I read that for modern cars you don't have to start up the engine when its freezing cold before you drive it...

I read that for modern cars you don't have to start up the engine when its freezing cold before you drive it, and it may actually harm the engine. What's the truth Veeky Forums?

start the car, put on seatbelt, mess with the heater/radio, drive away normally. Just don't rev the fuck out of it until it's warm.

this tbqh

My method is to start the engine, de-ice the car if needed (enough to see out properly) while running the heater full blast and both heated windscreens, get in, turn down the heater so I can hear myself think, drive off, and turn the heated screens off when they aren't needed.
If it's cold enough for ice, it's cold enough for the engine to need a warmup of a couple of minutes.

Actually all modern cars can indeed just drive in anything up to I think like -20. The reason the whole let your car warm up myth was made is from the 50s when the blocks, heads and pistons were all made from shit metal that would crack if any stress was put on it cold. Couple that with the multiple types of metallurgy they had with different heat absorption rates and it wasn't uncommon to break shit just starting the motor. Now sometime in the 60s they were smart enough to refine casting and fix the issues older motors had with cold starting. The worst that happens now is wear on startup and fucked valves from not letting the oil run through for a good coating before revving the motor.

This. Leaving the engine to idle in the cold isnt good at all.

Also as far as hurting a modern motor letting it warm up is kinda bs. The worst that happens is cat doesn't get hot enough and burns out quicker at idle which again modern post 1996 car has fixed and wasted gas. That's about all that happens if you let your car sit nowadays is wasted gas. But depending where you live that heater may have you say fuck saving a few drops of had for warmth. So at the end of the day it's just personal preference now.

I let all my cars idle for a minute or two while i get comfy in the drivers seat and make sure i have everything (phone, wallet, etc).
I know the oil gets cycled fairly quickly (less than 30? seconds) but the extra minute is for my peace of mind.

Isn't it different for turbo engines? I read up somewhere you have to wait an extra few minutes for it to warm up, letting it idle. You also can't boost when its warming up, and for a few minutes after its done warming up.

Kinda worried because I drive a Mazdaspeed 3 and a Mazdaspeed 6

The only difference be it turbo, sc or na is a rotory engine, you need to let them warm up fully because of the design but a piston is pretty much drive on startup

>start car
>let idle for 30s
>start driving
>don't floor it until the temp gets in the normal zone

idling for more than a minute should only be done if you want to warn the interior
having a garage or an engine block heater works so much better for that ...
heated seats or auxiliary heater is even better

What's with all you idiots who think cranking the heat up is part of warming up a cars engine

Do you actually live somewhere that gets cold?

this guy gets it

But putting your car in a garage when there is roadsalt is BAD
FUCK SALT

>In modern cars you don't have to start up the engine when its freezing cold before you drive it, and it may actually harm the engine.

So you don't start it and just drive then?
To keep from damaging the engine?
You must be dense OP or English is not your first language

I don't get it either. It's not like it blows warm air. It's ice fucking cold for the first 10 minutes, minimum

retard

I worked at the test facility for am american automotive company. We ran vehicles on dynos inside of adaptive wind tunnels. We would never start the duty cycle until the engine / coolant temp had warmed up and was either flatlined or cycling the coolant.

There's nothing magically different about modern engines, and the internal parts are different materials (they expand at different rates with heat). I still warm my shit up at least until the water temp guage has started rising a bit.

Preventing engine harm at cold starts has a lot more to do with running the right oil rather than letting it idle or not

An engine with the right oil for the temperatures would most likely take so little harm in both scenarious that it wouldn't make a difference in its lifetime

I do agree from a standpoint of heating the car interior to a not frigid level blasting the heat is stupid. From a perspective of slowly warming the glass, this is a decent method. As the engine slowly warms so does the air which gives the glass time to warm slowly to reduce the risk of it cracking. If you wait for the engine to heat up and then crank the heat on it, it's more likely to crack.

Dude....

I don't know anyone who has cracked a windshield from blasting their heat. The heat gradually gets hotter until up to the level of your thermostat.

I have a 92 300d and in the winter it wont get hot at idle in any reasonable time. In my 01 xj8 I just wait until the oil temp gauge is at a quarter then drive off.

>start car
>go inside
>brush teeth
>leave

> living where they salt
> believing anything will help

It happened to me. I was running heat and heard a loud pop, and a horizontal crack slowly formed along the bottom of my windshield.

I really really should go to US of A.
its perfect for car lover