Taking It Easy on a Cold Engine - Why?

[Delta]

I have about 2 miles of light driving in town then it's up the 6-10%+ grade mountain. In the GTI I'm able to gently go up the first grade till it hits the main drag which is a steeper grade. I can still take it easy, unless there's a semi going up, then the race is on. You do not want to be stuck behind one of those for 5 miles. Typically by then the car is showing an oil temp reading (does show under 130*F).

Now the S10 (which I've been daily driving actually) you have no choice but to rev it out going up the mountain. It typically will be warmed up before getting to the main mountain. But, forget about getting around that semi

Jeep and Camry have adequate power just to use minimal throttle till warm as well.

I don't consider this abuse really. I know several people that will just WOT up it right from start.

 

[fdcg27]

I also prefer not to run an engine hard until it's had a chance to warm up, but traffic conditions sometimes demand it.
I would think that if you only did this now and then, as I do, then little harm will be done.
It seems better to me to allow everything to warm up to its design operating clearances before giving the engine the lash, but sometimes a little harder running when not warmed up can't be helped.

 

[yugrus]

My cars' engines don't really have problems starting and running cold, transmissions do. I mean, real winter cold. They're pre-set to not shift upwards of 2-3 when ATF temperature is below certain threshold. And it is wise engineering. That's why I have a modest 100W stick-on Kat's heater pad on my Tahoe transmission. In addition to 150W pad for the engine and stock block heater with its stupid GM thermostat removed. All that controlled by Wi-Fi timer, which is a part of the wider system of Wi-Fi timers that control on-board battery heater and maintainer, 120V police-style interior heater and seat heaters running off of 12v power brick. The truck has 120V power receptacles under hood and in the salon. It also has trailer-style 120v on-shore waterproof receptacle for the heavy-duty power cord under the back bumper.
So even if I'm late, I can easily juggle Wi-Fi timers/switches to heat up what I think is most important at the time, using my phone, even if I forgot to set timers up in advance. This way I have relatively warm components under hood, no frost on windshield and fuzzy seats. It's just my outdoor outlet capacity is not enough for all of the above at once. The power cord is attached to the vehicle at all times whet it is parked, and the battery is maintained almost at all times by default.
Working on the heated steering wheel installation, too bad the truck did not come with one. Will hook it up to the shore power as well.