# Short Daily Drives?



## Sanctuary (Apr 14, 2019)

Hi all,

I needed a new car so just put a deposit down on a Mk3 TT, I've owed TT's in the past and never had a problem though never a mk3.

My workplace is only a mile up the road (about a 5 minute drive) with a decent amount of traffic - I'm going to be using this car daily so my question is are there any known issues with doing consistent short drives, oil not getting up to temp and such.
I plan on taking it out every weekend for a longer blast to let everything get up to temp etc.

Thanks,


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## Hoggy (May 8, 2002)

Hi, Not good for any engine, so recommended to replace engine oil more frequently.
No idea if the MK3 PCV system is more resistant to clogging up with condensation due to cool engine.
I bet someone says buy a push bike :lol: :lol: 
Hoggy.


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## Sanctuary (Apr 14, 2019)

Hoggy said:


> Hi, Not good for any engine, so recommended to replace engine oil more frequently.
> No idea if the MK3 PCV system is more resistant to clogging up with condensation due to cool engine.
> I bet someone says buy a push bike :lol: :lol:
> Hoggy.


Hah, yeah it is defo walking distance and that is what I do currently but I need a car to go out on site visits. 
I'll definitely look into more frequent changes, hopefully that's all by way of problems then!


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## Hoggy (May 8, 2002)

Sanctuary said:


> Hah, yeah it is defo walking distance and that is what I do currently but I need a car to go out on site visits.
> I'll definitely look into more frequent changes, hopefully that's all by way of problems then!


Hi, Battery may suffer during the cold winter months, as less will be put back in than was taken out.
Hoggy.


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## Mark Pred (Feb 1, 2017)

If I worked one mile from my house, I'd walk where ever possible. So many cold start-ups and short journeys won't be a good thing for the car.


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## trev1964 (Oct 10, 2018)

I live 3/4 mile from work. I tried walking for a whole week. 
It rained 3 days out of 5 and was thoroughly unpleasant. 
Worse still, i have a diesel which takes even longer to get warm. 
I try to let it sit running for a few minutes before setting off home in the evening. Not sure if that helps or not. Not had any battery issues and been 6 months now.


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## Hoggy (May 8, 2002)

trev1964 said:


> I live 3/4 mile from work. I tried walking for a whole week.
> It rained 3 days out of 5 and was thoroughly unpleasant.
> Worse still, i have a diesel which takes even longer to get warm.
> I try to let it sit running for a few minutes before setting off home in the evening. Not sure if that helps or not. Not had any battery issues and been 6 months now.


Hi, Cold engine shouldn't be left ticking over, hold revs at 1800 rpm ish, if not driving away immediately.
Hoggy.


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## powerplay (Feb 8, 2008)

I do my drive to work 3 days a week and is about 4 miles; has never been a problem, oil temp never hits its minimum (45c) in winter or when it's a school holiday (like it is at the moment, yay).

I notice on cold mornings (say below 2-3c) the engine idle speed is elevated for a rather long time, even when the oil temp is showing up on the VC - this seems different behaviour on the mk3, my mk2 never did this, it would drop to idle (800rpm) after the 30 second cold start, regardless of ambient temperature.

Oh, and because I drive the 4 miles I always ensure I get out and walk 3-4 miles at lunchtime every day, unless it's raining


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## KevC (Jul 12, 2016)

I hate to use the E word but for such a short trip maybe look at an electric car if it's feasible. A Zoe on PCP might fit the bill. Or an electric bike!


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## Dino_Donis (Apr 19, 2004)

Sanctuary said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I needed a new car so just put a deposit down on a Mk3 TT, I've owed TT's in the past and never had a problem though never a mk3.
> 
> ...


I hear this all the time that short journeys for a car is really bad however my experience is somewhat different. I work a mile away from home and drive most days for several reasons (popping out at lunch, gym after work etc). I've owned a Mk1 225 coupe for 7 years, a MK2 TTS for 5 years and now a MK3 TTS for the past 2 years and up until now I've never had any issues with the engines apart from the odd sensor here and there....I couldn't imagine a car manufacturer still being in business if their cars fell apart after doing only short journeys....


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## powerplay (Feb 8, 2008)

I don't see why short journeys should be any issue at all.

