Time is always of the essence with me when I
need to go to and leave my workplace. The
sooner I get on the road -- the better.

I was always told that it is very bad to start
a car on a cold day and immediately start driving
it without letting it warm up for a few minutes.

A guy I work with who once was a mechanic and
keeps up with all the car and trade magazines told
me differently. He says that with today's cars you
absolutely can turn on the ignition and "go" as long
as you don't gun the accelerator. In other words,
take it easy for the first few miles.

What are your opinions on the proper way to
start and drive the RL in cold weather? I am
already aware that I should be taking it easy on
the accelerator pedal for the first few minutes.

Thanks in advance!

 

If I am not mistaken this was just discussed in the 3G TL forum and they said that you should NOT warm up your car, but just start driving. But, like you said, do NOT gun it.

Sometimes I do warm up the RL - only becasue it is just too damn cold to sit in. If I can bare sitting in there for a few minutes while it warms up, I will just turn it on and go.

 

It's one of the main reasons that 5W-20 oil is used.

 

Your friend is correct. Letting the car isit and idle is very detrimental to the engine. Why? The car is running richer (increased pecentage of fuel) when started in cold weather, so it dumps that excess fuel into your cylynders. It can't really burn all of it off correctly, so a percentage of it duns down the cylinder walls and into your oil. This does two things. It effectively thins the oil making it ineffective as a lubricant for the future. It also washes the minimum amount of oil (at cold startup) off of the cylinder walls -- thereby eliminating any lubrication. Both of these things can increase the amount of wear your engine experiences.

So, start up and go. Just don't run it hard or at high RPM until the engine warms up a bit.

Oh!, BTW. You'll get better gas mileage too!

 

My habit is to start the engine ('04 TL), put belt on wait until navi boots up and go.
I take it easy for a few miles.
Craig

 

Same for me with my RL. Letting the car idle at the same rpm for a long period of time especially while warming up is not good for it.

 

When I was a kid, I took an auto class in which an instructor told the class that one should be able to drive the car immediately. That has what I been doing all these years. I had never found the exact reasons, but iforack gave two very convincing reasons that are excellent explainations. To save gas, I get myself ready by putting the seat belt on, put in the destination to the Nav system if there is one to put in, then start the engine and drive.

 

Same here - belt-n-go

 

True, but once it warms up to temp, most of the fuel burns off. Though, I still wouldn't suggest idling..simply drive it gently until it warms up.