Startup Procedure

[funkyg]

Just curious as to how people drive thier pride and joys on here.

Do you let your car warm up before driving off in a morning or do you just get in, turn the key and fly off?

The amount of people I know who rag thier cars from cold is silly.

I always start the engine as soon as I get in, then do seat belts, music selection etc for a minute before pulling away.

Mike.

[sotal]

Get in, turn key, start engine, drive off, get seat belt on by end of street, select music at first set of traffic lights. I just don't thrash it to start with (infact most work days I'd be lucky to see 3000rpm for the whole journey)

I read somewhere that automatic chokes work better if you drive off straight away otherwise the engine gets to warm to quick or something

[littlewener]

usually drive straight off but never rag until it's warm

[Gnome]

Turn on ignition, whilst still parked in drive, put on seatbelt, turn on radio, make sure everything works (lights, indicators, have a good view, etc), then drive away.

Car does not go above 3/3500rpm until the engine temperature light goes off, then it only gets upto about 4000rpm anyway for the rest of the journey to work.

[BLiTZ]

There's only one way out of our village - straight onto a 60mph stretch of the A19 so unless you leave in the middle of the night, driving smoothly ain't an option

so for me its:

Switch on

seatbelt

drive carefully out of the garage and down the side of the house

switch off

close and lock garage (garage and car keys are on same ring)

start up again and drive down the street to the main road at 15mph

wait for gap in traffic

GO!!!

then after razzing the nuts off 1st and 2nd calm it down and get up to 60 across a space of a mile and a half

[Tegan]

Start her up, wait for ages for neighbour to get out of bed and move his car (we share a driveway)

Get to end of street - car is still accelerating even though im braking (cold start- keeps revs at 2k) - brake a bit harder so i dont go through neighbours front wall!

Cant rag it down our main street anyway - 30mph speed limit and too much traffic!

So by the time i get to the fast bit of road its warm anyway :)

T x

[Avensis wagon]

Start with clutch depressed. Always have and I note that it's recommended in the manual for my car. Run for around 15 secs and drive off slowly -- best to get the engine warm quickly rather than wait around for polluting minutes. In winter the sump heater gives a good start.

[Jones~32]

Get in, Start-up (With clutch pressed), Stereo front in, seatbelt, select music, then drive away, traffic is always bad in the morning so i dont see above 2,500rpm for 5-10 mins by which time its warm, then anything upto about 5,000rpm depending on traffic/mood :D

[cfc1]

Get in, seatbelt on, radio on, start it, rev the fn guts out of it.. select 1st and scream it 15 yards down to tht T junction... pull out (spinning wheels) get it up to about 5500 revs and go to 2nd.. more revs and into third etc etc. It's a works diesel Astra.. the sooner it dies the better

[clarky]

In - fiddle with phone - put wallet into bit between seats (it digs into your bum otherwise), seatbelt, stereo then off - no ragging until green low coolant temp light goes out ...

[Demonic Angel]

Get in, seatbelt on, start up and slowly drive out the drive!

I dont rag it til I get to the NSL road 2 miles away!

[daktari]

Start engine. Let the idle even out and wait for smell of petrol to dissapear Then trundle down the road till all temps are good. Then ....... Playtime. :D

[GIDDLEPIN]

Unlock the car door, open the garage door (if you don’t do it that way the alarm goes off), put the key in the ignition, start up, put the belt on and take a gentle drive the 10 miles into work.

At least I think that’s what Anne does.

[Jones~32]

Get in, seatbelt on, radio on, start it, rev the fn guts out of it.. select 1st and scream it 15 yards down to tht T junction... pull out (spinning wheels) get it up to about 5500 revs and go to 2nd.. more revs and into third etc etc.  It's a works diesel Astra.. the sooner it dies the better

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Nice one

[selfbuild]

Get in, foot straight onto clutch, start car and wait for all the lights to go out, headlights on and start driving whilst putting seat belt on.

I try not to rev the engine above 2000rpm for the first 5mins.....

[Kev Mc]

Get in, take the steering wheel lock off (usually after having knocked it & beeped the horn), start the engine, put steering wheel lock on either the passenger side floor or in the back depending on if some1 else is travelling, plug my mobile into the hands-free kit, put cd player front on, find a decent tune, put belt on.

I live in a village without much traffic so for the 1st half mile or so I go slowly, being gentle on the breaks which (I hope) should dry any rain etc off. Once I'm out of the way of the houses I drive a bit harsher (but nothing too drastic) then a mile or 2 down the road I jump on the motorway & use the necessary acceleration.

