Team-BHP - How many KMs after cold start the car will feel better

- - How many KMs after cold start the car will feel better (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/technical-stuff/25785-how-many-kms-after-cold-start-car-will-feel-better.html)

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I thought this will be an interesting and useful topic. I did not have chance to observe before as my commutes were short. These days I had a cahnce. My petra starts feeling better after driving about 7-8 KMs. My observations are based on the sound and response I get from the engine. It feels as if it has warmed up and is ready for serious busness, unfortunately my trip comes to an end in4 more KMs and traffic congestion in one or two KMs after that.

Can you guys share your observations too ? I believe the FE and performance are better after this warm up KM range.

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Originally Posted by esteem_lover (Post 485274)

I believe it could be the time taken & not the distance travelled. Generally a car would warm up in 5 minutes. correct me if i am wrong.

Thanks for bringing in the right point. It could be both time and distance. For me it takes about 10+ mins for this 7-8 KMs. It is possible the car was ready before this, but this is when I get a good stretch to find out the response.

Yes .. I think 5 mins is more than enough.... And most of the cars ECU is programmed to keep the engine at a higher rev until the operating temp is reached( Its not time based cut-off, but temp based). So in summer days the job will be done in less than 2 mins, but in winter will take 1 - 2 mins more to get the blood lean.

So in a nut-shell, you can findout the engine reached operating temp by observing the idle speed.

Actually the warming up of engine depends mostly on ambient temprature.

e.g. On winter mornings your car will take more time to warmup compared to on summer afternoon. Which is quite obvious.

Quote:

I let my cars idle for 60 seconds before I slot in a gear.Helps enhance engine life very much.

That is a debatable issue and there isn't any solid proof to this theory but lets not drag it into this thread.

Quote:

So in a nut-shell, you can findout the engine reached operating temp by observing the idle speed.

Dude why not look at temprature needle itself :p
In almost all Euro II and above cars once the engine is warmed up temprature needle goes to just less than half mark once engine is warmed up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nitrous (Post 485349)

Diesels warm-up pretty quick.
Personally, I let my cars idle for 60 seconds before I slot in a gear.Helps enhance engine life very much.

agree:

It always helps to idle car before starting off.

For me, i wait around a min (as time permits) and take car only after it starts warming up, mainly cause i have a steep slope to drive up, outside gate.

EDIT: just saw adya's post. In my post 'helpful' doesnt imply long life, just smooth performance. Cold engine sometimes knocks when driving a huge slope upwards.

More than kms, follow the neutral idling. Upon 1st start, it jumps to ~1100 rpm, stays there for a few seconds, then gradually reduces. It stabilizes at ~ 750-800 rpm after the engine is suitably warmed. This should be your marker.

palio manual states not to waste fuel by idling before driving :D it states to start driving immediately but not rev too hard till engine is warmed up

Quote:

Originally Posted by nitrous (Post 485349)

Diesels warm-up pretty quick.

Yes... the reason would be the higher compression ratio approx 18:1 compared to apprx 9:1 in petrol.

Guys, let me clarify. This discussion is not intended to be about stand still warm up. I mentioned the "feel of reaching optimum performance level". I generally do not wait for a minute or so (I used to, but decided to go by the manual: wait for 10-20 seconds before starting off). Even though I observed the felt better after waiting for a minute or so.

Quote:

Originally Posted by adya33 (Post 485353)

Dude why not look at temprature needle itself :p
In almost all Euro II and above cars once the engine is warmed up temprature needle goes to just less than half mark once engine is warmed up.

The needle takes a lot longer to register the current temp & show that. If you were to go by the needle, you would have to idle your car for at least 5 minutes. :)

Around 5 mins or say around 1 nd half to 2 kms after which my 800 actually starts responding properly and since its a carburated there is no ECU frills to keep the idle high at cold engine condition

It's nothing to do with "km" - you can even idle engine standing still.

Basically temperature gauge is your signal. When you start engine it is at the C position. After few minutes it reaches halfway mark. This is the optimum temperature [of coolant] and considered optimum temperature for engine. If it goes towards H mark, engine is overheating.

Warming up engine is fine, there are a lot of other moving parts in the car. The transmission, wheels, ... they do not real warm up unless the car moves (or) am I wrong some where ?