I believe that if we live in colder regions, we have all done it at some time. When we step outdoors in the frigid weather, the first thing we do is turn on the vehicle and start cleaning the windshield. For many of us, going out to warm up the vehicle is simply a way of life. We all know why we warm up the automobile. We want the temperature inside to be pleasant when we get in to go to work or the shop.

It also has a lot to do with the fact that many of us have been persuaded for years that warming up the automobile is essential for engine protection. If that’s what you’ve been doing, you may want to reconsider your routine. It is not only terrible for your automobile, but it is also bad for your cash. According to Business Insider, a drag racer who went on to get a PhD in mechanical engineering sought to test this notion. He thought it was a “myth” that warming up your automobile in the cold was the best option.

According to the article: “In a word, an internal combustion engine operates by compressing a combination of air and vaporized fuel inside a cylinder using pistons.” The compressed mixture is then ignited, resulting in a combustion event—a little controlled explosion that drives the engine. When your engine is cold, the gasoline is less likely to evaporate and provide the proper air-to-vaporized-fuel ratio for combustion.

Sensors in engines with electronic fuel injection adjust for cold by pushing additional gasoline into the mixture. The engine will continue to run rich in this manner until it reaches roughly 40 degrees Fahrenheit.” Warming up your automobile in the winter is problematic because additional gasoline enters the combustion chamber and may adhere to the cylinder walls. It ends up washing oil from the cylinder walls, affecting the lubrication and life of your cylinder liners and piston rings.

When you turn on the heat in your automobile, the engine does not warm up. The heater is there to warm the interior of your automobile, but driving your car is what efficiently heats up the engine. I’ll be the first to confess that driving in a chilly automobile is one of those things we don’t want to do on a daily basis. However, if you can put up with it for a few minutes, the frigid air will be a distant memory.

When driving a chilly automobile, you need also consider how rapidly you drive. Don’t press the gas pedal for the first five minutes or so since you’ll be using gas inefficiently. Idling your automobile wastes petrol, but so does vigorous driving in the cold.

“Before 1980, carburetors were the heart that kept vehicle engines flowing,” according to the Business Insider story. However, electronic fuel injection took control in the 1980s and is still used in today’s automobile engines. The main distinction is that electronic fuel injection includes a sensor that feeds the cylinders the proper air-fuel combination to produce a combustion event. Carburetor-powered vehicles lacked this critical sensor.”