idle for 1 to 2 minutes when starting in freezing cold weather?

32F is cold? Where do you live? I have a 1993 Corolla and in 0F, I only let her warm up until I have got the windows cleared off.

Charles of Kankakee

But I do hear some different sound from the engine area a few times when it's somewhat below 32F, which is already freezing point.

Yeah, it's going to start harder. The oil is cold, the tranny is cold and the battery is down on voltage because of the cold temps. I guess I have been driving so many years, I've just gotten used to the sound as normal for starting in cold weather. The colder it is, the thicker the oil in the engine is. The colder it is, the less power the battery has, so you've got two factors making it sound different. Like I said, I usually get in, start the engine and let her run until I get the windows cleared. That can take anywhere from a minute to 5 minutes, depending on a lot of factors. If I have hard ice, it takes longer, but I want the heater to have a chance to heat the underside a bit, too. Sometimes if the windows are clear, I will start her up, check the systems and take off. My old 2 and 3T-C's would sound pretty loud until they got oil up, and it took longer in cold weather, obviously.

Charles of Kankakee

No; drive away gently. Gentle driving warms the engine up more quickly than idling and you want to get to the operating temperature as quickly as you reasonably can.

It's not a good idea to do any hard acceleration until the engine is at operating temperature, but that applies no matter what temperature you're starting from.

BTW, that advice would be the same if it were actually a cold temperature, like if you were starting it from MINUS 32 . . . .

-Don