[brucepick]

I take a slightly different view on warmup in very cold weather. My preferred would be to have a good electric preheater that warms the block via the coolant. I don't have one so I have to deal with warmup in New England winter, which I admit isn't as frigid as the Minnesota winters.

Anyway, the engine runs rich when cold, we've already discussed that. So if it HAS to run rich, I at least want to get the most possible distance out of the fuel it burns while warming up. No warmup idling for me, except maybe if it's 10 degrees or less out there and I don't feel safe "using" the engine at those low temperatures.

So while warming up, especially in winter weather, I pulse and glide as aggressively as I dare. I really avoid idling whether rolling or not. I also avoid coasting in gear; that mostly slows the car down and doesn't do anything much to warm it up. I'm not a big fan of wide open throttle, or even of 60-80% open throttle. So I'm using moderate throttle when engine is running.

I use a grill block. That really helps speed the warmup process, and also enables the engine to reach and maintain full warmup temperature even in frigid weather. In winter I'd say about 90% of my grill is blocked off. Mine is removable chunks of gray foam pipe insulation stuffed into the openings that are about 2" x 5". The foam is layered up and bound together with duct tape. I'm working on something prettier but the nice thing about this setup is that I can add and remove chunks as needed.

I pay attention to the engine temp display on my ScanGauge. When the outside temperature changes significantly I need to add or remove grill block chunks.