I often see reference to the above but no definition. I use my FF to go to the supermarket 5 miles or so twice a week. I change the oil every 6 months only do 10000/year or less. I don’t know what oil dilution is or DPF full or turbo drain mods are (maybe something else to worry about) I’ve had my knuckles checked, found extended warranty to be a waste of time and reading my insurance policy I am not insured against nuclear bombs or lightening strikes. But back to the original question what constitutes a short journey ? My simple mind tells me that any journey ,however long, always starts as a short journey  Geoff

In my personal opinion, any journey where the car hasn't had a chance to get up to operating temperature could be considered a short journey.
Point to note is that alough the temperature guage is reading mid scale or normal, the oil temp lags behind this by a lot.
Also, a journey which consists of low revs is probably not as good for an engine as a nice sustained motorway cruise.

My Fridays and highdays toy always gets warmed up on a dual carriageway section before I take it for some B road blasts. ---------------------------------
2008 L322 Supercharged
2007 Porsche 987 Boxster S
2024 BMW iX3

to emphasise SSK's comment, my old BMW 335i (3l petrol) had an oil temperature gauge and in winter, it took a 30 minute (15 mile) normal speed drive for the oil to get to optimum temperature.

A big low engine speed diesel engine I'd suggest would take longer to warm up although I cant comment as to whether it has mechanisms in (such as utilising the FBH) would aid the oil temperature to warm up sooner. First time FFRR owner

Yep my sons ST170 (there's a blast from the past) had an oil temperature gauge too and we just didn't give it the beans until it was up to temperature but that was 5/7000rpm but this old diesel obviously has no such gauge are rarely goes much above tickover on the short journeys. Geoff

A mate of mine who used to work in the engine testing and dyno team at Ford always says that with a modern diesel anything under 15-20 miles is too short a drive to get the emissions control systems hot enough to work optimally, as you need coolant, oil, exhaust, catalyst and DPF all within the right temperature window to prevent long-term issues.

I do 800mi a week or more in my 4.4TDV8 L322 mostly at motorway speeds. The DPF soot level according to GAP tool never really gets above a few grams so active regenerations seem to rarely be required; whereas my wife's BMW 420D does active regens about once a week on her diet of twice daily 30mi commutes. 2012 (L322) 4.4TDV8 Vogue SE, RSE, Fuji White over Arabica.
Previous V8s: BMW 645Ci, P38 4.6, P38 4.0, Merc CL500
Previous others: Honda x1, Volvo x7, Rover x6, BMW x6, Ford x1, Mercedes x2, Skoda x3, VW x2, Renault x2, Citroen x1, Mazda x3, Nissan x1, Audi x3, Kia x1, Fiat x4, Subaru x3, Austin x2, Triumph x2, Jeep x2, Hyundai x2, Lexus x1, Mitsubishi x1, Saab x2... and some others I've forgotten!

Coolio, I’ll use the wife’s car for the very shortest journeys Geoff

Arch Stanton wrote:

to emphasise SSK's comment, my old BMW 335i (3l petrol) had an oil temperature gauge and in winter, it took a 30 minute (15 mile) normal speed drive for the oil to get to optimum temperature.

A big low engine speed diesel engine I'd suggest would take longer to warm up although I cant comment as to whether it has mechanisms in (such as utilising the FBH) would aid the oil temperature to warm up sooner.

When your DPF starts an active Regen it can easily take 20 mins to complete and of course first your engine needs to be warmed up to operating temps first, so any journey less than 30 mins is really a short journey and never gives your DPF chance to clean itself.
If you interrupt the Active Regen then more chance of unburnt fuel diluting Engine oil and as soon as you start the car again it wants to start another AR once Engine parameters are met. The cycle continues another short journey etc etc.

Good you are doing extra oil changes but I am also rural and do oil changes every 3 months when the system tells me on the remote app. 2018 SE SDV8 4.4 Byron Blue

Yes Kot, and that 30-minute drive has to be on a motorway or dual carraigeway so probably takes you away from home by 20-30 miles, then you have to drive back! I always worry about the regeneration process being interrupted by stopping at a roundabout or whatever, so the obvious thing is to plough on until its all over. I have visions of a typical quiet motorway 8-9pm with only the odd ffrr in sight, all happily regenning away…. In order to save fuel on these meaningless drives, I try to find a truck that’s on cruise control and sit 200m behind at 59mph, trying not to get in anyones’ way.
Ironic that a device designed to reduce emissions has us driving FURTHER in order to keep it operational!
Back on topic to short journeys, ours does mostly 15-mile urban commutes and the odd 50-mile weekend runs, needs 2 active regens per tank of fuel. I always keep the tank topped up, so when the needle is getting down to 1/2 tank, I know it’s time for a blast & a refill. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” -where’s the fun in that?

