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Should you leave your Porsche idle whilst warming up?


T-Man

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I was reading through another thread where a member who shall remain nameless (AKA Amanda) commented "mine is noisy enough, I can hear it warming up through our whole  house". This got me thinking about the different schools of thought regarding starting and warm up before driving. Especially pre-SMT at 5:30 in the morning.

 

I've always started the car, idled for maybe 30 sec or a minute and driven off. Kept the RPM down until the temperature gauge shows it has gone up and settled back down. I'm fairly certain that's what the manual also recommends.

 

What does everybody else do?

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I was reading through another thread where a member who shall remain nameless (AKA Amanda) commented "mine is noisy enough, I can hear it warming up through our whole  house". This got me thinking about the different schools of thought regarding starting and warm up before driving. Especially pre-SMT at 5:30 in the morning.

 

I've always started the car, idled for maybe 30 sec or a minute and driven off. Kept the RPM down until the temperature gauge shows it has gone up and settled back down. I'm fairly certain that's what the manual also recommends.

 

What does everybody else do?

i do the same. also because that's what the manual says

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Drive off as soon as you safely can without the risk of the engine stalling.

With modern fuel injected cars that is virtually as soon as they start. (keeping the revs modest until the engine and the oil in particular, reaches normal operation temperature)

I think the whole "warming up" practice comes from the dawn of time when cars wouldn't run reliably when cold due to limitations with carburation at the time. (Driven by the need of manufacturers to mitigate the potential safety hazard of a car that could stall when it is being required to accelerate to merge with moving traffic etc. rather than a belief that it improves engine longevity)

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I let mine warm up a little before i drive it. It'll misfire more then usual (because of the cam grind) when its cold. When it warms up a little it idles normal. I drive it under 2500 rpm till it's warm. 

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With modern fuel injected cars that is virtually as soon as they start. (keeping the revs modest until the engine and the oil in particular, reaches normal operation temperature)

 

Nice to think my 35 year old 911 is modern  :) Starts immediately in any weather  :) , I drive off , immediately. As recommended!

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I also drive my 952 to warm her up(as per manual) and keep her off boost and only gentle throttle till she is warm. My RX4 was different as you had to warm her up before you put any load on the rotary motor. It had an electro.magnetic choke. You pull choke out and set revs at 1500 rpm, and when she was warm, the car would activate the electro-magnetic choke mechanism and pull the choke in, turning it off. I had an extra key cut and would start her up, lock her up and let her warm up. I could hear when she was ready to go, when revs dropped. The reason you had to warm up a rotary was the motor is basically iron and aluminium pieces bolted together and so as the metals expanded at different rates, you would ruin the rotor seals if any load was put on it before it was properly warmed up. Once warm though you could pretty much give it too it straight away though, and make up any lost time from the warm up process ;)

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I can advise from fairly extensive experience; - for nearly 30 years all that I've done is start it and drive off straight away.  Driving normally, just like any daily driver. I never, ever, give it full fat or revs until the temp needle is in the normal operating zone. 

 

Then its gloves off.  No more Mr nice guy.

 

My first engine lasted 29 years and was still running when it got too rattly for my peace of mind.  That was 29 years with more track days than many of youse have had cut lunches.

 

Remember our air cooled cars don't even open the traffic to the oil cooler until they are up to temperature.

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I asked Porsche Brighton what I should do on start up. I was told that its best to let my car idle just until the 'revs drop' so that's what I do. This takes a few mins. It's not exactly warming up - that was an exaggeration on my part! It's just until the engine hits its running idle speed or whatever you call it!

I take it easy till its at its running temp too.

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I can advise from fairly extensive experience; - for nearly 30 years all that I've done is start it and drive off straight away.  Driving normally, just like any daily driver. I never, ever, give it full fat or revs until the temp needle is in the normal operating zone. 

 

Then its gloves off.  No more Mr nice guy.

 

My first engine lasted 29 years and was still running when it got too rattly for my peace of mind.  That was 29 years with more track days than many of youse have had cut lunches.

 

Remember our air cooled cars don't even open the traffic to the oil cooler until they are up to temperature.

 

This guy. He knows.

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I can advise from fairly extensive experience; - for nearly 30 years all that I've done is start it and drive off straight away.  Driving normally, just like any daily driver. I never, ever, give it full fat or revs until the temp needle is in the normal operating

zone.

 

 Professor Porsche said the same thing, when asked the same question, about the Volkswagen 

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I can go a couple of weeks between drives so I like to let it run for a minute to let the idle drop and even out which then gives me a chance to listen for unwanted noises and check oil pressure.  A minute only then drive sedately until up to temp.  Any starts after that on the same day I just drive off straight away.

 

:) 

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The Porsche Owners Manual for the 958 and 996 do not recommend letting the car warm up by keeping it in idle. "Do not let the engine idle to warm up." as well as mentioning "When starting the engine, be ready to drive immediately. Drive vehicle at moderate speeds and avoid engine speeds above 4,200 rpm during the first 5 minutes."

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For the non turbo guys, do you cooldown as well?

ie, Arrive at home and or destination, park for a minute or two with car still running. 

 

Just googling a carrera owners manual, it states:

 

Do not stop engine immediately after hard or 
extended driving. 
Keep engine running at increased idle for 
about two minutes to prevent excessive heat 
build-up before turning off engine
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I was reading a thread on one of the USA forums, I think it was Boxster specific and the members were all talking about their cool down methods -  I saw some mention fans and all kinds of contraptions/ methods for cooling their cars down quickly!

 

I can just imagine the reaction at home if I insisted on parking my car in the middle of the garage with 2 external fans sitting on chairs pointed at the vents on both sides of the car with the fan blowing on it to cool it down quicker!

 

I'd not be popular!

 

Or admitted to a loony bin!

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Just googling a carrera owners manual, it states:

 

Do not stop engine immediately after hard or 
extended driving. 
Keep engine running at increased idle for 
about two minutes to prevent excessive heat 
build-up before turning off engine

 

i.e. don't fang it all the way home, drive it sedately the last few blocks home.

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