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Cool down period after driving?

qwertypop

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This is my first FI car so I was wondering what are best practices that someone who comes from NA cars wouldn't know about. I've heard you're supposed to let the car sit for a few minutes to cool down after a drive. Does this still apply when you've been going around town?
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daazn

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When I owned a turbo car, I've always sat an extra 30 sec to let things cool down before turning off my car. Longer (1min) if spirited driving.
 

chopsuey34

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https://www.bmw.com/en/automotive-life/break-in-a-new-car.html#pwjt-4

"...Likewise, never turn off an engine that has been running hard. Allow it to cool down by driving a few miles at a gentle pace."

What you're asking about only applies to very hard driving like on track or severe service like towing (not applicable to Civic). You don't have to let the engine idle for a few minutes or drive cool down miles if you're on the street. If you're at proper operating temp, you're ok to shut off. Just remember that Honda sells millions of 1.5T motors and most people don't know about letting the engine cool off.

Best practices for a mass production turbo motor are essentially the same for a mass production NA motor. Drive the car gently until oil gets up to temp, avoid turning the engine off before the oil gets up to temp, etc. Only thing I would add is to have more frequent oil changes because its a turbo. But this is a Honda engine we're talking about, so recommended intervals are perfectly fine for regular service.
 
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TheCanadian

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Unless you are tracking the car, then absolutely nothing. Oil and metallurgy tech has come a long way, and for normal daily driving or even spirited driving you can safely just shut it off.

If you running hard on the track a cooldown lap wouldn't be a bad idea. Give the brakes and everything a few moments to expel excessive heat.
 


Clark_Kent

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It's not necessary in modern FI vehicles. And yes, I remember the GReddy and APEXi turbo timer days very well.
 

fbirch

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Honda sells a turnkey race car version of this car. In some endurance race series the car has to be refueled and the engine must be off during refueling. I wonder how they deal with turbo heat ina car coming in from >1 hour of successive hot laps and then the engine suddenly stopped for refueling.
 

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Honda sells a turnkey race car version of this car. In some endurance race series the car has to be refueled and the engine must be off during refueling. I wonder how they deal with turbo heat ina car coming in from >1 hour of successive hot laps and then the engine suddenly stopped for refueling.
Its just off for a short period of time and then restarted so no chance of caking the oil.
 

fbirch

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So 3-4 minutes of engine off after race pace lapping would be okay?
 

nawfoo

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My mom would cuss me out if I told her to leave her 1.5t CRV on for a minute after going to the grocery store.
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