[Jesus]

Get in... toast in passenger footwell... foot on clutch... turn key... foot still on clutch... seatbelt on... stereo face on... check mirrors... drive off slowly, bibbing horn at my missus and kids as I leave to embarrass them in front of friends and to ever strengthen relationship with neighbours during early hours of morning... keep it below 2500-3000 revs until oil temp gauge reads approx 75-80oC... and keep it below 2500-3000 revs the rest of the way to work stuck behind same people every, every day through 30 and 20mph zones... beautiful.

[Caz SR]

Get in, take the steering wheel lock off (usually after having knocked it & beeped the horn)...

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I couldn't get the hang of my lock for ages and kept hitting the horn. Quite embarassing!

My routine...

Fly out of the door (I'm late for everything). Unlock car, jump in and chuck my work bags on the passenger side. Strap myself in, start the car and turn heaters to full blast to clear windows. Plug my ipod in, select tunes (I'll always have time for this - it's essential). Wipe sleep from my eyes at the first set of lights, then a moderate drive until I hit the motorway. The SR's normally warm by then

[b1nda]

why does pressing the clutch when starting up cold help the engine?

[jaxx]

my groundhog mornings

alarm at 6

snooze till 6:10

snooze till 6:20

snooze till 6:30

get up

wash, teeth, slash, dressed, make food in 15mins

blunder at the door at the last minute

fumble for alarm fob

disarm alarm

squeeze door open after ive parked on the p**s and my dads park right up along side me

throw bag in passneger footwell

disram immobilizer

disarm alarm immobiliser again after time out

disarm other immobiliser again as i didnt do it right the first time

start engine... wake up neighbours

stereo in, select station

wait for red light to go out on eManage... system armed and ready for launch

always attempt to pull off slowly although exhausts makes a proper racket at 2k rpm

roll down road

stop

demist window

get to a60 at no more than 3k rpm

get on a60 to national speed limit... cars warm now

stuck behind some mong doing 40

leave half a dozen '40 milers' at the crossroad lights

attempt 90 degree bend at +60mph

stuck behind 40 miler

attack roundabout pretty lairy

brake half way round as some dozy muppet doesnt bother looking

travel through industrial estate at slightly illegal limit

get to work

wait for gate to decide to open

attempt to find a parkin space

'make a parking space'

give car 2-3 mins to cool down, get my senses together then wonder how the hell i got here! (scary)

'start of shift' buzzer

get out of car

slow stroll to door

miss near death with forktruck

clock in!

45mins later do some work!

[jay dh]

i dont go above 2000rpm for the first 5 mins unless the car has been on a run shortly before

in fact driving to work i dont go above 2000rpm as its cold now in the mornings

[Karma Supra]

I usually start the car leaning in before I even get in!!!

I never go over about 2500 untill the car is warm...

I also like to try and take the last couple of miles easily.. then let the turbo timer do the rest!!!!

After a mega run (one of those where all six manifold branches are bright yellow, turbo white and trancelucent, and downpipe glowing red right under the car) I'll trundle about for a couple of mins, then let the car idle with the bonnet open to let out excess heat...

I quite fancy a remote start just to take the chilly edge of things when its very cold!

[martin_longbow]

You could not hit my nearest neighbour with an excellent snowball through so

Start it (just a little tickle with the key, no pedal it starts a dream) and get it out the garage. Pop phone in the kit for a charge. Leave running and then lock garage. Go back into the house get the stuff I'm taking to work, get the dog and more stuff keys etc and then alarm and lock the house / say bye to my good wife. If I have time I take the dog for a little stroll incase the slaves (kids) did not take him out before getting off to school

Put the dog in the passengers foot well (he wont sit anywhere else, minted dog) and get in and nurse out the drive and off to work nice and warm (take the dog with me, minted work and dog)

[Al J]

Slam door of house shut. Walk briskly to car avoiding getting run over (opening locks as I make my way). Open hatch, put bag and laptop in boot. Close hatch, open driver's door. Get in, close door, key in ignition, start, do observation (check for other vehicles, pedestrians, etc.) go.

I'm not a morning person and rubbish at getting out early.

[sotal]

why does pressing the clutch when starting up cold help the engine?

 

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biggest reason is it stops you lurching forward if you left it in gear!

next reason is that it is supposed to takes some of the stresses off the clutch plates etc