Winter start-ups

This was quoted by another member from another forum. I was wondering what everyones opinion is of this. "Start driving right after you start the car. This lets the entire drivetrain warm up at the same time. If you start the car and let it idle, you're putting excess wear on your catalytic converters and the transmission and everything else are still cold." This is my first Porsche and will probably drive a few times in the winter and I want to make sure I am doing everything right.

Personally I disagree...I've grown up around these cars and used tolive in NJ. I drove my 944 to school every morning. I would start it up and rev the engine just a tad to get it going and then let it idle. Always worked much better for me than starting the car and driving rite to school.

I havent had a real garage the last 6-7 years, and my trusty old 944 + my current 996 have always started up and been sitting idle until frost/snow has melted on the windows. Havent had a problem related to that ever. That doesnt mean its a good idea, so I'm really looking forward for some "proof" of the above claim, so I possibly might change habits

What is the "official" line on this from Porsche. Have never read it anywhere either way, except keeping the revs low when cold.

Doesn't matter if it's a Porsche or a Hyundai - don't drive until the oil has warmed up a bit. It's common sense that cold oil isn't exactly viscous - it's like molasses when it's really cold.

I love this concept. Turn the car on when it's dead frozen and start driving it right away. From my recollection, this was always a fuel management trick (since you burn a bit more fuel when the car is first turned on and not warmed up) than an engine management technique. When it's cold outside, my recommendation is to, on starting the car, gently blip the accelerator a bit and then let it idle for a minute or two is standard form. If it's warm, I would just start the car, let the RPMs settle for a couple of seconds and then just drive away, all the while driving gingerly until the engine is properly operating at recommended temperature. Here's what Joel Reiser had to say over at PCA : "I have heard different opinions over the years on warming up the cars before driving. You might even want to read what Porsche recommends, in your owner's manual. I would say for normal light daily driving, just start the car and start going. Do not hit the throttle hard until the car is up to temperature. For sporting use, I would say to wait until it is warmed up at least a little bit before going."

There should really be no reason to blip the throttle on a cold start up because the car will already idle above the normal idle range for a period of time (until the car determines that it has reached a certain operating temp). If you decide to let the car idle to warm up vs. driving off, realize that other items such as the transmission, wheel bearings, etc. have not had the opportunity to achieve their optimum operating temperature and therefore you should not drive the car hard yet.

I don't know if it's right or wrong, but the owner's manual for my 944 says not to warm a car up by letting it idle but does not explain why it is not good for the car. I don't recall reading anything one way or the other in my 996's manual.