Running in

Vertigo

Vertigo

Vertigo

Soldato
Joined
28 Dec 2003
Posts
16,591
Ok, with new car arriving soonish, it's time for the usual fun (not) that is running-in. Question is, do you bother with this any more?

The old school of thought was always to keep the revs and/or load on the engine low for the first 500-1000 miles before giving it some stick but I've read quite a few comments which claim this isn't necessary any more and can even be detrimental to the engine. Some claim that running-in isn't necessary with modern engines and that giving it a fair bit of stick from the outset can actually help the engine loosen up more.

Any thoughts?
 
Personally I would be careful for the first couple of hundred miles but not excessively so.

After that after its properly warm I'd treat it as I would any other car.
 
I'd just do what ever it says in the manual / dealership.

But isn't it a company car? Do you really care? :p
 
Whens the first oil change? Some cars come brand new with oil that isn't really suitable for high revs, and need running in.
 
[TW]Fox said:
I've spent the last few hundred miles running in a courtesy car. Does this make me sad :(
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Not really, when I had a courtesy car from the slackest garage in the world I was so narked off I got in it and started to cane it from cold but just thought- whats the point in doing something I know could be causing damage.
 
Be gentle with all the controls for the first 200 miles - no harsh acceleration, braking or cornering, but this is to bed the suspension/brakes/steering in rather than the engine. If it's a diesel, once beyond that warm it up and give it some hammer - take it towards the redline every trip. I've seen it on cars and commercial vehicles - diesels that are treated gently early on in life tend to use oil. The sooner you loosen it up, the sooner the economy will improve.
 
blueboy2001 said:
The sooner you loosen it up, the sooner the economy will improve.
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This would possibly explain why with the same driving style, this 320i is returning 28mpg when my 530i does 30-32mpg over the same trips..
 
I gave my new Golf a fair bit of stick from day one which loosened the engine up very quickly.

That said, the Turbo popped at 10k miles :(
 
On my new car I took it easy for the first 200-300 miles, less than 4k revs no full throttle etc.. Then after I put the car into sport mode (Golf GTI DSG) to give the engine some revs but I still didn't use full throttle, but only when the engine was fully warmed up - I've never given my car any abuse until it's properly warmed up!

I've only done 1400 miles so it's still early days, although it hasn't used a drop of oil yet so i think it's a good sign. Some person's GTI on Tyresmoke uses 1 litre of oil per thousand miles and he gave his a very easy run in - it might just be that his engine is bad or the way he run it in there is no 100% way to know.

I did ask the VW dealer an he said that there was really no need to run them in, but as I said I still took it easy as I didn't want to break it.
 
my focus was given a fair amount of **** from 2400 miles, at 8k miles it was producing 115 bhp, by 23k miles it was producing 130...

Moral of the story, treat it mean and keep it keen ;)
 
Don't worry about it, drive as normal.

I got a brand new engine the other day, 1.5hr break in. Then it ran 60hours at full throttle and full revs. Didn't break and soon gets the oil consumption down ;)
 
MouseMat2004 said:
http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm
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Yeah I've read that before but I can understand why it's controversial as all manufacturers state you should take it easy to start with, a philosophy most on here seem to agree with.

I just want to do whatever's best for the engine in the long term really. If doing what that guy suggests is the best way then fine but it's just his word really. Who's to say what the ECUs on modern cars record these days? It's possible they could keep a permanent record of how the car was driven for the first 1000 miles and, if there were major problems later, they could look at this info and claim you didn't run it in properly? Paranoid maybe but I'm often amazed at the data modern cars record.

I suspect the service department of the dealer would be a good place to ask as most of the demo and loaner cars they have will be treated like crap from the outset and they'll know how much servicing and maintenance these needed later in life. Whether they'd divulge such information is another matter :)
 
personally unless there is special non revs oil in it (never heard of this before) the just go easyish for a couple of hundred then slowly build up to driving how you want. I would be doing what I want afte about 400 miles. but definetly dont go easy on it.
Thats what I would do if it was mine, as its a company car I would just kill it.
 
Funny how everyone seems to be saying to take it easy but only for a few hundred miles, yet the link above suggests that the first 200 are the most critical and are when you should be caning it.

As for this "it's a company car so who gives a toss" attitude which seems prevalent, just because it's a company car doesn't mean I don't want to treat it with any respect. If treating it like crap from the off will result in major problems later then it's still hassle. I may not have to pay for any work that needs doing but I still don't want the grief of regular trips to the dealer and OTT oil consumption.
 
All the engines where I work get worked hard from the start. If they don't blowby is high, oil consumption is higher and they don't perform aswell.
 
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