When is it needed to let the car warm up/cool down
Premium is recommended, can i run other gas if I'm not beating on the car or will gas mileage suffer if i don't use premium
Finally, AWD. I know tire tread depth needs to stay within a few mm of each other.
What other things should i know that aren't vehicle specific?
If the price difference between regular and premium is enough for you to pause, then I'd say you probably shouldn't own a turbo car. Use premium, it will be happier in the long run.
Rotate the tires every other oil change, especially on a FWD biased car. Use a good quality synthetic and change it every 3000 miles.
Pay attention to plugs and don't deviate too far from factory specs unless you know what you're doing.
Allow the car to warm up completely before getting into the boost and stay out of boost for about a minute or so before you get home to help with longevity.
Warm up with a turbo is a non issue, it's cool down that is the issue. First is if it is water cooled or not. If it's water cooled, just turn the key off. If it's not water cooled, these are the ones you tend to let rest for a minute or two.
That said, that is based on normal driving. If you come home towing a heavy load, let either cool down for a few minutes before turning the key off.
Turbo's of any type are hard on oils. Sythetic is pretty worthwhile. Unless you like coking up the turbo lines and replacing the turbo. Especially if it is not water cooled.
All wheel drive, depends on the design as to how sensitive it is to the tire circumference differences. Some don't care, some will self destruct shortly if you get it wrong. Follow the owners manual and what the forums for the specific car recommend.
Cheap gas is pretty generally not a good idea with a turbo car. Not only are you losing performance and gas mileage, but you're letting the engine start to self destruct, then back off the timing until it stops self destructing. Not a good recipe for long life or pleasure. That said, the world will not end if you have to run regular some times.
foxtrapper wrote: Warm up with a turbo is a non issue, it's cool down that is the issue. First is if it is water cooled or not. If it's water cooled, just turn the key off. If it's not water cooled, these are the ones you tend to let rest for a minute or two.
If anyone is wondering, modern turbos are mounted in a location to take advantage of natural percolation of the coolant. As the turbo heats the water up, it will want to rise- which it will to a higher part of the system (in the head) drawing cooler coolant in behind it.
It's not much flow, but plenty to keep things from heat damage from a shut down. That's why fox's suggestion is spot on.
And some cars (mostly VWs) have a small electric coolant pump that'll push water through the turbo for a few minutes after shutdown.
In reply to foxtrapper:
Yeah, I think running a turbo car at full boost when cold is just a bad, bad idea and I'll allow it to warm up before I give it the boot thank you very much.
You may do as you please, but turbo cars burn the wick at both ends and do not live as long when abused without mechanical sympathy.
Even with an after run cooling pump or natural percolation, I still let the cars cool to a mid-range temp before shutting them down. Just my personal thing and compared to similar cars in the area that were treated less nicely, mine tended to last longer between failures.
I have owned 2 turbo Subaru's an 02 WRX sedan and an 05 WRX wagon. I often drove them like a granny, short shifting and trying to save fuel. Not once did I put a drop of anything other than premium in it. Just DON'T!
Don't buy a turbo car and run it on regular, unless it specifically says it can. My 99 Passat could run regular since it ran relatively low boost. It was an early 150 Hp version and they did not require premium.
Oil change intervals are important for long term health.
Stefan (Not Bruce) wrote: In reply to foxtrapper: Yeah, I think running a turbo car at full boost when cold is just a bad, bad idea and I'll allow it to warm up before I give it the boot thank you very much.
Um, I didn't tell you that you had to floor it when cold.
The OP, who's questions I was addressing, asked about special concerns with turbo engines. Cold starting isn't one of them.
alfadriver wrote:foxtrapper wrote: Warm up with a turbo is a non issue, it's cool down that is the issue. First is if it is water cooled or not. If it's water cooled, just turn the key off. If it's not water cooled, these are the ones you tend to let rest for a minute or two.If anyone is wondering, modern turbos are mounted in a location to take advantage of natural percolation of the coolant. As the turbo heats the water up, it will want to rise- which it will to a higher part of the system (in the head) drawing cooler coolant in behind it. It's not much flow, but plenty to keep things from heat damage from a shut down. That's why fox's suggestion is spot on.
You know a ton more than i ever will, just wanted to add that the term is "thermosyphoning" for anyone wondering. Has to be routed through a certain way so the water can be moved via heat. Mine is from the top of the coolant hose through the turbo to the bottom coolant hose so it syphons through the radiator.
foxtrapper wrote:Stefan (Not Bruce) wrote: In reply to foxtrapper: Yeah, I think running a turbo car at full boost when cold is just a bad, bad idea and I'll allow it to warm up before I give it the boot thank you very much.Um, I didn't tell you that you had to floor it when cold. The OP, who's questions I was addressing, asked about special concerns with turbo engines. Cold starting isn't one of them.
and if you bothered to read my post, you'd see I stated that one shouldn't give it a boot full until warm. I didn't say that one shouldn't drive it while cold, just practice a little mechanical empathy and let it warm up a bit before stressing the bottom end with all of the dynamic compression ratio.
