Originally Posted By: 2KBMW
I remember a seeing or hearing a car experts recommendation for this
question that made sense to me. At temps of 32 F and above: no warm up.
At temps 0 F to 32 F: a two minute warm up. Temps below 0 F: a five minute warm up
Makes sense to me; my only modification would be, if the engine idles high after cold start, then perhaps waiting for it come down a hair. My Jetta rarely idles high, or if does it's a very small bump; but as a stickshift I could care less. I can let out the clutch slowly. My Tundra always idles high for at least a few seconds, and I'm not crazy about driveline shock from dropping it into Drive (but I bet it's designed to handle that).
I can always kill a few seconds by buckling up, adjusting radio, etc right after starting. Plus if I have kids in tow then it takes at least a minute for them to get settled it seems.
Funny though: when I'm home and it's say 20F I contemplate running back inside to say goodby to the family. At 0F I just go inside and finish my coffee, and give it a good five minutes to warm up a hair. If I'm at work and it's -10F though I just drive off, no way I'm walking back inside the building--it's a 100 yard plus walk!