I mostly drive in the city, how often should I drive on the freeway? How will my car benefit from periodic freeway drives? What happe.ns if I don't drive on the freeway for extended periods (months)?

Answers appreciated!!!

Thanks guys

I odn't see where it'll make a difference. In gerneral freeway miles are easier on the car - constant speed, lower RPM, single gear (mostly), less braking, more air over/through the engine bay, etc.

BUT you're still going to be driving mostly city. No matter what you do, you drive where you drive.

Putting miles on the freeway, really won't do anything to alleviate that, IMHO. All it will do is put more miles on the car.

The good news is these cars are fairly bullet proof; durable.

Highway miles won't rejuvenate a car- they're just easier on the car. The biggest issue with city miles is all the idle time you use in driving in the city not to mention all the start/stop cycles you do as a result. Think about it: a 3 minute traffic light will cost the engine about 2400 revs (800 RPM * 3 minutes) going nowhere while 2400 revs could move your car about 1 mile or more traveling down a highway.

I get to take my TL on a rare road trip on Friday- all the way up to Santa Cruz from San Diego- that is will be the 2nd trip like this for the TL and only its fourth > 200 mile road trip in 3.5 years- we usually take our SUV instead on the long trips. I feel your pain on the city miles.

From what I understand, one of the major reasons freeway miles are beneficial, is that you bring the engine up to operating temp, and evaporate any condensed water vapor that was in your oil. Short City drives (especially if you are like most people that don't warm up the car), your engine never really gets up to operating temp long enough for the condensation in the oil to evaporate... Condensation in the oil causes extra wear/tear on your engine.

I could be wrong, this is just what I heard...

Easier on your car and better on your brakes
Best of them all, better MPG.

That is, if your cruising and not in stop and go traffic.

+1.

Very true when getting from place-to-place. If you have a choice drive freeway as opposed to stop-and-go.

But if you HAVE to drive in the city, taking the car on the freeway later doesn't undo the wear from city driving.

Depends upon your definition of city driving.
Lots of stop and go? Extended periods sitting at lights?
If so, you may want to consider paying attention to the severe service maintenance intervals called out in the manual.
Adding extra freeway miles doesn't reverse the effects.

'07 TL-S 5 A/T CBP
FUJITA F5
PROGRESS RSB
P2R TB spacer
Braille battery
V1 on the lookout

avs is right!!!

the book even says to do a monthly 30-45 minute drive on the freeway if low use.
Its not just engine oil that gathers condensation thru hygroscopic action,
PS fluid is bad about it too- and both those need a good dryout- as well as your exhaust system- moisture gathers in there big time

Im sure you've seen cars ahead of you with massive droplets of water coming off the exhaust at stop lights?--thats you too!!
internal corrossion is a bad thing! drive it to dry it

I would run a can of seafoam in half tank of gas with your freeway drive to remove carbon loading from low rpm running all the time

note: when you operate in stop and go commute- you move into the Severe Service part of the maitenance schedule- that cuts time and distance in half on most items!
If that gives you any hint~

Shouldn't make much of a difference. Only thing I can think of about how freeway driving may be 'beneficial' is that you get better gas mileage and use less braking

Agreed. And it helps put a good charge on the battery.

This is assuming you're doing short trips in the city. If you're commute is 20 minutes or more in city driving, there's no reason to take it on the freeway.

Due mostly to emission controls, such as "quick light off" catalytic converters, modern engines reach nominal operating temps much quicker that older cars.
Most reach optimal within 5 miles even in city traffic. This is enough to burn off any condensate, as when optimal temps are reached, condensate does not form.

As long as you operate in warm up mode, the more emissions are produced.

The old theories of needing to "blow out" carbons in the engine are no longer valid, as our engines run much leaner.

I agree with all of that, especially the "blow out carbons" and the quick lightoff for emissions.

However, the oil still takes just as long as the older cars to get up to temp, roughly 15-20 minutes to hit full temp. The water gets there extremely quick.

We use substantially lighter weight oils as recommended by the mfrs.than older cars.

Wouldn't it heat up quicker? Just by way of higher flow at lower temps. I would think.

I like how i get up to 34mpg on hwy but avg around 19-22 in the city and that is babying the gas! i mean granted i drive 6 miles round trip to work daily and usually never go anywhere thru out week. It sux i usually get 200-240 a tank after gas light has been on awhile.

My 04 supercharged gp got 16-19 city and 26 on hwy if lucky.. so TL is much better and only 2 hp less N/A!!!

acura book says less than 10 miles a trip is considered SHORT and does not give time to fully warm the exhaust or oil,,,
do a once a month 45 minute freeway speed trip to fully dry all the important parts and fully recharge the battery- it takes a hit every time the starter takes some juice, then the headlights and heater/ac fan and radio all drain from it
10 minutes with that load does not recharge the battery to 100%...

give yourself an hour of fun! get out of the house and the office- see the flowers and breathe real air (replacement of cabin filter suggested)

years of working on cars has taught me that new cars are different than old cars

Hygroscopic action is real and a major prob for ABS systems- flush your brake fluid

My TL reaches normal operating temperature in like 3 minutes after sitting all night, unless you're telling me the temp gauge is not accurate? It's an aluminum engine, it warms up faster than old engines that were made of iron.

That's just the water temp. Oil still takes 15-20 minutes and the exhaust takes quite a while to get hot enough to vaporize condensation all the way at the end.

What he said -- I get abt 32 mpg on highways vs 18 City.

I travel from NC to NJ and back every few weeks so I do a lot of highway driving. I just hope I miss the traffic areas of DC, Baltimore, etc. I have to say highway miles help.