[AstroKats]

Better keep your cat locked in the house with a rash of cat theft in the area! 😉

same here, I live a mile from work currently, and the blue light barely goes off sometimes as I park. It is what it is, at least I have confidence I’m not doing any damage by waiting one minute or less and driving off slow and careful 👍🏻

Only a mile? Wow, I think I'd walk or ride a bike unless the weather was miserable.

 

[Cutlass]

Only a mile? Wow, I think I'd walk or ride a bike unless the weather was miserable.

Hills are involved...

 

[cedarpangolin]

Hills are involved...

Also it’s winter in northern New York by the Canadian border and I have fibromyalgia so walking/biking is not something enticing haha.

 

[AstroKats]

I did add a disclaimer about weather...

 

[GB49]

Does anyone NOT turn on the heat when first starting the car in cold weather? I really don't know if this makes any difference but during the winter in northern Ohio I tend to wait until the blue temp light goes out (generally ~1 minute of idle in driveway + ~1 mile down the road). My thinking is to let the tiny engine properly get up to temp before I scavenge some of that heat into the cabin. Probably does not make any difference but that's my routine.

 

[DAG]

Mine is at about 2k RPM when warming up, that's about where I drive at, 6MT, what really is the difference other than wasting gas? LOL.

Driving it under load warms it up quicker, even at same RPM. You need to depress the gas pedal and consume more gas while producing more heat energy when driving up hill than idling, right?

 

[DAG]

Does anyone NOT turn on the heat when first starting the car in cold weather? I really don't know if this makes any difference but during the winter in northern Ohio I tend to wait until the blue temp light goes out (generally ~1 minute of idle in driveway + ~1 mile down the road). My thinking is to let the tiny engine properly get up to temp before I scavenge some of that heat into the cabin. Probably does not make any difference but that's my routine.

My Subies don't send heat to the cabin until the engine has attained a certain temp. The cabin fan slowly ramps up as the engine gets warmer. Newer cars are designed to warm up more quickly than older models.

 

[JRHAWK9]

I've got in the habit of using my Starlink app to remotely start my vehicle since new. This way the blue light is off when I go to put it in gear. I just hate shifting it into gear with the idle at 1,500...or wjhatever it is.

 

[wriggly]

The Cat pre warm high idle is the one thing that really bugs me about Subaru’s. It cannot be good to be putting it in gear when the engines revving like that. I am definitely a believer in starting and letting a car run for thirty seconds or so then driving off and staying gentle on the gas till warmed up.
I wait till the blue light goes out and the idle comes down before driving off with my Subaru’s.

It really sucks when you drive ten miles, stop at a store, go inside for two minutes and it does the fast idle again When you go back out. If you have a manual trans, it’d be a non issue in my opinion.

 

[Cutlass]

Does anyone NOT turn on the heat when first starting the car in cold weather? I really don't know if this makes any difference but during the winter in northern Ohio I tend to wait until the blue temp light goes out (generally ~1 minute of idle in driveway + ~1 mile down the road). My thinking is to let the tiny engine properly get up to temp before I scavenge some of that heat into the cabin. Probably does not make any difference but that's my routine.

The cabin heater makes a trivial difference to the car's cooling system capacity.

 

[Butch_Coolidge]

If you turn on the heat on a freezing cold car, you get cold air until it warms up. Usually a few minutes into driving. I enjoy my heated seats, until my blue light goes off, and the car functions normally. I’m not concerned about using gas, or global warming.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[MA Subie]

Does anyone NOT turn on the heat when first starting the car in cold weather? I really don't know if this makes any difference but during the winter in northern Ohio I tend to wait until the blue temp light goes out (generally ~1 minute of idle in driveway + ~1 mile down the road). My thinking is to let the tiny engine properly get up to temp before I scavenge some of that heat into the cabin. Probably does not make any difference but that's my routine.

That was the old school thought that the antifreeze is contained within the engine and doesn't wander into the heater core delaying warm-up. In reality, this makes very little real world difference.

