ljugete

How often and for what duration is it recommended to start your car up when parked for 24 hours in moderate to extreme cold weather? Thanks in advance!

markar

15 to 20 minute before driving.

XR4Tim

How cold are we talking? My friends in Fairbanks won't leave their cars shut off for more than an hour when its below -50ºF.

Andy E.

If you live in Northern Illinois, your winter temps are similar to those in Canada; with the exception of the Northern provinces which can be likened to those of Alaska.

Generally, a 5-7 minute warmup is plenty. Usually within this time frame, the engine idle will come off its cold start mode and idle normally. Keep an eye on your oil temperature and try to avoid high rpms and high speeds until oil temperature reaches normal range.

LexVan

Zero. Get in, start in. Put on your seat belt. Turn on your seat warmers, and go. Keep below 4,000 RPM until full op temp is reached.

mcbit

^^^This, get the engine warm as quickly as possible but don't stress the engine. In fact I think you can get around perfectly well in a Cayenne without exceeding 3000 rpm until its warm.

DWPC

N IL is pretty much run-of-the-mill cold winter; no special measures needed, just take it easy until the engine temperature rises. You don't live in a "extreme cold" climate unless most of the cars you see have plugs for block heaters sticking through the grill.

dryadsdad

Uh, I think more like 15 to 20 seconds if you are slow on the seatbelt. There is no reason to idle a car for 20 minutes and some reasons not to.

Dennis C

In Colorado, letting your car run to warm up on a cold day is called "puffing", and it's against the law. There was actually a story about it on the news this morning - Denver area police are driving through residential neighborhoods and issuing tickets to people who are caught violating the anti-puffing laws.

There are other kinds of puffing that are now legal in Colorado, but that's another matter...

I agree with the comments above about simply driving the car, but going easy on it until it is is warmed up to operating temperature.

endless_corners

I thought Colorado just voted to allow puffing.. Oh wait.

pancholi

my Range rover owners manual, Merc manual, Nissan manual all say get in and drive and not to warm the car on idle.

Whiplash_89

Only reason I let my car idle before I get in is so it's actually warm when I get inside. But as others have said, just drive it slowly until it reaches normal operating temperature.

Slow Guy

Why? Even in the 993 it's start, put on seatbelt and go.

RESP

+1

I usually take a longer driver to and from work to ensure I get her up to optimal temperature.

steve_Cayenne

+1 for LexVan

Been driving 30 years in cold Canadian winters down to -35C.

Start, get seat-belt on, admire how painfully cold you are, drive away. If engine is jumpy, perhaps wait no more than a minute for things to smoothen out. Drive very gently until temp needles show some signs of life. Only really boot it when engine at normal temp.

Never had an engine/transmission problem in my life, beyond the usual maintenance.