Warming up a car engine

[whiffey]

What is the best way to bring a car engine up to working temperature on a very cold morning ?

I have always understood you should immediately drive off normally, but I've just been told that it is better to leave it ticking over to warm up. Does this not mean though that the oil won't circulate properly and lead to greater engine wear ?

[Toureman]

The recommended way is to drive off immediately but not as normal, it takes about ten minutes to warm up the engine so drive off gently using little acceleration for the first ten minutes to bring it up to normal temperature.

If it is icy I would just hold the engine at around 1500 revs for a few seconds before moving off to get the oil circulated.

[rdv]

The worst thing is to leave it idling until the heater warms up although this is very tempting when its covered in ice. As toureman says drive it normally but keep the revs down until it warms up, this is good practice whatever the temperature

[chwinc]

start it up and let it idle for a minute or so to ensure that oil is reaching everywhere , this is particularly important if it is a turbocharged engine.

[woodchopper]

I'm sure it was normal to sit for a few minutes years ago when engine oils were crap, but not now a days with semi and fully synthetics and their viscosity ranges I just drive off.

[Toureman]

I did not say drive it normally RDV.