Nah, nevermind. Just go run regular, cheap oil with 10,000mile oil changes and full boost from cold. I don't give a berkeley since everyone's got an opinion and they all smell the same.
This thread is relevant to my interests. And thank you for posting this as I have been wondering the same thing.
So am I correct in summarizing that a turbo as a DD is:
expensive to keep fed, and
"high maintenance" when it comes to keeping it healthy. That is, paying constant attention to warm ups/cool downs
Both in the interest of longevity of course.
Run the recommended fuel, something modern will probably run on reggo without self destructing but it won't like it or make full power. Use synthetic oil that meets the specs they want changed on the severe schedule.
paranoid_android74 wrote: This thread is relevant to my interests. And thank you for posting this as I have been wondering the same thing. So am I correct in summarizing that a turbo as a DD is: - expensive to keep fed, and - "high maintenance" when it comes to keeping it healthy. That is, paying constant attention to warm ups/cool downs Both in the interest of longevity of course.
I would say no to your 2nd point. I don't think you should jump on anything hard before it is warmed up. NA or turbo, if doesn't matter.
Most modern turbo's also do not need any special attention on cool down. Again, if you were just riding it hard, any car should be allowed some cool down time.
Yes, ignore the turbos for a second, you don't want to jump hard on a cold engine because the rings aren't as well sealed than they are when the engine is up to temp. A turbo with its much higher cylinder pressures and propensity to blowby makes that worse.
When I autocross my twin turbo car I fire up the engine as soon as they call the drivers in my heat to their cars and I don't shut it off until at least 2 minutes after my last run.
Turbo tip #52: if you budget fuel expenses under "recreation" you'll always afford premium fuel.
If it's cold* outside I like to let my car warm up till the temp needle moves, or at least till the rpm's will drop to a normal idle if you blip the throttle. Doesn't matter what vehicle or engine.
Use premium and the best gas you can find for the most power/reliability. Usually the break-even point between regular and premium is 1-2mpg meaning if you get even slightly better mileage with premium you should switch and run it gladly. Example: I drove 3000 miles last month and averaged 25mpg. Regular gas cost me $330, premium would have cost me $360 assuming $2.75/gal for regular and $3.00 for premium. If I got 27mpg on premium, I would have spent $333. In other words, buy the right kind of gas and stop saving pennies to spend dollars in repairs later.
As mentioned, change the damn oil. replace it with something synthetic and a factory filter.
Stefan (Not Bruce) wrote: and if you bothered to read my post, you'd see I stated that one shouldn't give it a boot full until warm. I didn't say that one shouldn't drive it while cold, just practice a little mechanical empathy and let it warm up a bit before stressing the bottom end with all of the dynamic compression ratio. Nah, nevermind. Just go run regular, cheap oil with 10,000mile oil changes and full boost from cold. I don't give a berkeley since everyone's got an opinion and they all smell the same.
No need to be an a-hole troll, especially a stupid one.
I said running cheap oil wasn't a good idea right there in my very first post.
"Turbo's of any type are hard on oils. Sythetic is pretty worthwhile. Unless you like cok[e]ing up the turbo lines and replacing the turbo. Especially if it is not water cooled."
In reply to chiodos:
Thank you for the technical correction. Percolation was the term used in a meeting, so now I know they were not quite correct. 
paranoid_android74 wrote: This thread is relevant to my interests. And thank you for posting this as I have been wondering the same thing. So am I correct in summarizing that a turbo as a DD is: - expensive to keep fed, and - "high maintenance" when it comes to keeping it healthy. That is, paying constant attention to warm ups/cool downs Both in the interest of longevity of course.
If you are driving a high strung, boosted, modified, high compression car for a DD, yes you are correct.
But if you are talking a basic 1.5 turbo Fusion (for example), no, both are wrong. Just get in and drive. Change oil as often as the manual says. The point of modern turbos is to be a better DD car that gets better mileage. (the latter part is arguable, sure)
There's no more maintenance on a Taurus SHO than there is on a Taurus SE.
skierd wrote: If it's cold* outside I like to let my car warm up till the temp needle moves, or at least till the rpm's will drop to a normal idle if you blip the throttle. Doesn't matter what vehicle or engine.
And even that isn't required. Even down to -20F. Cars are tested to do this without damage or issues.
For warmup on any engine (NA or turbo), I usually give it a few seconds to settle and run happily and then off we go. It just gets driven gently (no heavy throttle or high revs) until it's good and warm (coolant and oil).
Ok gents, thank you for the clarifications.
My automotive ADD is pointing toward a turbo Subaru this week, so I've been learning up on them. I hadn't yet come across any special (driving) considerations so I wanted to clarify.
Premium fuel isn't a real big issue for me as I don't put many miles on a car for the daily grind. My round trip commute is about 12 miles daily.
And I have no aversion to using quality oil.
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