Warming up the engine on cold starts

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2019 CX5 Touring/Preferred Pkg
Here in the northeast its been getting colder and colder lately and have noticed that the blue light for cold engine is on a lot longer than usual. As expected, it does take a lot longer to have warm air coming out the vents as well as high RPMs and limited power when accelerating.
How long do you guys wait until driving when you start the car from a cold start in the mornings?
 
However long it takes to go back inside, pack my lunch and fix my cup of travel coffee. (dunno) If the windshield hasn't defrosted/thawed when I return...a little longer then.
 
Only a couple of minutes for me. I go out to start the car and turn on the defrosters, then a minute or two later I drive off.

After a little experimenting what I've discovered is that no matter how long you let the car idle, it will never fully warm up until you start driving it. Just take it slow while the blue light is on.
 
Unlock,sit,start car, turn seat heater,steering wheel heat on,push correct seat memory button,adjust side views that should be automatic with seat memory! Choose radio station, auto climate on 72 degrees,seat belt on,drive...go easy until blue light off
 
There is no mechanical reason to let the car sit and idle before driving off. It's purely for comfort reasons.

Obviously, a heavy foot with a cold car should be avoided as much as possible. I choose to use 0w-30 synthetic in my GTR, to help a bit with cold driving.
 
Sounds like a good reason for remote start.

I have a remote start, I find I can live with out it. It occasionally turns on the front defrosters but I have to manually turn on the back defrosters.

Plus letting the car idle with a remote start really doesn't warm up the interior that much.
 
I garage my CX 5 and the temperature in the garage stays around 50 degrees even when it is 30 outside. When there is snow on the ground or snow expected I back into the garage. As soon as I start the car I immediately pull forward onto the driveway and put the car in park and let it idle. That way exhaust fumes aren't building up in the garage which is attached and below the living quarters of my home.
As soon as the temp needle moves a little I go ahead and drive, taking it easy for the first mile until I hit the main highway. Then I drive as normal but don't flog the engine.
A blue light for cold engine ? I must be missing it. I can say that when I turn on the heated seats to the medium position they are sufficiently warm by the time I get to the highway and then I shut them off. I tried the heated wheel yesterday. A nice feature, just warm enough.
I have owned cars with heated seats before but never a heated steering wheel. When I lived in Virginia for 3 winters I wore a pair of thin & soft suede gloves with Thinsulate lining that worked well for driving.
 
I've had heated seats for the past 20 years & just take them for granted. I cant imagine not having them. I initially thought the heated steering wheel was stupid until I finally used it this past week. Now it ranks right up there with my ventilated seats as one of my favorite features.
 
Unlock,sit,start car, turn seat heater,steering wheel heat on,push correct seat memory button,adjust side views that should be automatic with seat memory! Choose radio station, auto climate on 72 degrees,seat belt on,drive...go easy until blue light off

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I pretty-much follow the same procedure; takes a couple of minutes, and then I'm off nice n' easy. I believe those of us who have the TFT instrument cluster do not have blue (and red) engine temperature lights since our CX-5's have an actual analog temperature dial. Does take a while though to reach full operating temperature in freezing conditions.
 
Here in the northeast its been getting colder .........

How long do you guys wait until driving when you start the car from a cold start in the mornings?

On really cold mornings, below freezing, I like to let it warm up for 2 - 3 minutes, until the defroster works and then drive gently and below 2500 RPM for at least 5 miles. It is beneficial to be gentle to the engine and trans when they are cold and the bearing tolerances are tightest. FYI, Formula 1 engines are heated to 200F over 24 hours before starting because they are built so tightly.

I have a Scanguage plugged in right now. The blue cold light goes off at 130F, hardly warm. It takes mine 5 to 7 miles, depending on temp, to get the water to 180F. It takes another 15 miles to get the trans to 180F. At 180, everything is good for a flogging. At 80 MPH cruise on the interstate, the trans runs between 200F and 205F and the engine runs 185F. That's fully warmed up.
 
When you start any car, the RPM's always start a little higher to warm up the Catalytic Converter. 95% of the time I wait until the RPM's drop to the normal range before putting the car in gear. On both my cars. And on every car I've ever owned. :D
 
So I'm a little different. I never warm up my vehicles unless I'm going to transport someone who is sick and needs the vehicle to be warm inside. I live in MN. It sometimes gets to -30F here. I have never had a drop of trouble related to driving cold vehicles not warmed up. Say what you will, my vehicles have never failed me.
 
When starting the car, the RPM's are high for about 30 seconds so hot or cold weather, I wait for the RPM's to drop before driving.

Page 4-8 of the 2019 manual says to idle for 10 seconds.
 
When you start any car, the RPM's always start a little higher to warm up the Catalytic Converter. 95% of the time I wait until the RPM's drop to the normal range before putting the car in gear. On both my cars. And on every car I've ever owned. :D

This is also what I do, regardless of outside temps. Never any good to put an AT in gear w/ the RPMs way up.
 
I usually wait a minute or two after the start-up then go and drive gently until the engine is fully warmed up.
But wife would most likely starts her CX-5 up then drive away immediately in the hurry no matter how many times I suggested her to wait for 30 seconds until the idle drops. ;)
 
I don't wait for the blue light to go off.
I just wait for the RPM to come down to 1K, then, off I go... keep it at low RPM until the blue light goes off.
 
Unlock,sit,start car, turn seat heater,steering wheel heat on,push correct seat memory button,adjust side views that should be automatic with seat memory! Choose radio station, auto climate on 72 degrees,seat belt on,drive...go easy until blue light off

I often remote start, take a dump while reading news from smart phone, use Charmins, wash hands, put on shoes, get into fully warmed engine car feeling 5lbs lighter. :p
 
If I am parked outside (at night the car is in a heated garage) I start the car, and wait for the Mazda logo to clear the infotainment screen then put it in gear and drive very conservatively until the blue light is off. I find this to work well in Canada where it is warm all the time! (not). Synthetic oil is all I normally run in any vehicle.
 
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