do you warm up the engine for a certain amount of time every morning before you take the car out?

is this needed?

 

not for newer cars.

 

the owner's manual recommends idle for 30 seconds. see 5-10.

 

I still do it neways. Juss for about 30 secs then I wait till its at full operating temp then I floor it!

 

i believe there was a thread on this a few weeks ago. Not sure might want to search around .

 

Yes, for about 40 seconds. My guess is that this will decrease as the honeymoon period wears off (after about a year, my cars warm up idling down the driveway )

 

dang.. looks like ive been warming up the car for too long each morning lol..

i always wait till the temperature gauge rises up to 3 little units

 

I Cant Drive Without My Rpms Dropping

 

thats what i do, wait till the temp goes up or the rpms reach below 1

 

3-5 minute warmup for me. By that time the temp gauge has almost reached running temperature (half way in the middle). I feel the car runs a lot smoother when its warmed up. Just my opinion of course.

 

wait until the sound of the car is calm down. it might take up to a few minutes, or it might be 30 seconds depending on the weather, and whether it was running before or not. you shouldnt just turn it on and take off

 

Let it warm up enough for the rpms to drop down to at least 1200 rpms.. which is about 30 seconds.. Then drive it easy for at least 5 minutes...

Even though the water temp is up to operating temp..The oil temp takes longer to reach its normal operating range. So take it easy for a few minutes after the water temps reach their normal..

 

It only takes about a minute tops for the revs to drop and it would certainly be a good idea.

 

Yup -- I also feel that the shifting is a lot nicer once the rpms settle down a little bit (say 30s to a minute max).

If you start and drive it right-away, the shifts are "rougher"(esp 1-2, 2-3) -- maybe it is just me - but I've seen that more than once.
Do other 6 MT folks feel this too ?
Should I change my MT fluid ... hmmmm ???

 

warm is not important if you're gentle on the throttle when the car is cold (as you should be).

it's the idle speed that matters. you dont want to shift into a drive gear on an AT tranny when the car is idling at 2000RPM.

you can see from one of my other posts that pressing the brake pedal will make the idle drop from fast much sooner....