Hi folks

Sorry for the perhaps simple question but how many minutes is it best to allow for warming up (prior to being able to put the foot down a bit) and how long should the car be left to cool before turning off the ignition after some 'spirit' driving? I assume you just leave the car to idle?

Thanks
Russ

 

on warm up i wait til it gets to 70 on oil temp which is about 10 to 15mins depending how cold it is can take longer and after a spirited run take it easy for 2 mins before i get to were i'm going then let it idle for about 2 mins.

ste

 

I always make a point of keeping mine below 3k for a minimum of 10mins before i take it above... i dont have an oil temperature gauge which is best way to measure... but i do use the water temp gauge and make sure that its been in the normal for a bit and even then im careful.

As for Run-down... i want a Turbo-timer, but i believe it upsets the alarms in the newage.. so i always give it 30secs without spirited driving, or 1-2min if i have given it a hard time.. with the last bit of my journey being easy aswell.

People on here will say it doesnt need it / your wasting your time... my opinion is that im accurate enough at planning my journeys to be able to waste this time... and at the end of the day its better to over-protect than to under-protect.

 

Warming up, errrrrr..............when i feel its about right.

Cooling down,........i tend to relax my driving a couple of miles before my destination and crawl to where i am to park. The neighbours would throws bricks at my car if i let it idle for a couple of mins outside my house.

 

sounds like good advise to me

 

Don't use the water temp mate. The oil temperature takes significantly longer to increase. In this kind of weather it can take as much as 10 miles for the oil to get properly up to temp. I always give mine 10 miles before using boost (perhaps a little excessive, but I'm very careful with my car). If you've been driving the car on-boost for quite long periods. Either drive it off-boost for the last couple of miles of your journey, or give the car a couple of minutes with the engine running on the drive before switching it off. What you must avoid is coming off a hard drive or the motorway and switching it straight off.

Ns04

 

Wow

Firstly thanks for not laughing at my questions lol....ok some great answers here and I shall follow your advice, thanks everyone!

 

thing is with warming down, surely a slow drive to your destination end is better than a quick drive to destination then idling, as idling will have all that heat with no air over it, thus not really cooling it down at all ?!?!?

i do as has been said above, wait till oil is at about 60-70 10 mins driving or so before boost is used, then use my turbo timer built in to my alarm,i cruise to my work for about a mile and use the 30 second timer at the end.

 

Waste of money............

 

Cooling down isnt nearly as important as warming up, contrary to popular opinion.


Simon

 

Fresh oil will warm up quicker than old slurdge, when was the last oil change?

Turbo timers are not for 'cooling' down the engine but to let the turbo 'relax' a bit before turning off. Solution is to simply keep off boost for the last mile or so of your journey if you've been flooring it.

Over-protecting is all well and good but you have to draw the line somewhere. After all, you don't change your oil every time you fill up with petrol now do you?

Ultimately engines aren't made of chocolate (apart from piston 3 on scoobs ) and can happily take some abuse as long as it's only from time to time. If it can't survive without something silly like a turbo-timer then it's clearly a piece of crap. Just let the oil warm up (10 mins typically) and take it easy for the last bit of the journey and you'll be fine.

 

Sound advice methinks.

 

Thanks guys again for all the replies.

In terms of reliability, what problems are Impreza's prone to?

 

I agree you wont go far wrong at that.My oil temp is 90c when warmed up never rises much above 100-105 during/after a good blat only takes 2-3 mins to drop again to 90c.

 

Daft ***** abusing them.

 

Woah Woah Woah,

Aren't we talking about a Rally Thoroughbred?

We don't need to treat these things with kid gloves, they're meant to be driven hard and fast, thats why we paid £20,000 for basically just an engine in the first place !

I personally wait until the water temp is half way before booting but I never redline it and usually only go up to around 5000 revs.

Subaru recommend a 1 minute idle when doing fast highway driving so, if you've been particularly hard, wait a minute on the drive, other than that just take it steady before you get home.

