I read in Sacramento Bee (my local newspaper) that 1 minute is sufficient. Any longer and you'll just be wasting gas.

All that is left after that 1 minute is driving slowly.

 

I heard there is no necessary to warm up the car for 15mins.
because all engines warm up really fast but the temp gauge react very slow.
so all you gotta do is wait for 3~60 Secs and no boost for like 5 mines.

 

Important.????

Is it real bad to go before 15 sec?? temp 5 deg C or 41 deg F? Of course first 5 miles below 3k revs??????

 

Whoa, crackmonkey alert - calm down with the question marks. Let it run for 30 seconds or so at idle before moving, then while drive out of boost until the engine temp gauge (water temp) is stabilized (almost in the middle). Then, you can drive however you want. Keeping it below 3k rpms doesn't matter and 5 miles means nothing. It could take 2 miles, 5 miles, 10 miles - it depends on how long it takes the engine to warm up.

 

I try to let it warm up until the water temp needle hits the "C" hash mark. Takes about 2-3 min in sub-freezing and 1-2 min in normal weather. If I start driving before this, the car runs like crap.

 

 

That's the Mitsu explanation, and it falls in line with what I and others have been saying. I was asking for the text in the Audi manual where it says NOT to warm up the engine. I am pretty sure it doesn't say that, and I think the guy who wrote it just didn't understand the text or was getting that info second-hand.

 

That's the "pamphlet" that I couldn't find.

 

Here's another view - I start the beast up, wait till the coolant needle moves (about 1-2 min.) then I pull out of my driveway. Then I make each shift at 2,500 rpms until the coolant reaches halfway. Then I start eyeing my OIL TEMP GAUGE, which I think is the MOST important and should be your "driving gauge". My OIL TEMP GAUGE stays very low, even after 15-20 min of driving it sometimes doesn't even get up to 60*C during the colder days of January ( I live in MA ). I do notice though if I let my car Idle for 3-5 min it warms much faster (obviously) than if I was driving, usually then it will reach 60*C or 70*C at idle. Then when I start driving again the oil temp quickly shoots down almost to 50*C. The cold air intake/vented bumper/vented hood, all make this car cool down very quickly. My suggestion is to wait till the OIL TEMP GAUGE is at least at 60*-70*C to drive within the higher rpm's and higher boost. I usually start shifting at about 4,000-5,000 to bring up the temp without really boosting, (easy on the throttle). Then when the OIL TEMP is up there I boost away and shift at high rpm's. If you don't have an OIL TEMP GAUGE, I would suggest investing in one. My car is an '06 IX MR SE with minimal mods, Blitz TBE, Invidia Test Pipe, Fujitsubo RM01A, K&N Drop In, Road Tune. This is a pretty conservative way of warming up and driving, but hey, I love my car.

 

I have a routine of 5 minutes. But, after reading this it will probably change a bit. The only reason I do is b/c work is only 3 miles away. So, I hate to drive it that cold. I don't know if my cams make a difference, but it doesn't seem to like moving cold.

 

Keep in mind that the MR/RS oil temp sensor is not an optimum setup. Its actually just a thermocouple that sits inside the drain plug and does not make intimate contact with the engine oil. The temp sensor is probably affected as much by the air blowing by it as it is the oil in the pan. That's probably why in Jan it reads 60C when the car is sitting still and then cools down to 50C when the car starts moving.

 

Oddly enough, my mom just bought a 2007 Volkswagen Passat and it says in the owners manual....

"Do not warm up the engine by running it with the vehicle standing still. Drive off as soon as you start the engine. This helps the engine reach normal operating temperatures more quickly, and helps reduce exhaust emissions."

So, as someone else stated previously, I think this is mainly an emissions thing. It also goes on to say that you should not drive at high RPM's while the engine is cold. When it's in the 20's and teens around here like it has been the past few days, I let my evo warm up until the temp needle starts moving. Then I take it nice and easy until it's up to operating temperature.

 

Thanks, masternater, that's way differen than claiming it says not to warm the engine up. It DOES say to warm it up but NOT by idling, which is exactly what we've been saying. Glad you cleared that up.

 

30 sec and gone slowly until temp comes up.

 

Yeah I know that the stock one aint great, that's why I'm saying it's a conservative way of looking at it. Cause once that gauge goes up to 60*C, the oil SHOULD be warm. I'm not concerned at all if it goes back down to 50*C while I'm driving. I just use that gauge to "guesstimate" the initial warmup. Good point though, it isn't the most optimum, but definetly a good indicator of initial warmup. And BTW, I've never seen that gauge above 70*C. If the wind affects the OIL gauge that much, i'm gonna figure a way to make it more accurate or get an aftermarket gauge setup.