ recomends you drive as soon as possible, but with a light foot.
Make your own judgement call. I have an auto, and I live in a relatively warm climate, so I drive as soon as I start it, and I take it easy until things come up to operating temperature.

 

I let the RPMs drop a little bit, around 1000 to 1200 RPM. I don't live near a highway, so I can take it easy for the first few minutes of driving while the car warms up. For those who live right next to a highway where you need to accelerate and drive fast right away, you may want to warm up longer before reaching the highway.

 

I wait for my temp needle to start moving. But i still won't go past 3000 rpms until temp needle reaches middle of gauge

 

I let mine run for about a minute, but I have done this ever since.... Way back in '77, while stationed in FL, I had a Mercury Capri. It was cold enough to have a thin sheet of ice over mud puddles. I remember that because it use to be unsual to see ice in the panhandle back then. Anyway, I hope in the car and since I was running late, pulled out on highway 98 and started thru the gears. Just as I was shifting into 3rd, I heard a bang and the car quit. I happened to look in the rear view mirror to make sure I would not get rearended and saw my oil pan and oil all over the highway. It was cold enough that the oil did not circulate, built up pressure and blew the oil pan down. Haha, well since that time I let all of my cars run to insure the oil is circulating, of course with syn oil this really is not necessary, but what the heck....

 

Bugger any 5 minute warm-up - a complete waste of time and fuel.

I start the engine and set off nearly immediately (within 10 seconds). However, I've noticed that although shifting into reverse while the RPMs are above 1500 gives quite a jolt, drive engages smoothly regardless of RPMs (under 2k anyway). Whenever I leave the car for more than an hour or so, I reverse into the spot so I can select drive from cold.

Keeping the throttle and RPMs down until full warm-up is, however, mandatory. At lower ambients it takes much longer for the oil to come up to temperature than the coolant compared to higher ambients.

 

i disagree with this being the primary reason. this was true of cars before they had closed-loop programming and O2 sensors. engines run poorly when they are outside of their operating temperature because, well, they are outside of their normal operating temperature! they are designed to produce power when warm. the flow characteristics of the air fuel mixtures are optimized for a certain temp, and atomization works better with hot cylinder walls. nevermind the fact that the engine is designed to run with expanded steel and Al. Dimensions are managed and measured at "hot" temps, not room temp. Did you know that pistons are cut into an oval shape because a circular piston would become oval when brought up to temp? This way, when they come to temp, they are now in a circular shape and produce a better seal. so add blow-by as another reason why engines perform worse when cold.

the fuel mixture/O2 sensor reason is one of the more minor ones IMO.

 

read my post about how our cars smartly have a workaround for this.

ok, i'll summarize: press on the brake pedal and wait, when you are in high idle mode. the ECU will lower the RPMs quickly (within a few seconds) because it's anticipating you shifting into gear. this is the first car i've had that does this, and i think it's a very smart feature. kudos to infiniti!

 

Letting the car warm up too long is bad because fuel will get into the oil. 30 seconds to 1 minute warm up is perfect. Drive easy until up to operating temp.