What's the obsession with cold starts?

"Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To" (murdersofa) 01/26/2017 at 23:03 • Filed to: None

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I see a lot of “cold start of $car” videos and I really don’t get it. To me a cold start is the worst sounding possible situation to fire up a vehicle. You get cranking, a rev, and then sustained high revs while the engine is in its “oh shit I’m cold” phase. A warm start is one or two cranks (because fuel system already primed, etc), a bark to life, and then settle immediately into a quiet “wublubwublubwublub” idle. Far cooler imo.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 01/26/2017 at 23:05

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tried to make a cold start video........

car wouldn’t start

TheHondaBro > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas 01/26/2017 at 23:08

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That sad clicking sound when your starter motor isn’t getting enough juice.

MMMMMMMMM

*clickclickclickclickclickclickclickclick*

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 01/26/2017 at 23:08

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It’s usually louder.

Rico > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 01/26/2017 at 23:09

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My Merc with its X pipe mod sounded lovely on a cold start. Super throaty

Wobbles the Mind > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 01/26/2017 at 23:09

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Cold starts are the closest thing to making modern cars sound like they are from the 60s. The extra few seconds of the starter followed by the loud turn over and the coarse, loud, uneven morning groans give off a muscle car vibe many miss. If you asked people to do an impression of a car starting up they will inherently do something more in line with a big old V8 than their actual car. They’ll even mime turning a key!

TheHondaBro > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies 01/26/2017 at 23:11

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That’s what I’ve found with my car. Kind of scary considering that sound could very well be the transmission.

Junkrat aka Rick Sanchez: Fury Road Edition > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 01/26/2017 at 23:13

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I confess to watching these videos. I usually watch the ones with diesels that have been sitting for a very long time. It’s cool seeing that these cars can still come to life all these years later. I especially like the old farm equipment ones.

jimz > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 01/26/2017 at 23:13

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they’re done to show your car or truck is in good repair. cold starts are nothing these days, but back before the ‘90s they were a pain in the ass. a gas car/truck with a carburetor was a fiddly piece of crap. a cold diesel engine was infuriating.

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > TheHondaBro 01/26/2017 at 23:14

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Completely different noise, the engine just idles higher when cold.

crowmolly > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 01/26/2017 at 23:15

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Open loop gets you all the cool points

Leadbull > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 01/26/2017 at 23:15

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Crank start master race checking in

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Junkrat aka Rick Sanchez: Fury Road Edition 01/26/2017 at 23:15

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Oh yeah, starting up some semi truck buried in the undergrowth for 40 years is badass. Starting your 2014 ford fiesta when it’s 30 degrees freedomheit out is just.... lame. And it sounds bad.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies 01/26/2017 at 23:16

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yeah but... 1800rpm or whatever rarely sounds good. It’s just dronier.

Vicente Esteve > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 01/26/2017 at 23:21

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I love them because of the amplified noise. Sort of the car groaning that it does’t want to get up then a semi-pissed “IM UP”.

Also, the initial sound of V12s turning on is addictive.

That small noise, almost like a shriek, I know it has a name but I haven’t found it yet.

RallyWrench > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 01/26/2017 at 23:27

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Especially with air injection running and its valves open to the exhaust, it sounds hurrible.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > TheHondaBro 01/26/2017 at 23:31

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it turns over and I can smell gas and occasionally fires. For some reason when cold it just won’t fire.

Junkrat aka Rick Sanchez: Fury Road Edition > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 01/26/2017 at 23:33

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Yes it does. I hate people revving an engine while the car is sitting still for any reason. “My new exhaust compared to my old exhaust. I’m just going to rev it in the driveway.” Just do a couple of drive by shots. Is it really so hard?

TheHondaBro > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas 01/26/2017 at 23:33

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Lead acid batteries lose their potency when its cold. Doesn’t help that motor oil also gets thicker and sludgier.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > TheHondaBro 01/26/2017 at 23:34

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optima with a battery tender.

Bytemite > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 01/26/2017 at 23:36

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I don’t get the point either if it’s a modern car. I recently started my Miata in below freezing temp for first time and there was a high pitched buzz when I stuck the key in. Never heard that before.

Amoore100 > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 01/26/2017 at 23:42

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Not sure about you, but I don’t think a warm start is gonna sound like this:

OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars > Junkrat aka Rick Sanchez: Fury Road Edition 01/26/2017 at 23:55

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You haven’t listened to a straight piped 2UZ then. It’s heaven for the ears.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 01/27/2017 at 00:04

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Cold engines are louder and they sound different, more mechanical. Once the engine warms up it sounds softer and less raw.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Vicente Esteve 01/27/2017 at 00:39

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Mercedes S-class V12s have the best startup noise. Just a solid whine and then engine. Doesn’t sound anything like a traditional car starter.

TheD0k_2many toys 2little time > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies 01/27/2017 at 03:43

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eh my truck is always very loud no matter what

jimz > Junkrat aka Rick Sanchez: Fury Road Edition 01/27/2017 at 07:11

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I remember a video of some guy starting up a Fiesta cold then complaining in the description it wouldn’t let him rev it up past about 3,000 rpm. He wanted it to do a “nice” bounce off of the rev limiter. WTF?

Textured Soy Protein > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 01/27/2017 at 09:15

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My BMW revs the crap out of the motor on cold starts to warm up the catalytic converters. It makes a lot of noise. It’s programmed to do that. I have a catless downpipe so it serves no purpose other than noise now. There are aftermarket ECU tunes that let you disable the cold start revs.

I’d wager that these cold start videos are because it’s an easy way to take a video of a car making a bunch of noise.