I first published this article in January of 2008. I believe with the cold upon us again, it was fitting to re-post!
The majority of engine wear occurs during the start up phase while the oil has not had a chance to come up to pressure. This is one of the main reasons that cold engines are harder to start than warm ones (Everything is colder and “slower”) however there seems to be a myth propagating about leaving one’s car to “Warm Up” idling away in their driveway. Even worse are the horrors of remote car starters. You know how “convenient” they are, you simply press a button from within your warm home and your car magically comes to life. It will idle away and slowly begin to warm up in your driveway. It sounds like nirvana on the brochure but in reality I firmly believe remote starters to be one of the worst possible accessories any car can have installed. Think about this for a moment.
- An idling car gets 0 MPG (or for us Canadians that would be “Infinity”L/100KM)
- A modern car needs only 30 seconds or so of “warm up” time even in the coldest of temperatures if driven carefully for the first few kms.
- A car started remotely is often not monitored, could be damaging itself and even could be running down the road!
