Winters coming, what can I do to heat engine up quicker

[Ultrasonic]

My drive to work consists of lots of traffic lights and coasting, so it never warms up properly.

Would it be better to coast less until the engine is warmed up then I wonder?

Edited 3 November, 2013 by Ultrasonic

[Perc]

The couple of times I went to Sweden every car seemed to have a block heater and car parks had electric sockets to plug into whilst you shopped or worked. In the ten years I lived in Iceland I never saw one. I would suggest the UK is, at least below the Scottish Highlands, too warm to bother.

 

I've never seen a grocery store or other public parking with heater outlets but apartment complexes and employee car parks have them. 

 

And I don't travel much, but I was in London in February 2012 and it was freezing cold. I was surprised to see that everyone was on summer tyres, etc. 

[abarth_1200]

Looks like one of those grill covers from heko will be on the wish list, thanks for the pics of it on your car, looks good. I still wonder about the bottom grill as it is a huge gaping hole on the vrs models, might have to make one myself and only cover a portion of it.

[abarth_1200]

I've never seen a grocery store or other public parking with heater outlets but apartment complexes and employee car parks have them. 

 

And I don't travel much, but I was in London in February 2012 and it was freezing cold. I was surprised to see that everyone was on summer tyres, etc. 

The british public arent made aware enough of the benefits of winter tyres, or even mud/snow tyres for that matter

Edited 3 November, 2013 by abarth_1200

[Ultrasonic]

The british public arent made aware enough of the benefits of winter tyres, or even mud/snow tyres for that matter

Plus it isn't a legal requirement to use winter tyres like it is across much of Europe. There is additional cost involved and since everyone is used to making do with summer tyres, largely without obvious problems, the temptation is to keep doing so. That's pretty much where I'm at, and I have a greater interest in cars than most (though I'm far from a petrolhead!)

[Ultrasonic]

I've just checked with my insurance company (People's Choice) and they do not need to be notified of the addition of a grill block. They also surprisingly don't need to be notified if I change my 16" summer alloy wheels for 15" winter steel wheels, which surprised me. But I'm certainly not complaining .

 

I've decided I'll give one of these Heko grill blocks a go.

Edited 3 November, 2013 by Ultrasonic

[k.young]

It modifies the performance of the car, its a mod.

 

How could this possibly be regarded as a "Mod"  that's like saying Mudflaps are Mods!!

[Ultrasonic]

How could this possibly be regarded as a "Mod"  that's like saying Mudflaps are Mods!!

My concern was that it was changing the appearance of the car. If some actuary had decided it did so in a way that theft of the vehicle would be more likely, then the insurance company may well want to know. Insurance is a strange business...

Edited 3 November, 2013 by Ultrasonic

[k.young]

If an insurance company refused a claim on that basis I think you would have plenty of support for your day in court. (car accessory companies spring to mind)

[vwdan1986]

http://www.2toc.co.uk/#!store/cxut

[Ultrasonic]

http://www.2toc.co.uk/#!store/cxut

What product are you suggesting? The fuel filter heater?

Edited 3 November, 2013 by Ultrasonic

[vwdan1986]

What product are you suggesting? The fuel filter heater?

SORRY SUMP HEATER

[k.young]

Has anyone tried one of the Team HEKO winter covers?  Do they work without any worries of overheating?

 

 

 

I just ordered one of these today after reading this post. I'll post up how it works out, when it arrives.

[Wardy]

Where did you order the pre-FL one from?

[FUBAR]

Has anyone tried one of the Team HEKO winter covers?  Do they work without any worries of overheating?

 

Seen those before, don't look bad IMO, confused how the bonnet is opened as there doesn't appear to be a gap for the release catch to be pulled? I wonder if that means you need to pull the whole thing off every time you want to lift bonnet. 

[jrw]

Seen those before, don't look bad IMO, confused how the bonnet is opened as there doesn't appear to be a gap for the release catch to be pulled? I wonder if that means you need to pull the whole thing off every time you want to lift bonnet.

Someone didn't read my post! There is a slot for the bonnet release.

[skodacarman]

We need something like the electrically operated louvers like you get on the front of big diesels. 

[Ultrasonic]

Where did you order the pre-FL one from?

I ordered mine from the link you helpfully posted, thanks for that .

 

(Order placed yesterday and already dispatched via UPS - they sent an e-mail with a reference to track the parcel.)

[Ultrasonic]

We need something like the electrically operated louvers like you get on the front of big diesels. 

Ford have an active grille feature for the Focus which if it works it would be good if other manufacturers took up too (unless Ford have a patent I guess):

 

 

The video only talks about improved aerodynamics, but I'm sure it will help warm up in winter too.

Edited 4 November, 2013 by Ultrasonic

[Kiwibacon]

I fitted a square of carpet in front of my intercooler last winter.  It worked great and even though I kept a close eye on coolant temps, they were never a problem.

 

As for blocking the intercooler.  Yes, this is the main benefit as feeding the engine warm boost instead of cold boost gets it warmer much faster.  If you could just block the intercooler and not the radiator it would be even better.  But they are too close to do just one.

[Wardy]

I ordered mine from the link you helpfully posted, thanks for that .

 

(Order placed yesterday and already dispatched via UPS - they sent an e-mail with a reference to track the parcel.)

 

Good stuff, glad it worked! Might do the same now then

[Anddenton]

I ordered mine from the link you helpfully posted, thanks for that .

 

(Order placed yesterday and already dispatched via UPS - they sent an e-mail with a reference to track the parcel.)

 

Hope you don't mind, but how much did they charge for shipping to the UK?

 

Thanks.

[Ultrasonic]

Good stuff, glad it worked! Might do the same now then

I'll post when I've (hopefully) received it if you want to be totally sure they're reliable. The UPS tracker currently shows that my package has made it from Poland into Germany.

[Ultrasonic]

Hope you don't mind, but how much did they charge for shipping to the UK?

Postage was 13 Euros (if you click on Add to basket this comes up automatically). I paid via Paypal and the total cost was £32.47. Probably not worth it purely financially but I'm curious to see if it does anything useful .

 

I have a ScangaugeII so I've been paying attention to both water and intake air temps the last couple of days, so that when I do fit the grille block I know what is normal.

[Ultrasonic]

I'll post when I've (hopefully) received it if you want to be totally sure they're reliable. The UPS tracker currently shows that my package has made it from Poland into Germany.

Package arrived safely on Thursday but I was away so only got my hands on it last night. Fitting the grille block this morning was quick and easy. Product looks decent quality, exactly as in photos. Now to see if it does anything useful...