I agree that article's headline is click baity. Even in the old days when one would not dare drive a cold car for fear of bucking and stalling in traffic, 20 minutes has always been ridiculous. On the other end of the argument, immediately flooring it out of your driveway is just as stupid.

I have the info setting on the dash set to E/T so it shows time since start-up. I let it run to 1 minute when the car's thermometer shows above freezing and 3 minutes when it shows below freezing. If there is ice and snow on the windows, I let it run long enough for the heater to melt it loose. And regardless, I will always tread lightly on the accelerator until the blue light goes off.

 

[frehley76]

Driving it under load warms it up quicker, even at same RPM. You need to depress the gas pedal and consume more gas while producing more heat energy when driving up hill than idling, right?

I was just joking. I let mine warm up a few minutes then take off being sure not to over rev when shifting until the light goes off.

 

[Lee2021]

My Subies don't send heat to the cabin until the engine has attained a certain temp. The cabin fan slowly ramps up as the engine gets warmer. Newer cars are designed to warm up more quickly than older models.

Mine too.

 

[JohnPA2006]

I have had remote starters in all cars I've owned since 2000, never had a problem. I live in northeast PA and it gets very cold, and snows a lot. I will usually remote start the car and get in 5 to 10 minutes later. I leave it set to heat, not to defroster. and I turn off automatic headlights, and leave heated seats off. When its -5 or even 10 degree's for days or weeks, car batteries have a heavy load on them. Let it warm up, so your toasty when you hop in.

 

[Javan]

since I have onwed my '19, (Feb '20), I have only let it idle more than a couple minutes on a few occasions. Not so much to heat the interior, but to give the defroster time to work on the windshield. My wife has a '17 Honda CRV 1.5L Turbo. You can let it idle 20 minutes and still not have heat. It's a simple matter of small displacement engine not generating enough heat while idling. In -5 deg F Quebec one winter, it idles 20 minutes, then was driven at about 35-45 mph for 20 minutes before the first trace of heat came out. For my Subaru, I find it takes about 5-7 minutes before I get heat when temps are in the low 20's.

 

[MA Subie]

since I have onwed my '19, (Feb '20), I have only let it idle more than a couple minutes on a few occasions. Not so much to heat the interior, but to give the defroster time to work on the windshield. My wife has a '17 Honda CRV 1.5L Turbo. You can let it idle 20 minutes and still not have heat. It's a simple matter of small displacement engine not generating enough heat while idling. In -5 deg F Quebec one winter, it idles 20 minutes, then was driven at about 35-45 mph for 20 minutes before the first trace of heat came out. For my Subaru, I find it takes about 5-7 minutes before I get heat when temps are in the low 20's.

Sounds like the thermostat is either stuck open or opening too soon. Engine displacement does not have that great an impact on warm-up time.

 

[Jlj9a]

Sounds like the thermostat is either stuck open or opening too soon. Engine displacement does not have that great an impact on warm-up time.

Perhaps, but that vintage CRV’s have a heater issue.
2017 CRV Touring AWD Cabin Heat and Engine Temperature...
2018 CRV heating issue

 

[tibadoe]

Within a minute post start-up, once the oil is circulated, I'm headed down the driveway. I take it somewhat easy for the first 2 - 3 miles.

 

[mholzer54]

Only a mile? Wow, I think I'd walk or ride a bike unless the weather was miserable.

On my Google feed this morning:

Warming Up Your Car in the Winter Before Driving Might Be a Bad Idea, According to Consumer Reports

Warming up your car in the winter before driving might be a bad idea, Consumer Reports' chief mechanic says. Will you stop doing it?

www.motorbiscuit.com

In my humble opinion, letting the engine idle for at least a minute before driving off is easier on the engine. You want the oil to get up onto the bearing surfaces before you demand any power from the engine. When the temperature is super low, I would do it for a bit longer, since the oil is like 1970's STP additive when it is freezing temps outside. (Yes... I am dating myself!)