When cold, there’s a very distinct tappety/ticking noise, which goes away when the engine is warm. TADTS?
And when I switch of, it shudders. TADTS?
Just finding out whats normal, and what isn’t, so I know when it changes - my old S160 made some odd noises which were always worrying when you didn’t know what was (ab)normal!
Totally normal mate! It’s part of the character!
Must admit however, once DVA had done his magic on porting head with agressive cams however, this was a LOT less!
Never started mine when it was this cold! I hated that noise as all the bits were yet to expand!!! Summer cars only!
Thats why you warm then up gently! 
Tappety tap here also Matt!
A word of warning following on from what Pete has said - just because the temp gauge says 80 85 or whatever, it does not mean the oil is up to temp so take it easy until the Tappety tap has quietened down. An oil temp gauge is on my shopping list this winter 
In addition, the water temp gauge will tell you when the engine is up to temp but with the radiator several feet of tubing away at the front of the car it will take much longer for cooling SYSTEM to reach normal operating temperature. Pete was spot on with his ‘gentle warm-up’ advice. Keep in that mode until the radiator has been encouraged to send its load through the engine otherwise, when you floor the throttle and the water pump actually starts to work more efficiently, you’ll suck a lot of very cold water from the radiator into the already warm engine and induce some severe thermal shock. During warm up keep prodding the throttle gently and build up the revs until there is no noticeable change in the temperature read out when you floor the throttle. That way your VHPD will last for a very long time.
If I could find a tidy, factory-looking solution for fitting an oil temp gauge, I’d get one fitted. Most look too much like an afterthought.
I always give it a while after its hit operating water temp before stretching its legs - I had an oil temp reader on my previous GTA, and it was interesting to see just how long it took for the oil to reach temperature after the water.
Not that I really got a chance to go much over 3k this afternoon, too cold and slippy. Whens Global Warming meant to kick in?
Ditch the wireless, & bob’s yer unkle:
Or remove the two centre dash vents (AC cars only) and make your own guage pod
Be very careful.
Last winter my VHPD (Exige is parked outside) was making a very loud knocking noise from the top end on start up - checked immediately - the timing belt had slipped a few teeth and problem was the inlet valves hitting the piston tops - thank goodness I checked, rectified and phew, no damage done.
I know of 4 other k series engines that this happened to last winter - co-incidence or due to the extreme cold weather??
Or wait till yvo @ eliseshop makes some more of these…
[quote=SimonE]Be very careful.
Last winter my VHPD (Exige is parked outside) was making a very loud knocking noise from the top end on start up - checked immediately - the timing belt had slipped a few teeth and problem was the inlet valves hitting the piston tops - thank goodness I checked, rectified and phew, no damage done.
I know of 4 other k series engines that this happened to last winter - co-incidence or due to the extreme cold weather?? [/quote]
It’s not that loud, definately tappet-type noise - belt has only just been changed by PM’s and its still under warranty, so should be ok.
The above pods look decent enough, will keep an eye out on SELOC.
Very interesting comments from The 83Man. As it happens I start mine in the garage (whatever the weather)hold at 2k revs (as per handbook)until idle settles, then start removing all the bikes, bits and bobs from around the car before reversing out and moving off. So,although I’ve always got it up to temp on the dash, it seems my even longer idling period might aid longevity.
[quote=thommo]Very interesting comments from The 83Man. As it happens I start mine in the garage (whatever the weather)hold at 2k revs (as per handbook)until idle settles, then start removing all the bikes, bits and bobs from around the car before reversing out and moving off. So,although I’ve always got it up to temp on the dash, it seems my even longer idling period might aid longevity.
[/quote]
Its an interesting point, one I’ve never been sure of.
Seems to be two trains of thought - one being that you should start and immediately drive off, which is whats recommended in (most) manufacturers handbooks. The reasoning being that it moves the oil around the engine more quickly (?)
However, EVO recently suggested that most wear occurs when the oil is cold and the engine is under load, so you should give it at least 60 seconds at cold idle before moving away.
I’ve always stuck with the latter…seems to make more sense in my limited mechanical knowledge.
My VHPD used to be very tappy-sounding when cold. All VHPDs do this to some extent because forged pistons shrink a lot more than cast on cooling, hence they tend to slap a bit when cold. When they’re warm they’re the right size and typically this stops. The pistons only take 2-3 minutes to reach normal running temp.
This problem gets worse the older and more worn the engine is, and the more oval the bores get, but that’s not something you need worry about unless the knocking problem gets bad or the oil consumption under hard use gets too high.
The Edwards boyz fitted mine … a ‘Stack’ set that matched the OEM dials. Looked great but sold the car before I really used them!
Martin has an oil temp gauge on his Honda… it took ages for the oil temp to even come off the cold ‘stop’ even with the water temp reading 83.
Fitting the PRT would be a top priority job… this will deffo lessen the thermal shock as Mike has explained. Personally, I never used my VHPD in this silly weather! The S1 is a ‘summer car’ IMHO… I just cringe at a ally block at -3 degs suddenly being thrapped about! The VHPD is quite a ‘highly stressed engine’ but it will reward you so much if you look after it and warm it up carefully! 
Mine has a tap until oil+water temps are up and I’m sure its piston-slap.Seems to vary-definitely quieter when ambient temp.is higher.
I had my VHPD hydraulic lifters re-shimmed at around 20K miles because they were rattling when cold.
LOL - quite right Andy - can’t tell my solids from my liquids (food too, of course!) 