In the case of Ben who drives only a mile to work each day and Bob who drives 10 miles to work.

Both start their cars every day. Both travel the same road every day. Both drive the first mile on a cold engine every day.

Ben arrives at work and turns his car off, Bob keeps going for another 9 miles.

Bob's engine has more wear :?


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## Hoggy (May 8, 2002)

Hi, Ben's engine never gets up to operating temperature so condensation builds up & contaminates the engine oil & PCV system.
Hoggy.


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## kevin#34 (Jan 8, 2019)

surely not falling apart, but driving for short distances (e.g, not reaching proper engine temperature) leads definitively to more wear.
additionally, in engineering world, a reliable indicator for engine wear is the number of cold starts, because is the moment in which the wear is at its maximum
For example, an engine started 1000 times that covered 1000 miles will have suffered much more wear than another engine that has been started 10 times and covered 10.000 miles.



Dino_Donis said:


> I hear this all the time that short journeys for a car is really bad however my experience is somewhat different. I work a mile away from home and drive most days for several reasons (popping out at lunch, gym after work etc). I've owned a Mk1 225 coupe for 7 years, a MK2 TTS for 5 years and now a MK3 TTS for the past 2 years and up until now I've never had any issues with the engines apart from the odd sensor here and there*....I couldn't imagine a car manufacturer still being is business if theie cars fell apart after doing only short journeys*....


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## carlsicesilverTT (Jun 30, 2016)

Get a electric bike


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## ZephyR2 (Feb 20, 2013)

Move further away from work.


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## ross_t_boss (Feb 28, 2017)

powerplay said:


> I don't see why short journeys should be any issue at all.
> 
> In the case of Ben who drives only a mile to work each day and Bob who drives 10 miles to work.
> 
> ...


I follow the same logic.... one step further, say the extra 9 miles has the same wear as the first mile (no idea how accurate that is but I've read stuff that suggests it's not too far off the mark!)

After a year Bob's car has twice as much wear on the motor. However, Bob's car has done 5,000 miles to Ben's 500 miles.

As per Hoggy's comments Ben's oil is in worse condition, unless he's been good and taken it out for a bit of a thrash every weekend to get it up to temperature!


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## MClaine55 (Feb 16, 2018)

Hoggy said:


> trev1964 said:
> 
> 
> > I live 3/4 mile from work. I tried walking for a whole week.
> ...


Can you say why its bad to let an engine on cold start up idle for a while before driving off please?


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## Hoggy (May 8, 2002)

MClaine55 said:


> Can you say why its bad to let an engine on cold start up idle for a while before driving off please?


Hi, Cold oil may give a higher pressure but flow is lower. 
Camshaft is under greater stress at idle & cold oil takes longer to get to top of engine/camshaft where it is needed, so better to hold revs at 1800 ish if not driving off immediately.
If it's not a keeper let the next owner worry about it.
Hoggy


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## BauhauTTS (Jan 8, 2017)

I paid attention to specifics on my drive to work this morning (40F ambient). Coolant was up to temperature 1.5 miles from home - I find the coolant gets up to temperature noticeably faster on the TTS than other cars I've had/driven. Oil temperature didn't register until >5 miles from home, and wasn't fully up to temperature until ~10 miles into the commute. 15-20 mph for first 1.5 miles; 50-60 mph for balance. You don't need to thrash it to get the oil fully up to temperature and boil off condensates, but will need to drive 10 miles or more (maybe a bit less in warmer weather). If you're going out for a decent drive every weekend, I wouldn't worry about it. More frequent oil changes are 'cheap' insurance (hesitate to use that word if you're going to the stealership), of course.


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## deeve (Apr 5, 2004)

Easy, if you have just ordered the car leave home half an hour earlier and take the long way to work. You'll definitely enjoy it


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## elaTTed (Apr 9, 2019)

I have owned a 2006 TT, 2012 TT and now a 2017 TTS..now problems.

>>>great advice >>>>"I find the coolant gets up to temperature noticeably faster on the TTS than other cars I've had/driven. Oil temperature didn't register until >5 miles from home, and wasn't fully up to temperature until ~10 miles into the commute. 15-20 mph for first 1.5 miles; 50-60 mph for balance. You don't need to thrash it to get the oil fully up to temperature and boil off condensates, but will need to drive 10 miles or more (maybe a bit less in warmer weather). If you're going out for a decent drive every weekend, I wouldn't worry about it. More frequent oil changes are 'cheap' insurance (hesitate to use that word if you're going to the stealership), of course."

