How long do you let your engine warm up for?

Nasher said:
Lease and hire cars = 100% throttle seconds after starting :D

(Is why I dont buy ex-lease or hire cars lol)
Click to expand...

Meanwhile, in the real world, virtually nobody actually does this.

I drive many hire cars and never once 100% throttle them away from cold. You'd probably end up driving into something anyway.

99% of people driving a rental or lease car have no real interest in cars which means whilst they won't look after it like it's a rare Ferrari they're hardly likely to be sideways at the first roundabout either. They just drive them normally.
 
Havana_UK said:
The lights on the rev counter I believe are based on water/coolant temperature...at least they are in the F80/82. There's normally a separate oil temperature gauge in M cars (something missing from normal BMWs). My rev counter lights go out within a couple of minutes of driving, but it takes a good 10-15 minutes (depending on various external factors) for the oil to get up to temperature.
Click to expand...

Yep that's the case on the Z4M. I know some people (think @mrk has done this) is change the rev lights to match the oil temp instead as its more useful (never seen this for the Z4M, just the M3). I think it would have made more sense for there to be water temp gauge and then the rev lights match the oil temp, as that's what I always wait for before going above 3000.
 
[TW]Fox said:
Meanwhile, in the real world, virtually nobody actually does this.

I drive many hire cars and never once 100% throttle them away from cold. You'd probably end up driving into something anyway.

99% of people driving a rental or lease car have no real interest in cars which means whilst they won't look after it like it's a rare Ferrari they're hardly likely to be sideways at the first roundabout either. They just drive them normally.
Click to expand...

I do, which means loads of others do too :p

My old boss once rolled a hire car in the carpark doing J turns in it.
 
[TW]Fox said:
Meanwhile, in the real world, virtually nobody actually does this.

I drive many hire cars and never once 100% throttle them away from cold. You'd probably end up driving into something anyway.

99% of people driving a rental or lease car have no real interest in cars which means whilst they won't look after it like it's a rare Ferrari they're hardly likely to be sideways at the first roundabout either. They just drive them normally.
Click to expand...

exactly. anytime i have hired a car in any part of the world. i just get in and drive like i normally would.
plus they have your credit card details :)
 
When I had my old Skoda and commuted to London daily it would be at full throttle / 70mph within about 2 minutes of turning the key if I was running a bit late, coolant temp still firmly on the stop :p

Poor thing.

Still see it around locally, its got over 200K on it now. Another 300K left in it then. :D
 
Robbo said:
... before giving it higher revs. Assuming no oil temperature gauge...

I know it can vary from engine to engine too of course.
Click to expand...

No need to let the engine warm up before driving, all you're then doing is letting the engine warm up and the rest of the drivetrain system sitting there idle not warming up through motion. Set off right away but set off easy and throttle gently on the journey until the temp needle reaches the middle! Maybe this is an old skool way of thinking but it makes sense to warm up the whole drivetrain and engine at the same time and the best way is to just drive after starting normally.

badgeruk said:
Yep that's the case on the Z4M. I know some people (think @mrk has done this) is change the rev lights to match the oil temp instead as its more useful (never seen this for the Z4M, just the M3). I think it would have made more sense for there to be water temp gauge and then the rev lights match the oil temp, as that's what I always wait for before going above 3000.
Click to expand...

This is correct, the default S54 rev counter lights reflect water temp not oil temp, the CSL however reflects the oil temp so BMW saw sense for the CSL lol. Thankfully it's super easy to change these things with a Windows utility and modify the downloaded ROM and re-uploading it again. My rev lights match the oil temp :cool: It takes about 5 miles of driving for my car to reach optimum oil temp. The water temp reaches the middle marker within a mile so you can imagine what the bearing shells are feeling when owners see the rev lights hit the end and they think it's all go to start throttling the thing ::eek:
 
mrk said:
It takes about 5 miles of driving for my car to reach optimum oil temp. The water temp reaches the middle marker within a mile so you can imagine what the bearing shells are feeling when owners see the rev lights hit the end and they think it's all go to start throttling the thing ::eek:
Click to expand...

Same, right pain as my work is just under 5 miles so if I do take the Z4M its just babied on the way to and from. Not the most exciting drive. The Lambocanto on the other hand is thrashed within an inch of its life off the driveway.
 
A lot of talk of revs. But full throttle even at low revs is not ideal on a cold either either.

Just drive it normally till warm. Oil gets to temperature so viscosity is correct but this is only part of it. The antiwear chemistry in the oil only really starts to work a over 70-80C.
 
In the caterham I wait till the transmission tunnel is warming my left leg. Appreciate this isn't a helpful approach for most cars though.....
 
mrk said:
No need to let the engine warm up before driving, all you're then doing is letting the engine warm up and the rest of the drivetrain system sitting there idle not warming up through motion. Set off right away but set off easy and throttle gently on the journey until the temp needle reaches the middle! Maybe this is an old skool way of thinking but it makes sense to warm up the whole drivetrain and engine at the same time and the best way is to just drive after starting normally.
Click to expand...


It makes sense as a engine with road load needs to make more power than one idling, the consequence of that is the extra waste heat warms the engine & oil up, to get clearances to working spec and oil working at optimum. No one cares about CV grease warming up. :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom