2Q's: Engine Warm Up Time & Pwr Button

[adrian]

Got 2 questions

1) is it necessary these days to warm up our Lexus car's engines these days?

a) if so, how many minutes?

b ) do we do it the same amount of time during summer vs. winter? Living in Perth it's probably 1 degree C on coldest mornings.

2) the POWER switch in our IS250's according to the manual is for better acceleration. Has anyone really noticed any difference because I sure can't!!

Thanks all!

[Lexus Nerd]

1) I'd say you needn't idle the vehicle at all, before moving off. (Based on what I've seen in Toyota/Lexus owners manuals, the absence of any recommendation from the manual means you don't need to idle. Other industry sources suggest that idling is no longer required for "most of today's vehicles", but also suggest that you should avoid hard acceleration until the engine warms up.)

2) The "driving mode" or ECT switch is explained in this discussion, in a little detail:

http://au.lexusowner...?showtopic=9724

But I also like our moderator's recent comment:

My power button is in the start stop button.

It really changes the way the car responds to the throttle.

[adrian]

1) I'd say you needn't idle the vehicle at all, before moving off. (Based on what I've seen in Toyota/Lexus owners manuals, the absence of any recommendation from the manual means you don't need to idle. Other industry sources suggest that idling is no longer required for "most of today's vehicles", but also suggest that you should avoid hard acceleration until the engine warms up.)

2) The "driving mode" or ECT switch is explained in this discussion, in a little detail:

http://au.lexusowner...?showtopic=9724

But I also like our moderator's recent comment:

My power button is in the start stop button.

It really changes the way the car responds to the throttle.

thanks, mate :)

[IS350-F Sport]

In the morning only, I idle until the needle moves off the "C" before moving. When I have time, I prefer to warm up the engine for abut 3 minutes. The ML sound system and dvd makes the wait easy! (Note, I am also from Perth).

There is a noticeable difference when the "power" mode is selected. (I owned an IS350 FSport). The gear seems to hold longer and the throttle is a lot more responsive, but at the expense of fuel economy of course.

Enjoy your car!

Cheers,

D