Short driving trips

[JalanX]

Hello brand new 2021 ranger tremor xlt owner and I have no experience with this engine. I live 3 minutes from where I work so normally I’ll be doing very short trips everyday to work and back. On Sundays I will usually have about a 20 mile trip each way. How bad is this for this engine? And do I need to change oil a lot sooner? Also is this any issue for my break in period? Thanks all!

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[Tom_C]

Hello brand new 2021 ranger tremor xlt owner and I have no experience with this engine. I live 3 minutes from where I work so normally I’ll be doing very short trips everyday to work and back. On Sundays I will usually have about a 20 mile trip each way. How bad is this for this engine? And do I need to change oil a lot sooner? Also is this any issue for my break in period? Thanks all!

It's not great for any engine or exhaust for that mater. During my break in I make it a habit to drive 15-20 minutes even if I'm going around the corner. I'm sure that won't continue.

 

[Leftcoast]

Read your owners manual where it's clearly defined. Continuous short trips aren't good but the manual addresses that too.

 

[JalanX]

Hmm so what if I take short drive to work and home but mid day at lunch take a longer drive so engine heats up. But I guess that’s wasted gas and time. Was hoping my Sunday long drives would do the trick.

 

[Tom_C]

Hmm so what if I take short drive to work and home but mid day at lunch take a longer drive so engine heats up. But I guess that’s wasted gas and time. Was hoping my Sunday long drives would do the trick.

We will justify things to make ourselves feel better, but it doesn't change the fact that short trips = bad. Doesn't mean we're always going to drive 20 miles to go to the corner market. Drive it and don't fret it. What are the chances you're going to keep it 20 years and 200k miles?

 

[JalanX]

Thanks. I am reading though manual as I always do. But I also like real world opinions. Now I have to move farther away lol

 

[aeroshots]

How have your previous vehicles faired under the same conditions?

 

[JalanX]

How have your previous vehicles faired under the same conditions?

They were fine. I just changed oil on the severe schedule. Take long drive on Sunday and figured it would be ok. Or at least seemed fine. My mechanic always said oil looked perfect anyway

 

[JalanX]

We will justify things to make ourselves feel better, but it doesn't change the fact that short trips = bad. Doesn't mean we're always going to drive 20 miles to go to the corner market. Drive it and don't fret it. What are the chances you're going to keep it 20 years and 200k miles?

I’d love to keep it 20 yr 200k. Why not.

 

[Dr. Zaius]

Read your owners manual where it's clearly defined. Continuous short trips aren't good but the manual addresses that too.

I have the manual currently open and I can't find where short trips or short distances are specifically addressed.

All I find is that Fuel Economy may be lower if short distances are driven.

 

[JalanX]

I have the manual currently open and I can't find where short trips or short distances are specifically addressed.

All I find is that Fuel Economy may be lower if short distances are driven.

Thanks for looking and checking on it. I’ll check it later to see if I can find anything. He did say it was clearly defined in manual so maybe it’s in there somewhere?

 

[StarLord]

i live roughly 7 minutes from work. I usually let my truck warm up in the morning for a few minutes before I leave and drive pretty relaxed not really stepping on the gas very hard. I have 30k km and zero issues. the needle will just about be centre when i arrive at work. going for a 15 minute drive mid day seems like a waste of gas and time IMO. short drives won't kill a vehicle, unless thats all you ever do.

I am confident your truck will be fine.

 

[Dr. Zaius]

Thanks for looking and checking on it. I’ll check it later to see if I can find anything. He did say it was clearly defined in manual so maybe it’s in there somewhere?

I have it open in a PDF and doing a search for all variations of the word "short" only returns the following in regards to driving that is not related to Navigation.

• 
  Fuel economy may decrease when driving short distances.
  

I honestly want to find it too as 90+% of my trips are 10 minutes or less.

Since I plan on changing oil every 5k regardless of whatever the Oil Life monitor says, I'm hoping I'll be OK.

 

[jmurph]

Short trips just means your oil life is alot less but otherwise you will be fine with letting your engine warmup before driving, as with most turbo cars letting it idle for a few minutes before pulling out of your parking spot is ideal.

 

[MXGOLF]

I too have the same problem. 10 minutes to 15 minutes on a work on a bad day. I just turned 3000 miles and had my oil changed to full synthetic. However I have been working from home for the last year and bought my truck during this period. So I don't even drive it some days. I do get to go to the office once a week to take care of stuff. My mileage is not doing very good. 18.5 or so. I did however get 20.1 on the last full tank due to some highway driving around the metro area. I still really need a long trip and burn a whole tank and see if it get's better. I am using 93 octane. after the first free tank from the dealer. I do have a couple of trips towing my tent trailer coming up late July and late August.

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