[QUOTE]Originally posted by Ade
[B]IIRC Brian was advising people to warm up the tyres as well as the engine.

 

If I waited until I'd done 4 miles, I would be at my office which means I wouldn't get into vtec except at weekends which would be totally unacceptable

I think the engine cuts out over 6000 when there's only 1 bar on the temp gauge although I'm sure I've vtec'd before then as well.

I think it's fair to assume a) Honda's designers know what they're doing and b) don't expect you to be an engine designer/technician to drive the car. If the engine's that fragile that you can't rev it fully until it's done 4 miles or 10 minutes etc then they would have programmed that into the ecu or face the consequences of many warranty claims, wouldn't they?

IMHO whether it's a good idea to use high revs on unwarm tyres would be a matter of the driver's judgment. After all, a good driver may have a better feel for the car's behaviour and level of grip.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Man's Best
[B]I think the engine cuts out over 6000 when there's only 1 bar on the temp gauge although I'm sure I've vtec'd before then as well.

I think it's fair to assume a) Honda's designers know what they're doing and b) don't expect you to be an engine designer/technician to drive the car.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Man's Best
[B]I think it's fair to assume a) Honda's designers know what they're doing and b) don't expect you to be an engine designer/technician to drive the car.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Man's Best
[B]
I think it's fair to assume a) Honda's designers know what they're doing and b) don't expect you to be an engine designer/technician to drive the car.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by gaddafi
[B]

The engine isn't fragile.

 

Woudn't tyres take different amounts of time to warm up depending on ambient temp also?

 

Won't the engine get hotter if you're stuck in traffic because of the reduced airflow, or am I being old-fashioned?

 

I'm anticipating Brian's reply here which is dangerous!

Your engine has an optimum max operating temperature at which it's at it's most efficient. Standing in traffic is when that temperature is likely to rise above that max, which is why you have the solenoid fan you often hear, which cuts in to assist cooling. If you pull away from a prolonged period of being stationary with the engine running, then it's likely your engine temperature will be above the desired max, possibly much higher, and thrashing the engine then could cause as much damage from overheating as you'd sustain from thrashing a cold engine.

Heat isn't always a good thing in an engine beyond a certain level, which is one of the reasons that Mugen will sell you a very expensive radiator cap which significantly lowers the operating temperature of your engine! Just note how much crisper and more responsive your S is on those cold days, than it is in a Summer heatwave.

 

That's not really what I was saying. If you want to go to extremes then those would be:

a) revving an engine at max indefinitely, as you say, and
b) not revving it at all

How much fun would you get if you did only the latter, but the engine would last a very long time

Clearly everyone operates somewhere in the middle most of the time, but as much as I personally like the 'race car' feel of the engine that's hard to find in other cars, it has to be (and is) suitable for everyday use by drivers with ordinary (or less than ordinary?) skill levels. I'm not advocating lack of mechanical sympathy for the car, but it's easy for paranoia to set in

I'm not thinking of racing, but you do have to judge the grip levels available all the time, not just when tyres are cold and one of the nice things about driving the S is the way you can feel how the car is moving beneath you. The ability to read what the car is doing more effectively is what I was referring to and in my view is just one of those things that separates drivers of different skill levels (BTW I'm not making any claims for myself!).

You could argue that applies more to extremes of driving conditions and driving with cold tyres is one example.

There are lots of great 'rules of thumb' (such as the '4 mile rule') on this forum - some will work for me and others won't, that's all.