Kinda of a General Car question

[scarecrowdjinn]

Just for the record I have a 90ex
and i live in NY, (temp today -16F)

I've always heard short drive are not very healthy for a car. My drive too and from work every day is about 2 miles each way(about 30mph). The only time the car gets up to "highway" speeds is once a week.

now the question....
A) is it true that shot distance are unhealthly for a car, and why(because the oil never fully get spread out in the engine?)

B) is there any tricks, tips that i can use to lenthing the life of my car during short drives?


Thanks for everyone's advice in advance.
later.

[tacoaccord]

Yes, it is true that short distances without ever getting the engine warmed up completely every week or so is bad. Just be sure to get the needle up to operating temperature most of the time and you will be fine, if it is 2 miles or 0.2 miles, as long as it is operating temp the distance doesn't really matter much.

[blazinmiller]

It breaks the fluids down much faster, esp oil.
The metals never expand to their operating tolerences, bearings and rings hate that.
Your gaskets wont last as long.

What can you do to help it?

Take the long way??

I'm far from a tree hugger but this sounds like perfect bike riding distance. Of course being that cold you may want to reconsider.

You need to decide if accelerating wear in everything in your honda is worth not having to deal with a cold walk or bike ride IMO.
Of course I'd think a honda would deal with this abuse better then almost any car out there.