You know, I used to do this… my father used to do it, and my father-in-law still does it. Popular belief says you should heat up your car’s engine in idle mode before you go on a ride, especially when it’s cold outside. They say if you don’t do this, you’ll ruin the segments and you’ll end up having a broken car soon.
Ecogeek now has a post on how stupid and bad for the environment this habit really is. Quoting two websites who rely on the information gathered from experienced mechanics, the post says it’s not worth idling your engine for more than 30 seconds, even in the coldest of weathers.
Everything that has to happen happens anyway, either you drive your car normally or not, just faster or slower. Based on the same logic, your engine will warm up faster and the oil will get sucked by the oil pump faster if you rev the car in your normal driving.
Furthermore, the emissions that get out of the pipe in cold weather are much more pronounced, and contain particles that are dangerous for our health, because the catalytic converter only works at temperatures between 750° and 1500° F, so you’ll do bad to the air for a longer time if you idle than if you go (more than double).
