Cold Weather Effects

[tbm5690]

Today's temp here is currently -17F, the high for the day. After parking at work I sat to watch the oil and water temps as I was curious as to the heat dissipation rate at idle. When at idle, my oil was dropping in temp (from a high of about 160F) roughly 4 degrees per minute, and the coolant was dropping nearly 10 degrees per minute. On days like this the thermostat never opens. Mind you, this is on a 2.0L EA888, so small displacement and the coolant is routed through the integrated exhaust manifold for efficient warm-up. Yes, I will start it and let it warm up for 15 minutest today before I leave...anyone that says otherwise and is in the "just get in and drive" camp has never sat on -17 degree leather. The joys of the North!

 

[Number_35]

Per your signature, you're running a 0W-30 in the VW. Good choice for these conditions!

My weather today:

That's about -24°F. The wind is a killer today.

 

[raaizin]

Wow I cant imagine temperature that low....stay warm

 

[Passport1]

Tks, I'm getting frostbite from just reading your missive. I'm concerned for everybody and all the critters in the way of that arctic blast. Stay safe amigo.

 

[JavierH19]

-17f? no thanks mister. I would always let it warm up enough to where i am comfortable but with remote start and heated seats and steering wheel that wouldn't be that long. I could make do with those two before warm air comes out of the vents. I'm not sacrificing comfort to reduce a smidge of fuel in the oil. I'd much rather change sooner.

 

[edyvw]

Today's temp here is currently -17F, the high for the day. After parking at work I sat to watch the oil and water temps as I was curious as to the heat dissipation rate at idle. When at idle, my oil was dropping in temp (from a high of about 160F) roughly 4 degrees per minute, and the coolant was dropping nearly 10 degrees per minute. On days like this the thermostat never opens. Mind you, this is on a 2.0L EA888, so small displacement and the coolant is routed through the integrated exhaust manifold for efficient warm-up. Yes, I will start it and let it warm up for 15 minutest today before I leave...anyone that says otherwise and is in the "just get in and drive" camp has never sat on -17 degree leather. The joys of the North!

EA888 here with leather. Vehicle started as low as -40. Start, seatbelt, audio, let’s go.

 

[SevenBizzos]

Today's temp here is currently -17F, the high for the day. Yes, I will start it and let it warm up for 15 minutest today before I leave...anyone that says otherwise and is in the "just get in and drive" camp has never sat on -17 degree leather. The joys of the North!

I always find it interesting where the "start and go" crowd is located. Normally places that never get below 0F and only occasionally get below freezing. 32F and -17F are two completely different startups (and sounds ).

Starting my car from my app has been the best thing ever.

 

[tbm5690]

Per your signature, you're running a 0W-30 in the VW. Good choice for these conditions!

My weather today:
View attachment 321106
That's about -24°F. The wind is a killer today.

Yes every time it gets a little on the cold side I think, "It would be worse if I lived in Winnipeg..."

 

[tbm5690]

I always find it interesting where the "start and go" crowd is located. Normally places that never get below 0F and only occasionally get below freezing. 32F and -17F are two completely different startups (and sounds ).

Starting my car from my app has been the best thing ever.

Yes, folks neglect to realize that the difference between 32 and -17 is the same as the difference between 32 and 81.

 

[Number_35]

A friend used to drive to California for a couple of weeks each winter. He was driving an air-cooled VW camper, so heat was iffy. His strategy was to head S as quickly as possible before turning west.

He said by the time he got to Fargo (c. 240 miles south) the weather felt two weeks closer to spring.

 

[fantastic]

It's going to get colder with tons of snow... Prepare today.

 

[Thermo1223]

EA888 here with leather. Vehicle started as low as -40. Start, seatbelt, audio, let’s go.

Same, that's what heated seats are for. I'm not hoping on the highway either, it's a soft downhill drive in the neighborhood. I've done this whether it's 80F or -15F.

