system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why is it that when it is really cold outside, you can see steam coming from a vehicle's exhaust for several minutes, but then it becomes much less visible after the vehicle "warms up"?
gpt
One of the main components of exhaust is water. As the exhaust cools the water vapor becomes visible. For the first bit of driving the exhaust system is cold and this point happens inside the exhaust. After the vehicle warms up this point happens outside of the car and the effect is minimized.

In addition water usually accumulates in the exhaust and it takes a while to "dry out" the muffler and tailpipe.