What is your winter warm up procedure?

I just power up and let it run until the ICE kicks off, then go.

 

Jump in and drive. Be gentle for the first minute or so. Anything else just wastes fuel.

 

agree with the OP. i'm 4 miles from the highway, so i just jump in and go.

 

Roger, I power up & go. The only time it sits warming up is when snow or ice has to be removed. With the defrosters full up it's usually toasty warm when I'm done. You're right, she's a bit sluggish at first, so don't push too hard.

When it's that cold blocking the grill is a good idea.

 

I drive the first mile out of my neighborhood at a bit over (warming-up) idle.

 

In the days of carburetors, idling would effectively decrease the life of the car, especially at start up. In my 45 plus years of car ownership, I NEVER "warmed" a car up.

Cars are NOT people or cold blood animals. They may run more efficiently as a certain temperature, but the cylinder walls do not need it's oil washed off with a rich mixture of solvent like gasoline. It's even worse with ethanol in the gasoline.

Driving slowly the very few seconds of reaching full oil pressure is best.

I had a car one old fart complained to me that I never warmed it up before driving off for the nine years I worked at one place. The car lasted 11 years and was sold with 300k miles on it. The engine was original and used nearly no oil.

 

Ditto

 

I turn the key, erh, I mean push the button, and go. No sitting around idling, no special driving method during warm-up; I'm very easy on the gas any time.

Also, use a block heater before the first start of the day, for 2 hours whenever possible. That's year 'round.

 

I don't bother with a block heater, not because it doesn't work, but because I'd likely forget to unplug it before driving off. At least a plug-in car will remind you to take the plug off first.

I have a garage at home, and can park in the heated underground parking at work (a very nice perk for working third shift there, especially when it's cold out), so I generally don't bother warming my prius up at all. I'll drive it a little slower if possible and no cars behind me, but otherwise I just drive it.

I try not to use the heat for at least the first five minutes, but as an experiment I've driven to work without using the heat, or even the seat warmers in 25-40 degree weather. It only saves a few cents from my impromptu experiments, so definitely not worth it long run, but was nice to try it out.

If my car started to fog up inside, I've discovered that cracking all 4 windows open an inch or two (roughly 3-6 cm for you international folks) for 30-60 seconds will remove the fogginess much faster than blasting away with the heat and a/c turned on. Granted, you have to be moving, and put up with the cold air, but the cold doesn't bother me too much for such a short duration so long as the temps aren't in the teens and under.

Keep in mind this is only when the road conditions are good. If there's snow/ice on the ground, I always put safety first, and I advise you to do so as well (and get some snow tires). Saving a few cents in gas isn't worth it if you rear-end someone, or fall into a ditch on the road. Driving slower in that kind of weather will save you more gas too, so you have a really good excuse not to drive fast in your prius when the roads are bad.

 

I used to warm up my 49 Ford, it was 9 years old at the time. I don't think that's why the clutch went bad at 60 K miles

 

Yep

 

14 Winters in Minnesota for me driving a Prius. There's been no need to ever warm-up the engine before driving. And I live less than 1 mile from a 70 mph highway.

The system favors battery use initially. Since it's cold, heavy draw from it is acceptable. That allows the engine to warm with less demand than usual. It's no big deal.

The sluggishness you feel isn't actually a speed impairment. It's your sense of feel noticing more battery than engine. Look at the speedometer instead. Notice roughly the same acceleration-rate as usual? As for you sense of sound, the VVT aspect of the engine comes into play during times of demand, which could sound different.

 

With a Prius, the reason you start off gently and drive so for a minute or so is that the system tries to not use the engine (to control emissions). It's hard on the -BATTERY-, not the engine.
Now, do keep in mind, with -any- internal combustion engine, the pistons have to heat up to swell to their designed size and shape. Starting a cold engine and immediately applying full throttle can be hazardous to the engines health. BUT it only takes 30 seconds or so to get those pistons hot.
So, for example, Pearl S is put in "ready" and backed out of the garage (using electric power by default as that's the only way to back up in a Prius), the engine starts, I get out and close the garage doors and get back in. By that time the pistons are warm, but the system is still trying to minimize use of the engine because the cat. converter is not yet at full operating temp. So I slowly drive down the alley and side streets for a block or two. By then the system is ready to use the engine.
Oh, and full throttle is only used in times of -panic-!

 

Thats why you needed a valve job at 60,000 miles!

 

I don't remember that, I'm sure it was the clutch. The old flat head 6 was working well.

 

That's only when the battery is hot. In a cold state, high draw can continue without harm to the chemistry, since cooling isn't an issue. This is why it naturally favors the battery more in the sub-freezing temps.

And yes, as you state, the system is quickly ready to use the engine anyway. So, gentle driving is fine and regular driving doesn't take long.

 

Oh! thats right it was not till my 1954 ford, V8 first overhead valves. Yep! old flat heads. indestructible!

 

My Chevy has a neat feature that tells me when the pistons have reached operating temperature. On a cold start, they slap the cylinder walls and make loud banging noises in the process until they expand and quiet down within a minute or two. It's been doing this for years and I'm a bit surprised the thing hasn't exploded yet.