How long to warm up?

[TheDeal526]

2001 Ford Escort ZX2, L4.

I live in New Jersey, where the tempature hasn't gotten out of the teens for quit some time now. So is it normal for these cars to take awhile to get to normal operating tempature? I also have a 3.1L Grand Am which warms up very quickly. This is really my first 4 cylinder car, and I'm not to familiar with how they operate. So does anyone know how long it usually takes these cars to warm up in such low tempatures? Also I'm not talking about driving, just warm up time at idle.

Thanks All!

[Intuit]

My personal experiences are limited but from talking to others it seems normal for modern day 4 and 6cyl to take 10, 15 minutes to warm up in such frigid weather. Should be fine to start driving well before then though. Just a few minutes is all that is probably necessary. Wouldn't necessarily start gunning it out of the box though. Gentle with the accelerator for the first five minutes or so.

[denisond3]

I agree that in really cold weather it could take 10 to 15 minutes for the engine to reach a stable temperature (and its usual 'idle' speed), - and that temperature might be lots cooler than it would be in the summer.
It can be hard to tell how long a car takes to warm-up, since the gauges may read differently from make to make, and dont seem particularly accurate anyway. Also the heaters in some cars are more effective than others. Any car more than 6 to 8 years old may have a heater core that is half-clogged. The heater in my old Jaguar was pathetic, while the heater in the 88 Volvo is terrific. People usually think of automotive thermostats failing when a car overheats. They can also stick partly open - and let a car run too cool.