Ha Gremlin, It doesn't necessarily need a motorway or dual carriageway.

Once its started ,the AR will still work at speeds not less than 30mph, slowing down for roundabouts etc is not an issue but if you are stuck in traffic then after 5 mins or so I have seen it stop prematurely. Its better to have a speed around 50mph + as it seems to accelerate the process, as I imagine it helps clear fine ash/particles with the exhaust flow? 2018 SE SDV8 4.4 Byron Blue

The biggest problem I find is I spend all day in a work Mk8 Golf, which is grand. But when I come home, if I have an errand to do like the bottle bank or something I just want to take the bus as it cheers me up. Probably not ideal for that getting up to temp thing but you could be dead tomorrow so..... Current yokes
2012 4.4 TDV8 Westminster
Subaru Sambar Pickup Tipper
2006 Disco 3
Scoobie GT wagon
Mx5 G Ltd
TT S Line
Pajero JDM Exceed

@Fla:

Just go the long way around, and back a different long way around…..

@Kot:

Wow! You play SO dangerously! Attempting an active regen on NON d/c or m/way roads?

My paranoia just gets the better of me, that some numpty will get in my way and make me slow down, the regen will fail, and instantly dump a million gallons of diesel into my sump!

So far, the Motorway Gods have listened and been kind, and failed regens there were none; -follow the trucks, I must!  “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” -where’s the fun in that?

All,
Reading quite a lot about DPF Regen on this forum, and this morning on my route in to work (which is before the birds get up so no traffic) I do a 33mile journey, and I am on the A303 2 minutes from leaving home, I notice that the car sits at high revs until warmed up, 10 minutes later before it's properly warmed up the regen kicks in, I know this because the Instant MPG goes down from late 30's to late teens, and lasts about 20 ish minutes, as soon as I notice it, I put it into sports mode which raises the engine revs and leave it until the regen has completed.
This is what i think would have been helpful, a lit icon coming on your dash to advise of this, and if you are in heavy traffic, the ability to cancel it and defer it until you are in a better situation (i.e motorway or dual carriage way).
Anyway 25 of my 33 miles are dual/motorway and the remainder is an A road, so as the entire journey is about 45 minutes, I am hoping that the DPF gets cleaned out, I have all the receipts for the car from new, and there is no replacement DPF in any of the bills, somewhere on this forum somebody mentions 75K being the approx life of the DPF, I've got 104K in my car so am I looking at a new/ clean out of the DPF in the future?
My Merc had 270K on it when I sold it and I did 190k of those miles without even mentioning the DPF.

Whilst all the advice about short journeys has merit, my experience is that short journeys aren't necessarily a problem whatever the theory tells us.

My Wife's FF (2011 MY 4.4 TdV8 Vogue) is used mainly by her to drive from home to the riding school where she works. It's 7 miles away, cold starts both ends. We've had the car nearly 5 years, it's on just over 100k miles and it never gets supermarket fuel, only Shell, BP, etc. The oil is changed every 7500 miles. We have never had any DPF warnings of any sort. Go figure. Drives:
2010 FFRR TdV8 Vogue - Stornoway Grey
2010 FFRR TdV8 Vogue SE - Zermatt Silver
1998 BMW E36 M3 GTII

Rvbush

I think you're on the ball there regarding the fuel. Ive been driving for work as part of my job for 10 years plus and I have had 5 company vehicles. I also have had a lot of my own cars both diesel and petrol and I have not had DPF or injector issues but I only fill up in Maxoll, Circle K or Texaco. Fuel quality and good servicing are a must especially for these bigger engine cars. Current yokes
2012 4.4 TDV8 Westminster
Subaru Sambar Pickup Tipper
2006 Disco 3
Scoobie GT wagon
Mx5 G Ltd
TT S Line
Pajero JDM Exceed