Should you warm your car up by letting it idle on cold days? One expert gives a definitive answer. GLENN RUSSELL/FREE PRESS

Here's a winter driving tip for you: Don't warm up your car engine.

There's no need in this modern era of fuel injection and on-board computers. Thirty seconds, a minute at the most, and you're good to go, no matter the weather outside. That's how long it takes for the oil to get from the bottom to the top of your engine, where the moving parts are.

So says Chris Lague, service writer at Partner Tire & Service in Colchester, Vt. Lague has been everything from a certified master technician to a business manager at a dealership, spending 23 years in the car business.

"Manufacturers will say about 30 seconds and then you can start driving," Lague said. "Most cars are engineered now so they'll actually warm up faster if you drive them than if you just let it sit there."

Kristen McIntyre, a stay-at-home mom in Essex, Vt., said she was aware that modern engines don't need to be warmed up. McIntyre has another reason for a quick, idle-free getaway.

"Because of the environment," she said.

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Vermont enacted a statute in 2014 that prohibits idling for more than 5 minutes out of any 60-minute period, with some exceptions, including health issues, frosted-over windshields and food refrigeration.

"It so happens cars fit their law," Lague said. "You don't have to sit there for 10 minutes. Even though there are less emissions now than ever, you're still emitting something. The state rightfully wants to protect the environment."

Dale Franklin, owner of Partner Tire, knows better than to think everyone will agree with his service writer. Franklin, who used to do a radio spot called the "Partner Car Care Minute," said even when the spot was about something he believed was "definitive," colleagues would track him down on the street to tell him he was wrong.

It didn't take long on an afternoon stroll through Burlington Town Center to find someone who didn't agree with Lague. Bill Brisson, 54, said he warms his car up for eight to 10 minutes on cold winter mornings.

"At zero or 10 below, that (engine) oil is still like molasses," Brisson said. "You don't want to start the car and start going down the road immediately. Let the crankshaft pull the oil to the top of the heads and warm up."

Run out there real quick, start the car up, go back in the house and finish your last sip of coffee, throw on your shoes and your coat, and you're out the door in eight to 10 minutes, Brisson said.

"I'm old school," he said.

Exactly, says the 41-year-old Lague.

The old school hearkens back to the days of carburetors — the fuel delivery system that preceded fuel injection, and did require warming up on cold winter days. In the cold, old days, Lague said, you had to wait 10 minutes before you even thought about getting into your car.

"It would be warm a few miles down the road, maybe," he said.

Unless you're driving a vintage 1960s muscle car with a carburetor instead of fuel injection, no warm-up is required, despite what Brisson and others like him believe, according to Lague.

"People our age were trained under people older than us," Lague said. "This is how it was done under carburetors, so this is how it has to be done now. That has pretty much gone by the wayside. It's time for the newer generation, this generation, to say, 'Look, this is the way it is now. Computers have taken over. As far as getting warm, just drive it.'"

The computer systems in today's cars have two modes, Lague explained. One mode is designed to get the car to normal operating temperature as quickly as possible. That's the mode your car is in when you start it. The other mode runs the car as efficiently as possible once it reaches operating temperature.

How about if you just want a nice warm car for the drive to work in the morning? No harm done, Lague says, but keep your warm-up to 5 minutes or less if you don't want to be a scofflaw.

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