 

[edyvw]

Same, that's what heated seats are for. I'm not hoping on the highway either, it's a soft downhill drive in the neighborhood. I've done this whether it's 80F or -15F.

I keep low rpms, HVAC on cold, fan on 1. At that temperature air is so dry, just a little but of flow will prevent fogging.
EA888 is super fast in warming coolant and having heat fast, especially if HVAC is on cold setting.
The vehicle that sees really cold temperatures often is my BMW. Same, very fast coolant warm up, but what sets BMW apart from any vehicle I owned are super fast heating seats and steering wheel. Two minutes after you must set heat on seats at lowest level. On my Sequoia, I turned on heat in seats last Monday after skiing, half an hour later I noticed they are on because I saw switch. Never felt heat. Absolutely abysmal.

 

[gfh77665]

I got my grass mowed Tuesday. Just sayin'.

 

[Pew]

Mind you, this is on a 2.0L EA888, so small displacement and the coolant is routed through the integrated exhaust manifold for efficient warm-up. Yes, I will start it and let it warm up for 15 minutest today before I leave...anyone that says otherwise and is in the "just get in and drive" camp has never sat on -17 degree leather. The joys of the North!

My previous car, a 1.0L focus did this and it helped the warm up time immensely; especially since I parked in the driveway. My CX5 now takes forever to warm up. I'm like 500 ft away from a decently busy 40 mph street (50mph in Illinois speed) so I will wait until the car gets somewhat close to the minimum line so if I have to quickly pull out to that street because doing 5k rpm trying to get up to speed with a stone cold engine is horrible.

 

[opus1]

I always find it interesting where the "start and go" crowd is located. Normally places that never get below 0F and only occasionally get below freezing. 32F and -17F are two completely different startups (and sounds )...

No kidding. Over the years my vehicles have made horrible sounds when starting in extremely cold weather. Didn't seem to cause any problems but I still cringed when I'd have to do that.

 

[SevenBizzos]

Yes, folks neglect to realize that the difference between 32 and -17 is the same as the difference between 32 and 81.

Correct. Also two very different starts. Somewhere around 81 I switch back to the app so the car is cooled down a bit when I get there.

 

[BrianF]

She's a balmy -30c here today. Before rhe sun was up, it was a bit cold trying to light the charcoal grill. I just used the block heater and the F150 took a little love but she fired up....

 

[TmanP]

I always find it interesting where the "start and go" crowd is located. Normally places that never get below 0F and only occasionally get below freezing. 32F and -17F are two completely different startups (and sounds ).

Starting my car from my app has been the best thing ever.

I find that, if it is particularly cold (say, teens below zero or colder) idling more than a few, maybe up to 4-5, minutes doesn't really help warm up the engine nearly as quickly as I'd like. My 2.5 doesn't create much waste heat at idle, so I tend to prefer getting her moving so I can get some heat out of the vents, rather than sitting in a frigid car for longer than I have to. This was still the case, but less-so, in my 3800-powered Buick I had before.

Despite a dozen years of driving in those states, each winter, I am still a bit surprised how much the cars seem to dislike temps that cold - it's a surprisingly compact range between "normal start" "this engine is cold" "it's not happy" "it is unhappy" "boy, it didn't particularly want to start" - all in the space of 30-40 degrees or so. And that's with synthetic 0/5-weight oils, so I can imagine conventional 10w30 being a noticeably more difficult start.

(My winter credentials are having grown up in southern Minnesota, and I have since lived in Nebraska and Wisconsin. Predominantly outdoor parking over the years, too. I've done lots of starts in the negative teens and a few in the negative 20 range.)

 

[Patman]

I always find it interesting where the "start and go" crowd is located. Normally places that never get below 0F and only occasionally get below freezing. 32F and -17F are two completely different startups (and sounds ).

Starting my car from my app has been the best thing ever.

I’m a start up and go guy and I have often started my cars at -20C and colder. I will only idle it if the car is totally iced over or if the windows are fogging up too much.