Curious to know what others opinions are on this:
When you start a cold engine, do you let it warm up a bit, or turn the key & throw it in D or 1st and blast off?
Me, for a cold engine, I start it and let the idle settle down, say 5 seconds, a little longer if its really cold out, and then drive gently for the first minute or two until the temp gauge moves off C.
I know of a couple of people that hop in, turn the key and instantly take off, usually pretty hard. Even if it's -20 out, doesn't matter. I've always thought that absolutely is the quickest way to kill an engine, short of never doing an oil change... I knew a guy that had an old Suburban where I used to work - he would hop in it in the dead of winter turn the key and instantly drive off... he must have had one hand twisting the key and the other on the shift lever, dropping it into D almost before it finished cranking...that thing was an old beast, so I dunno, maybe it liked the abuse...