How long do you guys let your car warm up?

[bmwrp8]

No warm up... just drive as you go. Maybe 20 seconds warm up while I fasten seat belt and whatnot.

x2 same here

[Dave M]

The Russian public busses are left idling overnight during the winter months or they wont start... if one stalls out during the night they have to build a fire under the engine bay to get it warmed up to startup temperatures!

I've had to do this working in the bush in very cold temps. Its at times like these that you wonder what the hell you're doing it for...... Pipeline workers also use this 'technique'. In places in Nunavut (my sister lives there),if you plan on going anywhere with a 'car' (anything other than a snowmachine) when its cold (-50) then its a chore. Bring the vehicle into a garage and heat the whole thing etc. Luckily, there are vety few places to go that a snowmachine can't take you

Also, my brother in law is a bush pilot and has had to sleep with his battery and engine oil in order to prevent being stranded in the bush.

Hey look, its -10 and snowing out, time for a ski,

Dave

[tim eh?]

normally i drive straight away

below -10'c i give it 30 seconds or so in idle.

below -15'c i give it a minute+ .... below that i usually call in sick.

in all cases i accelerate very gently until the temp is out of the blue.

it's not just the motor... when it's cold all kinds of things can go wrong, especially the cooling system... best to be gentle with the old girl.

not sure, but if there was ticking/rattling on every start when it's cold, i would reconsider my engine oil.
i use 5w30 year round, my m20 sounds as good in -30'c as at +30'c.

***- i don't use a block heater or engine pad... the main concern for me most of the time in winter is always electrical/charging systems... same in other cars i have had.

[whiskychaser]

The Russian public busses are left idling overnight during the winter months or they wont start... if one stalls out during the night they have to build a fire under the engine bay to get it warmed up to startup temperatures!

Thought everybody lit fires under diesel tanks:-) Some old UK truck drivers would put a gallon of petrol in every tankful of diesel :-) I remember being told as a kid that the Germans lost on the Russian front for 2 reasons - the wrong boots and the wrong oil. They were issued leather boots instead of felt and the oil for engines - and guns - was the wrong type: it froze up.
I seem to remember a Porsche 911 having a light to tell you when it was warmed up enough for you to drive off. I digress. We had 4inches of snow today and like any other day I turned the key and drove off.

[ThoreauHD]

When it's below freezing outside, I listen to my engine to make sure all the odd sounds have stopped. Just for my car, I notice that it get's a little ticked off when it's below 20 degrees F, so I let sit for a bit. Although, I don't hear/feel anything amiss if I just take off after 30 seconds. I err on the side of caution. The car is 15 years old, so I try to give it as much consideration as possible.

I notice that the 0 or 5w synthetic oil helps out quite a bit when starting an ice cubed engine.

[attack eagle]

I let my son start the car and click the seat heaters on while we get our gear together. about 2 minutes later we are in the car and ready to go

when the littel one is with me, 4-5 minutes warm up. not becasue the car needs it, because it is cold as heck in the back seat.

[Ross]

I've had to do this working in the bush in very cold temps. Its at times like these that you wonder what the hell you're doing it for...... Pipeline workers also use this 'technique'. In places in Nunavut (my sister lives there),if you plan on going anywhere with a 'car' (anything other than a snowmachine) when its cold (-50) then its a chore. Bring the vehicle into a garage and heat the whole thing etc. Luckily, there are vety few places to go that a snowmachine can't take you

Also, my brother in law is a bush pilot and has had to sleep with his battery and engine oil in order to prevent being stranded in the bush.

Hey look, its -10 and snowing out, time for a ski,

Dave

"had to sleep with his battery and engine oil"
What does your sister have to say about this?

[Dave M]

"had to sleep with his battery and engine oil"
What does your sister have to say about this?

She's not stupid enough to fly with him

[russiankid]

Since I live in a very hilly area I let the car warm up for 5 minutes because if I don't the transmission extends the shifting and sometimes I am trugging up a hill doing 20mph because I don't want to go above 2500rppms on a cold engine.

My M50 lifters rattle for the first 2 seconds then the engine is nice and quiet. The car sits in the garage so the lowest temp it see's is 0C. I hate how my RPM's shoot up to 1800 when I first start it up on cold.

[Rick L]

Yes... This is for cold climate winters. Today morning was 10 f in Chicago... And I did warm it up for 5 minutes before driving it as I always do.

Might be a good idea to include the approximate temp in your replies. I assume this question is in reference to cold weather (<32 f).