In South Florida we spend too much time waiting at railroad tracks, bridges and long traffic lights. Here, we dispell the myths of warming up and idling your VW or AUDI. Learn how to save money on fuel, spark plugs and contribute to a greener planet...
Isn't it better to have the my engine warmed up before driving?
This iis the number one myth—that you need to warm-up your car before you drive away. This is an untruth, EVEN when you drive your Volkswagen or Audi in the cooler seasons or in cold climates. Ever since the introduction of electronic engines, warming the engine up is no longer neccessary. The fact is, excessive idling can actually hurt your engine.
Are you telling me I can damage my engine by too much idling?
Yes, absolutely. When an engine is idling it is not operating at the best temperature for the complete combustion of fuel. This means unburned fuel residue attaches to the engine interior and one of the common places it attaches is spark plugs. Dirty, inefficient spark plugs are the number one reason why we change them in the VWs and AUDIs which show up at our shop.
Then the best way to warm up my car is by moving it?
Right again! What many people don't consider is all the moving parts that need warming up on a car. The transmission, the wheel bearings, the steering system, the suspension system and even the tires. This makes for not only safer driving but also more economical driving too! Consider the fact that fuel consumption increases by up to 5 percent during idling—so turn off your engine when you're sitting somewhere for more than 10 seconds. Long traffic lights, railroad tracks, bridges are all good examples
But isn't turning the engine off and on too many times hard on the starter?
This is another myth. Studies have been conducted on this very matter which show that frequent restarting causes little wear on engine parts such as the starter and the battery. Increased restarting does add about ten dollars per year to the car's maintenance cost, but compare that to the cost of fuel that is burned from unneccessary engine idling. Mutlipy the amount of time idling by 365 days, by the price per gallon we are paying today, and that's a lot of money. It's also the green thing to do.
What do you mean, it's the green thing to do?
Until the automative industry acts responsibly and produces the cars we want—cars that get high mileage per gallon and use cleaner, alternative fuels—we can do small things that really matter. Reducing idling time is a good way to reduce the amount of hydrocarbons that we dump into the air with each car that's on the road. The reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2) is a direct reduction of the greenhouse gases, what is currently causing global warming and putting the future of this planet at a grave and serious risk. If every person in the United States with a car reduced engine idling by just 5 minutes a day, it would reduce literally millions of tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere. That by itself makes it the most important thing you can do.
The Bottomline of all this (and this is it), reduce engine idling to get more from your VW and AUDI. You'll save money, fuel and the enivornment. Better yet, get a bicycle! We may not be able to offer you a tune-up for your two-wheeler, but we'll be happy to put free air in your tires!
