i personally wait until there are 2 bars on the temp gauge and then i drive off slowly to ensure that the engine, tranny and diff. warm up properly.

 

But that's the whole issue. Not flaming you or anything like that, it's just that nothing is warming up "properly" if you're letting it idle that long.

 

just don't VTEC until you're up to 3 bars...

 

I've said this before and it deserves to be posted again.
Imagine the guy who sits there idling till "3 bars" (7 or 8 for you 2.2 S owners) because he thinks he's doing his car a world of good. Let's just say he's smart enough to idle it in neutral with his foot OFF the clutch. He sees that he has enough "bars" to go for the "gusto" and redlines it from his parking place. Meanwhile, the car's tranny's output shaft is stone cold, the joints in the prop shaft are stone cold, the rear diff is stone cold, the CV joints are stone cold, the rear hubs are stone cold. All of these components are now crying:
HELP ME, MOMMY! What good was your "3 bars" now?

 

The owner's manual recommends not letting the car sit and idle to warm up. It only recommends driving softly until it has warmed up.

Do what you want, but I'm going by the manual.

 

good point, you could say i am just paranoid!! i love my S!! as much as all of you girls/guys do as well....just want to be extra precautious!

is it true about the wear and tear on your spark plugs though if you warm it up? a member up said something about wearing them out more prematurely...is this true?

 

Sitting there idling for long durations will contribute to unnecessary carbon built up, especially during the warm up stage. This is when the a/f is at the richest. This is why the air pump runs - to dump air into the exhaust to help take care of the unburnt hydrocarbons that will shorten the life of the cat and pollute the environment. It is this same richness that will leave more deposits on the plug tips.
Driving the car under load will warm up the drivetrain faster (including the engine) so you can get the revs up sooner and keep the carbon build up in check. In fact, venturing into the high rpm range from time to time will help to keep them cleaner. Remember the phrase: "Blowing out the carbon"? Platinum plugs are very good at shedding buildup (as opposed to copper plugs) but wouldn't it be so much better if it didn't buildup in the first place?

 

30 secs before I go on a good day, closer to 60 on cold days. You just want to get the engine lubed before you start using it, but don't push it. I avoid over 3k rpm until I'm at 7 bars or so (my04) so I don't warp the engine, but varying rpms are a good thing. There are parts of the engine that only get lubricated by splash, so at idle those parts are pretty dry until you rev a bit.

 

Exactly. You can't use a hot engine if the rest of the car is cold - better to warm everything up gradually by driving gently after the initial start up.

 

thanks for all your input so far gals/guys!