As other have stated, the other owner is not very well educated about the vehciles engine safety features. It will not allow you to go over 6k RPM (I actually think it would be around 5,800 at WOT for VTEC transition) unless the vehcile is at the proper operating temperature.

I would say that 95% of the owners that are on this site have had first hand experience with this safety feature and have figured out that it is better to not start driving the car until it is at 3 bars on the temperature gauge. To hear that this particular owner thinks it is a gearing limitation causes me to make the assumption that he just jumps in and goes right after starting the car and floors it while cold, bouncing off the 6k temperature limiter. It's not just first gear that you will get this, it's any gear that you are in and try to exceed the 6k limit on a cold engine.

I would use this as an opportunity to educate the other driver, not vice-versa.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by 3ngin33r1

 

Surely you don't mean this. I'd be shocked if many folks waited for 3 bars to drive.

 

Three bars to drive HARD

 

I get it, 3ngin33r1 only drives his S hard.
In that case it makes sense.

 

wait 5-10 minutes after 3 bars to ensure engine OIL is at operating temps. oil takes longer to warm up than coolant.

 

I believe you are right that the owner's manual states that there is no need to wait for the car to warm up before driving. However, you should be considerate of the car while it is cold. Personally, I try to keep it below 3k rpm until I have 3 bars. I try not to have any hard starts, etc, also.
You could make an analogy between a cold engine and a cold athlete. You won't seem many athletes rolling out of bed in the morning and doing a full out 100m sprint. They'll start with some stretching and maybe a warm-up jog. Running a cold car hard will most likely increase engine wear, because the oil is not at optimal operating temperature, and may not even be in all the places that it needs to be.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by RazorV3

 

I just hop in my car, turn it on, and go. If I waited for the engine to warm up all the time, I'd be late for a lot of things. I do try to take it easy in the first few minutes, though. However, that's mostly because my transmission doesn't like shifting smoothly until it's warmed up. Once I get a few smooth 1-->2 shifts, that's my indication that the car's ready for action.

 

I don't see why this is such a hard concept for some here to understand?

Have any of you driven an E46 M3? The car is designed so that at cold start up you can only access about half of the entire rev range on the tachometer. Gradually the redline increases over the first five to ten minutes of driving and eventually the entire rev range opens up to have no restrictions. There is a reason for this and it's called preventive measures.

mxt_77 summed it up perfectly. You don't wake up and start working out within minutes of leaving your bed. Stretching and typically some form of calorie absorption are involved before exercise commences. Same way with anything else including a car's engine. Don't be shifting at 5,500 rpm's when you car is still at one or two bars. It doesn't like it even though you may.