daily short trips
 

I work about 1.5 miles away from where i live, my short commute is one of the highlight of my day because i get to drive my brz. but recently i read these short commutes will wear down my engine sooner. So my question is what can i do to avoid damaging my engine aside from waiting for the car to warm up before driving? (tbh, i dont really wait that long right now, just wait for the rpm dip and then blow out the door... i should stop doing that...)

Short trips are a bit harder on the car since it doesn't give the fluids an opportunity to get up to operating temps. Therefore any moisture that happens to be in the air, wont have a chance to evaporate. I would say as long as you're not beating on the car for that 1.5 miles, and following the recommended service guide (for extreme conditions) you should be fine. Maybe take the 'long' way to work every now and again, or go for a drive ;)

Maybe walk to work if you're that worried...

I wish I had this problem, my last commute, which I did this past week was 3,700 KM haha

if you beat on it, it'll warm up faster ;)

you're in the PNW. i say ride a bike. we're all hippies, afterall

Daaaaaaamn lol. I thought my 'commute' from Tbay to Whitby was bad (1400km). I bet the car was up to operating temp by the time you got back though ;)

That was Guelph to Edmonton, but in a work truck. The FRS gets to be enjoyed by my father. Although I think right now, it's too low to even make it out of the garage, so that's pretty cool haha

Well, I suggest you not worry about "damaging" the engine because of your short trips. I predict that your car will last longer that you own it, even by that kind of driving. ...... :popcorn:

However, I'd suggest you keep it under 4,000 rpms for the entire 1.5 mile trip, because it won't be really warmed up in that distance.

Like mentioned above, about twice a week, it would be nice to take the long way home ...... after all, milk is cheaper on the other side of the county .... :)


humfrz

god i wish i worked 1.5 miles away from house

D Thissen is correct. The major problem with short trips is the oil never gets warm enough to boil off the condensates and contamination in the crankcase. These impurities in turn form corrosive compounds.

My commute is short like this as well, about 2 miles. By the time I'm getting into my parking spot at work, my car is *just* reaching operating temp, according to the dummy temperature gauge on the dash which means nothing.

Judging by the fact that I've heard it takes roughly 15-20 minutes for fluids to be fully at operating temp, I never fully reach "operating temp" on my commute to or from work.

I have 12k miles on my 2013 FR-S and I've been changing the oil every 6-10 months with Eneos 0w-20 (non Sustina). I use it primarly for commuting, with the occasional extremely spirited sustained high RPM blast through the canyons on the weekends. I should probably do a UOA...

I do exactly the same thing. What is UOA?

Lately, I've been leaving home earlier in the morning to give everything the chance to warm up and circulate.
I'll just cruise around for a while instead of heading straight to work.

My commute is about 5 miles and my oil is 190 F or so before I even park. This is according to the OFT btw. I tend to go for spirited drives though on the weekend to get tne oil hot about ~240 F :D