Driving experts explain why you should never warm your car up before getting in

During the cold winter months, when you have to drive somewhere, it might be tempting to turn your car on, say 10 or 20 minutes before you leave, to warm it up in advance.

Who doesn’t like getting into a warm, toasty car on a freezing cold morning?!

But it turns out that doing this could actually cause more harm than good.

This is according to driving expert Jason from Engineering Explained who told Road&Track how heating up the engine before setting off might prolong the warm-up period, instead of helping it.

Many people believe you should idle your car up to operating temperature, but this piece of wisdom is all to do with carburettors, a device that mixed air and fuel.

In the past, cars with carburettors needed several minutes of idling in order to run smoothly, but many cars no longer have them anymore, reports Kent Live.

Most engines are now fuel injected, meaning you don’t need to idle.

The engine will warm during gentle driving without putting too much load on it before it reaches operating temperature.

As idling is unnecessary for most cars, doing so for too long on a cold day could cause problems for your engine.

Letting your car warm-up can cause engine oil dilution, which is where raw gasoline seeps into the oil, breaking down the oil’s lubrication properties and increasing the wear.

So instead of idling your car in the mornings, all you need to do is simply drive.

Start up the car, ensuring all your windows are clear of any ice, snow or fog and then you’re good to go.

This way the engine will warm up faster, you’ll get heat from the vents sooner and you’ll be causing less damage to your vehicle.