I would only add that taking that 10 miles or more drive ( do it often as you can..life is short ) do 20 miles, get the engine oil up to max temp. This is also advice from a number of Audi shops and mine. Enjoy.


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## ZephyR2 (Feb 20, 2013)

So on short runs the Auto-stop function is bad for the engine as it stops it warming up when you are stationary.
On the other hand you are not sat at idle with the revs less than 1800 rpm.

Discuss.


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## Hoggy (May 8, 2002)

ZephyR2 said:


> So on short runs the Auto-stop function is bad for the engine as it stops it warming up when you are stationary.
> On the other hand you are not sat at idle with the revs less than 1800 rpm.
> 
> Discuss.


Hi, If I ever have AutoStop I would disable it, common sense says efficiency saving are exaggerated.
Hoggy.


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## HOGG (Mar 30, 2018)

The wear on engine mounts and exhaust rubbers is huge

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk


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## MClaine55 (Feb 16, 2018)

Always disable it especially when cold


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## ajayp (Nov 30, 2006)

I recently joined a gym that's 2 miles up the road by car and at first said to myself I can walk it to avoid the whole short journey wear and tear thing AND the car park paranoia!

However soon found that this added another 1.5hours to my day which I just can't justify or afford to loose so much time.

Now I drive a slightly longer route to and jump on one junction of the motorway to double the distance to 4 miles.

The car parking issue is still there though... :?


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## scott65742 (Dec 31, 2017)

Take a detour and floor it, simples.


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## Dino_Donis (Apr 19, 2004)

ajayp said:


> I recently joined a gym that's 2 miles up the road by car and at first said to myself I can walk it to avoid the whole short journey wear and tear thing AND the car park paranoia!
> 
> However soon found that this added another 1.5hours to my day which I just can't justify or afford to loose so much time.
> 
> ...


That doesn't make sense to me...You are just adding 2 miles more wear to the car each time as regardless of the actual distance you are going through the same warm up cycle but then adding an extra 2 miles which isn't going to undo the initial wear.....Then there's the extra 2 miles each time you are adding the car mileage :?

Like i said previously I drive me car to work 1 mile away and never any issues with Mk1, Mk2 or Mk3 in a total of 13 years of TT ownership....


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## Hoggy (May 8, 2002)

Dino_Donis said:


> Like i said previously I drive me car to work 1 mile away and never any issues with Mk1, Mk2 or Mk3 in a total of 13 years of TT ownership....


Hi, If you don't keep the same vehicle for very long you are less likely to have any problems.
Hoggy.


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## moro anis (May 27, 2010)

I live 1.75 miles from work and due to traffic started walking to work 10 years ago, all year round. After 5 years I resurrected my old push bike and now cycle all year round. I even take a detour both ways and do 10-12 miles a day. The exercise is good for you and even better for the car which does get to go out for a decent blast at the weekends.


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## GoodThunder (Jul 19, 2016)

Buying a car and burning fossil fuels just for travelling two miles a day?
That's what excessive consumption looks like.
If only I could give an advice I'd just say don't do that.

And yes, it's more about damaging this little doomed planet rather than your car.


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## powerplay (Feb 8, 2008)

Time to go back to riding horses, people!


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## liffy99 (Feb 28, 2007)

A 1 mile drive - bonkers !
Bad all round.
Do you not know whether you have a site visit BEFORE you leave home ?
If not, get an old bike. Even if you have to go home for the car it's just 5 mins. Doubt if you would even need a change of clothes most times.
Just my two pennorth . . .


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## bobclive22 (Apr 5, 2010)

> And yes, it's more about damaging this little doomed planet rather than your car.


How does that work then, surely CO2 won`t harm you or the planet, it hasn`t in the past, I believe it`s more about Diesel particulates and damaging your health, especially childrens health.


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## phazer (Apr 2, 2018)

The biggest irony of all this is the current crop of petrol engines can produce more NOX than a Euro 6+ diesel...but diesel is evil :lol:


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