Noob Question
 

this is my first scooby and i'm loving it but my only gripe is the heater takes ages to warm up.

when its warmed up its nice and toasty, is this common for import classics?

Thx

no mate ive a 99 classic sti(import) and it takes minutes and its toasty?????check your coolant level or turn the dial to hot lol lol lol lol
maybe your heater matrix is going or you got an airlock in coolant system

when i say ages to warm up i mean when i start it in the morning and leave it tickin over , when driving it only takes a few mins.

I just use my air con...
my my99 warms within minutes tooeven without the a/c

wouldnt leave it to warm up on tick over best to pull stright off
i normally give 20secs for oil to get around and drive under 3000rpm untill warm leaving on tickover untill warm is when you will damage engine as think approx. 80% of all engine dammage occurs within first 5 mins from starting cold

It will take an age to warm up if you leave it idling as there's no load on the engine.

About a mile and a half warms mine nicely.

A half mile of DRIVING should be enough to start blowing warm (full hot, a/c=off).

If it takes ages, maybe a circulation issue, lack of coolant, sticky thermostat, or the heater control valve is stuck shut.

Thermostat is a common problem, often noted that when the engine is hot with the temp guage at the normal position (about halfway), when you start driving you notice it drop back down after a short period at 40+mph - if thats the case, the thermostat isn't closing. And that will adversly affect heater performance and warm-up. The car will also guzzle fuel too (well, more than normal ;) ).

Says me who spent 2 weeks freezing his nads off because I couldn't find the time to change the thermostat on my car :lol1:

See, I read the question wrong (again!), I mean that the engine is up to full temp in 1.5 miles! I promise to read the q in future.

Que?? I was agreeing with you and eloborating the point :wonder: