Do i need to let me car viper warm up before driving it?

Lundqvist

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a friend told me that with big engine cars like the viper, i have to leave the car on for like 5 minutes to warm up before driving it.

i live in southern cali so thres no snow here, and i have a 2004 viper. ANy thoughts?
 

v10nut

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No. You can drive it right away but you should let the oil temp go into the normal range before driving it hard or revving it up. You should treat every car that way though.
 

RTTTTed

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30 sec to 1 minute for the oil to fill the engine before moving or revving the engine at all. Start driving the car gently as the transmission and rear differential, axle bearings, driveshafts, etc. also need to warm up.

Only light throttle loads should be applied until the engine has been fully warmed up.

As stated above, all cars should be driven this way.

Ted
 

AviP

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Out in the northeast, my shifter feels very stiff for the first few miles. Now you can't really warm up a tranny without running the car, so I'd say run it lightly until it shifts smoothly. Same goes for the rest of the car.
 

Russ M

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Like Jon B says "the year matters"

On 99 and older cars or cars that have after market forged pistons it is a good idea to let the motor warm up to nearly operating temperature before driving. The reason being is that they need to expand and heat is what causes them to do so.

That however does not change the fact that all cars should be warmed up at least 30 sec and driven very lightly for the first 5-10 min.
 

kcobean

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Just remember that if you let the engine warm up by idling for a few minutes, the rest of the driveline is still 'cold' (relatively speaking). 10 minutes of easy, minimal load driving after a 30 second warm up to let the oil pressure come up and get everything wet is best, IMO. That way everything is up to temp before you start playing rough.
 

Hoosier Daddy

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While yours is a gen 3 sidepipe car, the Gen 2's with rear exhaust I usually let the exhaust spit out most of the moisture before taking off. This greatly reduces the amount of black soot on the rear of the car.
 
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Venomiss

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Out in the northeast, my shifter feels very stiff for the first few miles. Now you can't really warm up a tranny without running the car, so I'd say run it lightly until it shifts smoothly. Same goes for the rest of the car.

I am impressed. Not one comment yet.
 

dodgefever

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LOL....I prefer to think of this as "mid-atlantic", thank you very much!!

Virginia is surely Mid-Atlantic. ;) It is 1 mile from my garage until I am out of my neighborhood. The engine temp is 190 before I am halfway there, so 3 or 4 minutes in second gear at 25 MPH warms everything up.
 

Fast Viper Dan

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Like Jon B says "the year matters"

On 99 and older cars or cars that have after market forged pistons it is a good idea to let the motor warm up to nearly operating temperature before driving. The reason being is that they need to expand and heat is what causes them to do so.

That however does not change the fact that all cars should be warmed up at least 30 sec and driven very lightly for the first 5-10 min.



If I remember right, the 1999 owners manual said to wait for temp to get to 180 before driving.:nono:

I'll look when I get home.
 

dodgefever

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If I remember right, the 1999 owners manual said to wait for temp to get to 180 before driving.:nono:

I'll look when I get home.

I just read the manual and could not find anything like that. I saw it mentions the shifting will be stiff until it warms up, and I didn't realize it but it also says to use 91 octane and does NOT recommend using higher.
 

RTTTTed

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It take my engine about 10 minutes before being even slightly warmed. With 11 quarts of oil it take longer than that to warm up properly. 'Course with larger hp full throttle is harder on the engine than stock.

Ted
 

Dom426h

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While yours is a gen 3 sidepipe car, the Gen 2's with rear exhaust I usually let the exhaust spit out most of the moisture before taking off. This greatly reduces the amount of black soot on the rear of the car.

good call.
 

Dom426h

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30 sec to 1 minute for the oil to fill the engine before moving or revving the engine at all. Start driving the car gently as the transmission and rear differential, axle bearings, driveshafts, etc. also need to warm up.

Only light throttle loads should be applied until the engine has been fully warmed up.

As stated above, all cars should be driven this way.

Ted

bingo:2tu:
i'll usually warm her up for a min or two then as im heading down the hill out of my development i'll shift from 1st to 3rd and keep her in 3rd at cruising speed for a little longer than usuall to make certain the fluid in the trans case warms up and coats everything

I got used to doing this(skipping 2nd when cold) on my miata that didnt like going in 2nd at all when cold, then decided to do it with all my manual trans vehicles to help prolong the life of the 2nd gear syncros.
 
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