My procedure at autocrosses is to keep the car in a low gear (at low throttle / high RPM) as I return to grid, then keep the engine at 3K RPMs while I am waiting for my next run. The higher RPMs do not generate much more heat, since load is low, but the coolant flow is MUCH higher. This brings the heat down quickly.

If you are driving really aggressively on your way to work, just spend your last 1/2 mile a gear or 2 lower than you normally would so the water pump will circulate more coolant. If I cruise in 4th gear at 5K RPMs during cool weather, my temp guage will actually drop to 2 bars.

 

Wow, I'de like to try that. With the weather the way it has been going, it shouldn't be too hard to get a cool enough day. About what outdoor temp. are we considering "cool"?

 

I'm guessing probably 60 degrees F. Of course, I have several cooling mods.

 

gernby's nailed this one. Unless you have just "worked" the car, shutting it off immediately upon arriving at your destination is not big deal. Those with a proper temp guage will see that as long as the coolant temp hasn't risen significantly due to having just "worked" the car, if you just sit there and idle, your temp will actually creep up. There simply is not enough coolant flow at idle. If you run the engine at elevated rpm while sitting there, you run the risk of causing the EPS circuit to throw a light. Anything above about 2500-3000 rpm while sitting stationary for 3 minutes or more will throw a light.
Your coolant will take a lot of heat from the engine upon shutting down anyway. I'd rather that it doesn't pick up even more heat just idling before I shut it down.
Obviously, if you've just passed someone aggressively on the highway or have just come in off the track without a bit of "cool down" you do not want to shut it down immediately. In this case, I'd drive around the parking lot a bit first.

 

this practice is almost useless for n/a motors. i only did this on my cousins turbo ITR since the hot oil in the turbos can damage the seals and bearings if you shut it off immediately(especailly after a hard run). this is why his car had a turbo timer, so you didn't have to sit in the car and wait.

 

Agree with Gernby and Xviper above.
There is no point and actually no benefit for this "cooldown" period. Period.
C'mon guys, it's one of the nice things about this engine, you get to wherever you are going and shut down and go.
As a former twin turbocharged engine owner I can tell you, it was a major PITA to sit there for a minute or longer to let things cool down a bit, and even in those engines, nowadays most turbos have coolant flowing nearby so that cooldown is recommended only after hard runs.
Cheers,
Daniel