Idle Or Not?

[Kavvz]

Was just wondering whether you gear-heads suggest idling for 5-10 minutes in winter or whether you folk think that idling is unnecessary? I've always idled my engine for a bit and take it easy on the throttle till my temperature builds up but I read an article (it was on the yahoo splash page) that stated that its unnecessary.

The article went on to state that idling was of no use on modern cars and that the practice could actually prove to be detrimental to your engine as well as being environmentally irresponsible.

I trawled the web a bit and the overall consensus seems to recommend idling for 30 seconds or so and then driving off gently; I am however unconvinced. Personally I think that driving off on a cold engine in winter sounds a bit dumb and think that a couple of minutes of idle to bring the needle up followed by a gentle drive off is the way to go.

What do you guys suggest and what do the members living in colder climes generally do?

Edited December 19, 2009 by Kavvz

[terrabytetango]

I make it a habit to warm up the van on every cold start, and I always pre-heat as well. But I never bothered warming up the Cobalt, and it doesn't seem worse for wear now (was back stateside for the hols). My neighbour however warms up his old Chevy stepside pickup. But it does have a large V8 which idles like crap till its properly warmed up, so I guess thats why he does it. And the Germans warm up too!

[Rebel]

Hi

Read an article that said idling doesn't help. I think it may have been on RD. Facts were similar to Kavvz had read.

Looks like I'm the sole vote for driving off tho'

[Mani]

Was just wondering whether you gear-heads suggest idling for 5-10 minutes in winter or whether you folk think that idling is unnecessary? I've always idled my engine for a bit and take it easy on the throttle till my temperature builds up but I read an article (it was on the yahoo splash page) that stated that its unnecessary.

The article went on to state that idling was of no use on modern cars and that the practice could actually prove to be detrimental to your engine as well as being environmentally irresponsible.

I trawled the web a bit and the overall consensus seems to recommend idling for 30 seconds or so and then driving off gently; I am however unconvinced. Personally I think that driving off on a cold engine in winter sounds a bit dumb and think that a couple of minutes of idle to bring the needle up followed by a gentle drive off is the way to go.

What do you guys suggest and what do the members living in colder climes generally do?

You want to warm up the entire drivetrain. You should drive off but keeping the engine load low and RPM below 2-3k for about 5-10 mins to bring not only your engine temps up but also other lubricated parts like transmission, differential etc up to temp. By driving off right after you start the car, you warm up the whole car more evenly and faster but may even remedy carbon build-up since your car goes into close loop off idle [efi cars].