They Say Don't Let Your Car Warm Up Before Driving In Cold Weather?

In reply to Patrick :

I found the frost on the inside was typically due to moisture trapped in the carpets or floor mats due to snowy boots or leaks letting water get inside where it shouldn't be.

buzzboy said:

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

And then as soon as you start rolling, the moisture laden air condenses on the windshield, and instantly freezes... 

I've never had this problem living in cold snowy areas, both Lake Tahoe and Southern Vermont.

Happens to me all the time.  Living by the lake, it's always humid, and the temperatures like to hover around freezing.  Just warm enough that the air can hold a lot of moisture and just cold enough that a 20mph wind on the windshield will make it condense out and freeze.

Same thing happens when warm person gets out of hot shower and 10-15 minutes later gets into cold car.  Insides of the glass near the driver fog over right away.

Mr_Asa said:

What is the BMW that doesn't even show the top 2-3k of the tach until it reaches operating temp?

Until the temp gauge stops saying "low" I keep it under 3k

The E39 M5 has a moving redline based on engine temp. Maybe later ones, too, but I think maybe that was the origin.
I've done a version of my own that'll show a "cold" redline and also one that starts getting lower if the temps get too high, to encourage short shifting. 

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

buzzboy said:

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

And then as soon as you start rolling, the moisture laden air condenses on the windshield, and instantly freezes... 

I've never had this problem living in cold snowy areas, both Lake Tahoe and Southern Vermont.

Happens to me all the time.  Living by the lake, it's always humid, and the temperatures like to hover around freezing.  Just warm enough that the air can hold a lot of moisture and just cold enough that a 20mph wind on the windshield will make it condense out and freeze.

 

Same thing happens when warm person gets out of hot shower and 10-15 minutes later gets into cold car.  Insides of the glass near the driver fog over right away.

We used to keep a little pillow made out of chamois material in the car for this. Just wipe it off, it's never thick. 

I have been starting and driving cars/trucks with less than a minute warm up in central Minnesota for 43 years. We had -27 degrees with wind chills of -40 this last week. In the early 80s I used a block heater for the V8 engines. I have never had an engine failure or excessive oil consumption as a result. 5,000 mile oil changes, 5w30 in winter, 0w20 on new cars. I just returned from 6 weeks in Florida. Frost warnings. I watched a guy start his car and leave in run for 5 minutes before driving on a 35 degree day. Very amusing and a waste of gas.

If the temperature is around or below freezing, I usually wait for the high idle to drop. Assuming the windows arent iced up. Usually takes around 15-30 seconds maybe. 

After starting it probably takes 3 seconds to build ample oil pressure in any car. The way I see it, the 30 seconds I wait gives the pistons and cylinder walls time to heat up and expand with the first few thou ignition cycles. If the cat is happy I assume the explosion part of the engine is too. 

Remote start to warm it up for me. My M5 is a bit different as it needs to be warm before it is driven. The cars ecu limits rpm and performance until it is warm. My takeaway from this is warming up a car is a good thing especially if the manufacturer makes you do it. 

When it's cold out I warm it up until the windows are clear. Regardless of what it does to the car,if I can't see I ain't driving.

When it's summer it's usually just long enough to get the AC to cool the cabin down 

The clear windows thing is common sense, which is lacking in many.  I don't think warmup is as critical as it was 40 years ago, engines now seem to be able to last 200K miles almost regardless of care.  Personally, when it is below 10 I will warm the engine for a few minutes.  Below 20  also but less time.  Regardless until warm air comes out of the vents I don't push the gas much.  

Who remembers the old air cooled VWs?  I loved the John Muir book, start it and don't drive until you have rolled a cigarette and had a few good draws.  But he also advocated using a chisel and hammer to remove the flywheel bolt!

In reply to porschenut :

The windshield on a Bug was close to the driver, which made it easier to steer with one hand and scrape the windshield with the other.    An old credit card was a convenient scraping tool.