I never really had any problems with mine. I usually just let the car sit until idle goes back to normal to warm it up. I'm at 10k now.
It might be normal for the engine to be slightly sluggish in frigid temps right off the bat. Might just be paranioa on your side :nervous:
If the engine struggles for an hour after you drive it, there might be something wrong. Once it gets over 100degrees farenheit, the engine should perform normal.

 

I was reading the manual and it said that you shouldn't sit and let it warm up. So should I be letting the idle come down before driving off? Thanks.

 

I always let it warm for a minute or so - not nearly enough for the engine to become warm. I just let the idle drop and drive off - when the the car starts at low idle, like when it's super cold out, then I just wait a minute and go, no biggie. The manual states that mainly for environmental reasons. Get moving as soon as you can so the oil can flow tho.

The 1.8T's do not want to budge and hold the low revs longer when they are cold so that's normal but I'm not quite sure what you describe to be an hour. If it takes an hour, then it is not normal, the car should get to operating temp within a few minutes - maybe at most 5 minutes and everything should be fine.

 

Maybe not quite an hour, but it seems that sometimes it revs up to 5K with out even a hint of effort, and them sometimes it seems a little rough. I think I'm just paranoid. :nervous: I'll just drive it some more and pay closer attention. Thanks for the replies.

 

OK, thanks to those who posted. The fact is, I'm a dumba$$. :crazy: I have never owned a turbo engine before and for the first 1000 miles I was nervous to rev it past 3.5K or 4K. I just went out and drove my car and kept it between 3K and 5K. WOW. I know, everyone's laughing right about now, but WOW. This engine lives between 3 and 5.5 on the tach. I know this is going to sound stupid, but will I be hurting the engine if I am always shifting around 5K? Does it hurt the trans if I always use the tip? I'm afraid to go and get the thing chipped, I think its pretty fast as it sits. What then? I'm going to get a lot of tickets.

 

I've got 1,400 mi on my 1.8 and it's pretty smooth all around. I broke it in systematically bringing it to high revs in accord with info I've read and, it seems pretty happy going there now. I give it about 10-15 minutes after the temp guage says it's fully warmed up before I rev it though. That gives the oil a chance to heat up as well as the antifreeze (at least accoring to my old oil temp guage on a 2000 2.8 A4).

 

Mine's the same way. It's better now that I'm running synthetic oil (Pentosynth), and have some miles on it (28,000), but it's still not all that smooth when it's cold outside, even after driving on the tollway for 30 mins at 75-80. And it's not all that consistent about it. Sometimes it's Honda smooth, other times it feels more like a 4 cyl Cavalier. Just a 1.8t quirk I guess.

 

will I be hurting the engine if I am always shifting around 5K?

Answer #1: "Hurting" might be a bit too strong of a term. Do keep in mind though that with higher revs does come higher wear. On the other hand, I'd be hard pressed to quantify it in terms of how many fewer miles the engine might last.

Don't get too concerned: Let things take their course, and you may find your natural driving habits become more conservative.

Does it hurt the trans if I always use the tip?

Answer #2: No.