Long to warm up

When I drive my Accent 95 (1.5L) in the city, it take me 3 miles to let my engine reach its normal temperature. It is normal?

I live in North where temperature is 0°F. I don't let engine warm up more than 30s before driving, to avoid pollution.

Also the coolant temperature gauge needle is at 1/4, after the "Cold" marker. It is normal? Or it should be more?

Also, heater is not very warm. It can be my thermostat that is always open?
I need your help.

I need to change my thermostat or not?

Try having a hotter thermostat installed (192 degree F) you might have the 180 degree F installed. Believe me 12 degrees makes a huge difference in heat.

I have a 195°F thermostat and it's still long to warm up in cold weather (-9°F). And the thermostat is good.

I think that my car is not made for extreme cold.

well its about -5 here and my car (99 plymouth neon) heats up within about a mile and has good heat.

you might try blocking off some of your rad with something?

like what they do on dump trucks and school buses in the cold weather. little 4 bangers arent always the best as staying warm.

if you do make sure to keep an eye on the heat gauge and dont let it get too high.

you could try putting cardboard over a portion of your rad like say 1/4 and if that doesnt work maybe 1/2 at most.

also sometimes if you put the heat at the highest it doesnt always come out that warm. usually you have to leave it about 3/4 power to get good heat.

I have a new 2008 accent it is the same way; it takes a long time to heat up. I think it is just the way Hyundais are, or atleast accent I have freinds with a '02 and a '98 and they both say the same thing.

Yes, I think that small Korean cars are just not designed for extreme cold condition. It's because the engine head dissipates too much heat on the air and not enough heat in the coolant. So it warm slowly.

Also, their heater core are sooo small. The tier of a regular one.

I'm surprised that until now, they don't correct this problem.

But I've tried the trick of Godofwarmike, corcerning blocking the airflow on the radiator. It helps a little bit.

I had change my thermostat, it was not the problem. The car was definitely born to warm slowly. It'S not made for cold Country.

Now I don't have this car anymore. I was too tired of driving it.