I find the restarting after 10 seconds at a light thing odd. I was always told starting the car does the most wear on components...

 

and thats very true. starting the car wears on it because the pumps are not pushing oil. the people that write those articles have no tech back ground, they drive a prius, and believe in Scientology, and smell their own.....

sorry for the rant

 

hahahah zero^

 

I like how every one of those claims was supported by a study from a company or organization that was anti emissions and pro environment. Biased much?

 

I started my a4 up the other day and was flooring it on the freeway about 45 seconds later. The check engine light is now on.

 

im gonna go out on a whim here but....
ideally if your car is NOT warmed up you drive at higher RPMs thus burning more fuel and make a thicker exhaust or w/e releasing more chemicals into the atmosphere...
when your car is idle the engine works much less and emits a lot less harmful chemicals correct?

so ideally wouldn't either way really just be about the same?
now i understand a car idling for a half hour, would burn much more fuel then taking off at a higher RPM for a few minutes.

so, wouldn't the only plausible out come be, POSSIBLY, more wear on your car and really little to no difference in the chemicals you're releasing..?

 

i usually let the rpms drop down, takes like 2 mins

 

In the winter I always let mine idle to warm up before I go someplace, mostly because i'm a big baby and hate being cold lol. I also got in the habit of letting it idle to cool off when i get wherever i'm going. Not sure if either is necessary but it can't hurt, right?

 

Yep, I usually let the SAI do its thing then head off, I don't get into boost until the oil temp is at least to the 1st notch though. Idling more than a couple minutes is just wasting gas.

btw madmitch, are you in CO? It was 7* here this morning too.

 

cca4, i also let my car "cool off" after a drive, its suppose to rest a little before turning off your car when you have a turbo. i let it idle for 30secs - 1 minute, hence a turbo timer.

i don't have one so i just sit there and turn down my radio, turn off the heated seats etc. anything to waste a minute before killing the engine.