What about all these turbo diesal drivers? do they idle? Don't think so...do you think a major manufacturer would allow the turbo's to break everytime you give some beans....nah

I have heard some stories about bottom ends going when ragging it hard when cold, but if you're a normal person with an ounce of mechnical sympathy, you wouldn't do that anyway.

I used to think i'd break a scooby easy, so many things to remember, black smoke, brown smoke, white smoke, turbo seals, crank shaft seals, rocker covers....??

I swear we're all scare mongerous...

enjoy

 

Be careful not to get beaten up in petrol station though. Meat head sat behind in his van may not be too keen if you say sorry mate I have to let my engine run for a couple of minutes before I can turn it off and fill up with fuel

 

*Engage SN Macho mode*

I had that once!! Meat head man backed down when I got out of the car and flashed my enormous biceps though!!

I AM A HORSE OF A MAN!!!!!!

Ns04

 

Do you actually let it warm up first thing in the morning before you set off? How long for? Mine revs like a git for the first 2 minutes!

 

On a serious note though, Oil DOES take significantly longer than water to heat up. The MAJORITY of engine wear occurs when your car is cold and the lubrication isn't up to optimal temps.

You think it's a good idea to use boost before then??

If so, good luck to you, but I certainly won't want to buy your car when you're done with it!!

Ns04

 

Just drive the bloody thing ....... Be careful like you would any car for the first minute or 2 then drive it normally. If you rag the **** off of it take it steady for the last couple of miles and let things cool down. Then when you get home turn the engine off, go inside and have a nice cup of tea.........

 

I drive mine almost immediately - although i do tend to keep under 2000 rpm for the vast majority of the distance going to work, about 3 miles. even after this i wont redline it - come to think i dont redline it anyway (no need) as for cooling down i just drive slowly for the last mile or so - which i have to do anyway as its built up near me.

I am protective of it as my big ends let go at 62k although i dont treat it with kid gloves like some.

 

Blah, blah, blah, blah, modern engines, modern turbo chargers, synthetic oil.....

Just fooking stop worring about it and drive the thing.

Thrash the knackers off it from cold and switch off as soon as you arrive at your destination no matter how quickly you got there

These babies can take pretty much everything you can throw at them and still come back begging for more

 

A friend once advised one of his mates to treat his missus in much the same way.








She left him.

 

 

Great replies! Some made me think, some made me laugh and some made me want to breathe a sigh of relief.

I do like to look after my belongings, especially cars, hence the question.
Cheers everyone.

 

Totally agree with this!

 

I normally wait until the water temp is at normal before going above 3k revs.

I was following a guy out of work the other day who's just bought a new turbo golf gti - we left the car park at the same time. Mine was stone cold so his must have been the same. He floored it from the first junction we came to, he must have hammered it in at least 3 gears.

Silly if you ask me, especially when its a brand new car too.

 

Warm up.
Start engine, move off straight away if you can using no more than 3000rpm for the first 5 minutes in the summer and 10 minutes in the winter. *Build* revs slowly thereafter.

Cool down.
Use less than 3000rpm for 5 minutes before you are due to stop in the winter and 10 minutes in the summer - in summer try to maintian airflow of >20mph on cool down. Turn of engine when you stop, dont idle.

Generally speaking if water and oil are below 90c then you should not have a big problem. The nearer to 80c the better. If you are really worried get electronic pumps

 

It depends on the weather, traffic conditions etc:

Minus 5 degC in winter, it will take the oil longer to warm up than in summer. Also, you'll be using the heater, so that'll keep the engine temperature down too.

Don't bother to let it idle on your drive, it'll take forever to warm upo and some ****** will only go and nick it.

I tend to not drive hard for twice the time it takes for the water temperature gauge to reach nornal, i.e. water 'normal after 3 mins, then wait 6 before a driving hard. I don't mean normal keeping up with traffic driving, but hard, 'full boost' driving.

Cooling down, just the last 3-4 minutes of your journey should do the job.