There are still many people who start up their cars, and leave them running for 10-30 minutes on cold winter days. They do this, thinking they’re reducing wear and tear by letting their cars warm up gently.
But according to Jason from Engineering Explained, that method is actually a bad idea. Your car is much more in danger by doing this old school habit.
This method is actually applicable from the days of carburetors, which need several minutes of idling to be able to get the proper temperature to run smoothly. Modern cars today use fuel-injected engines, wherein the Engine Control Unit (ECU) can adjust itself accordingly even in sub-zero weather. According to Jason, idling your engine doesn’t really build up much heat at all as compared to driving it.
Here’s Jason’s video:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKALgXDwou4]
Source: YouTube
So, instead of leaving your engine idle, start up your car and just drive it! The engine will warm up faster.