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That's not true, at least in Germany. Idling your engine to heat up the car is not allowed (if you want to heat up your car you need an auxilliary heater which
by tjansen 7y ago
That's not true, at least in Germany. Idling your engine to heat up the car is not allowed (if you want to heat up your car you need an auxilliary heater which is sold as an option or as aftermarket modification), so most car brands do not offer remote start. But European Cadillacs offer that feature, and if you import an US model, you can also have it.
- teekert 7y agoWhat is the reason for this? I do this every morning the car has frozen over... I turn on the engine, heating, AC, windshield heating, back windows heating, "keep the air inside"-switch and go back inside for 3-5 min.
- tjansen 7y agoNoise and emissions. A lot of people do it anyway, and the fine is usually 10 EUR, so not a big deal even in the unlikely case that you get caught.
- shifto 7y agoIt's bad for the environment. We just have to scratch the ice off of the windows before we can leave.
- SmellyGeekBoy 7y agoI always do this, but when I try to pull out of the drive the windows all steam up. Meaning I'm now sat in my car for 5 minutes waiting for them to clear anyway. (I'm very much against wiping the insides of the windows as the smearing can make driving at night very dazzling)
- shifto 7y agoI start my car, put on the heater and airco. Start scratching my windows clean and by the time I'm done my car has warmed up enough for the windows not to fog up. :)
- teekert 7y agoSeems like the best way to go to me, but, in Germany apparently you have to start driving with foggy windows :s (ok, or buy an auxiliary heater)
- Noumenon72 7y agoWhat would cause this? Scraped the ice in Wisconsin for years and nothing steamed up. Only rain makes me steam up. What if you open the driver's side window at first?
- joecool1029 7y agoTwo reasons this is bad: 1. Emissions, catalytic converters and such will not reach full operating temp, so it dumps a lot more emissions than when it's up to operating temp. Diesels were even worse in this regard cause the particulate filter plugs up when idling and then needs to trigger fuel wasting regen cycles. 2. Engine wear/damage. Oil pressures usually don't come up enough to properly lubricate components on the engine while cold idling for long periods of time. (Like, after the rpm's settle back down) This adds unnecessary wear. Should really only run an engine long enough to bring up initial oil pressure and then take it easy in it until it's up to full operating temp. (This is because parts expand at different rates, so pushing a cold engine hard will oftentimes blow seals)
- swiley 7y agoThe second one isn’t a good reason to make something illegal. For some reason that doesn’t sound so crazy for Germany though. I’m not sure why.
- readarticle 7y agoIt doesn’t sound out of the ordinary for any of the countries on the continent to my ears, different culture and all that.
- joecool1029 7y ago> The second one isn’t a good reason to make something illegal. I didn't say illegal, I said bad.
- Unklejoe 7y ago> Oil pressures usually don't come up enough to properly lubricate components on the engine while cold idling for long periods of time. I haven't seen this in practice. In fact, I see the opposite. My 2003 350z has an oil pressure gauge, and when it's idling while cold (say, < 40 degrees F), the pressure is actually higher than it is when cruising on the highway once it's warmed up. I attribute this to the oil being "thicker" when cold. On a really cold start, the pressure goes well beyond 60 PSI until the RPMs taper back down from around 1500 to the normal cold idle of ~1000, at which time it drops a bit.
- fulafel 7y agoIn cold climates people use fuel powered auxiliary heaters, that have their own timers and/or remote control.
- pintxo 7y agoOr even connect the cars to the electric mains at their house and heat them electrically. See "Driving in winter" [1] [1] https://finland.fi/life-society/how-to-survive-winter-in-finland-and-enjoy-it/ https://finland.fi/life-society/how-to-survive-winter-in-fin...
- fulafel 7y agoApparently in many new cars the electric heaters aren't good enough for colder climates, because these engines don't have factory options (or physical accomodation) for an electric heater that would heat the coolant - a lot of the heat is wasted to outside air and heating the engine exterior when the heater is tacked on the side of the engine. And they work with the same limited amount of power as the older ones.
- puPoh 7y agoMaybe to avoid destroying the environment and other people's health even more?
- pjmlp 7y agoIt might not be allowed, but everyone does it anyway.
- bipson 7y agoNot everyone. It is a very small minority where I live. I don't even see people letting their cars idle while scraping, which was the norm 15 years ago. I think the info has spread that it is bad for your engine and the environment. And newer cars don't need it at all.
- cwilkes 7y agoI have to idle my 2015 car in the winter so that the windows don’t fog up. If there was a way to get the defrost to turn on at full blast with hot temps and not running the car I would be all for it.
- bipson 7y agoWait, that makes no sense in the context of the above argument. For the windows to fog up, you need to sit in the car right? How long do you need to sit in your car until they fog up? Why are you sitting in your non-moving car for so long? And how often does that happen? In our cars it takes about 10 minutes in cold winter before the fog comes up when around 2 people sit in it, unless it is raining and we just jumped in wet a minute ago. And it's gone a minute after starting the AC again. And one is a small car 2 week short of being 20 years old. From this viewpoint I cannot possibly understand your reasoning? Are you trying to find an excuse to disable Start/Stop?
- jve 7y ago> For the windows to fog up, you need to sit in the car right? False. In autumn, when temperatures are low and winter comes (minuses) the humidity is really high. I can't tell you exactly what must happen, but I'v had fogged windows in the morning.
- Red_Leaves_Flyy 7y ago
- PinguTS 7y agoThat is wrong. Remote engine start != Remote heating. I work in that business.
- tjansen 7y agoEuropean Cadillacs do allow you to start the engine remotely (usually to heat or cool down the car).
- thinkingemote 7y agoElectric cars do not have warm engines so it's likely that auxiliary heaters will be more commonplace as idling an electric car means nothing. I'm sure it will drain battery somewhat to keep the inside warm
- jve 7y agoTesla drains battery to control battery temp overnight. And yes, you can activate heating inside before you drive.
- ryanlol 7y agoWeird, my car (2018 model) is from a german company and was originally sold in germany and it certainly lets you remotely start the engine in order to heat up the car.