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Running in TSI engines


Rainmaker

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I absolutely recommend the highest octane you can get your hands on, and to keep using it from day one. My S3 was handed over with £5 of 95 RON (oh so generous) in the tank, but the Tesco (and a Shell) are directly opposite the dealership. As such mine got brimmed with M99 straight away. I did experiment a little with Costco 97, but the car felt flatter and was definitely more hesitant and slower to pick up. Idle and low down torque isn't as good on lower octane fuel, and when you're asking for 'everything' top end (for example a fast overtake) you will find the car simply throws up its hands and dithers if you're on lower octane fuel. 

 

When mine was taken into the body shop, they 'very kindly' ran it low on fuel and then added £10 of Asda's finest... :(  I'll give it its due, the MPG wasn't bad - but mostly because it was basically having a tantrum because of 'falling' from 99. The engine was literally flat, lethargic and practically refused to work. I'm being a little dramatic of course, but trust me the difference between 99 and 95 is night and day. The car just doesn't like it at all. Bear in mind this makes sense, as you'll have spent a few tanks having the ECU advance the ignition to suit the new higher quality fuel. Suddenly you dump in 95 and the ECU 'panics' and retards the timing into the safety zone to prevent any damage to the head. 

 

Going the other way (95 or 97 > 99) is a bit more gradual and nowhere near as instantly noticeable. You'll feel a bit more grunt low down very quickly, but it's only really over the course of the tank (or two) that you sort of realise that the car is very willing, pulls hard from low down and gives you its all without hesitation at the top end. You will also see MPG rise over the next couple of tanks. In other words, it DOES make a huge difference, but not in a way where you fill up and then your eyes fall out of your head immediately. :D

Our Golf (same basic engine as Superb 280) was delivered with a full tank of 95 & I've only managed to put about 50 litres of Tesco 97 in it so far, 'cos all we have locally is 95.

 

We ran it in according to VW's instructions, & it seems to be OK, used about 1/2 litre of oil in the 1st 1000 miles (we're up to app 2300 miles so far), but we find it difficult to find the roads to really extend the car, except in 1st / 2nd gears, at red-line in 3rd it's over the NSL!. 

 

Not a problem for us, the DSG is programmed to shift early & use the low-down torque, which is what we're used to. 

 

FWIW, South Essex roads are probably too busy for fast driving except in the dead of night, but we do enjoy the car, even if it does use more fuel than the other two,............

 

DC

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  • 4 weeks later...

Rainmaker has done a pretty good review about how to run in your engine. I would like to point some things that will get you in trouble.

One good point that was brought out was the idea that you should not baby your car. I would emphasize it, you do not have a clear understanding how much crap this will produce. Usually during the cars first lifetime (approximately first 5 years or around 200k km) you really can't do anything wrong. Meaning that the car will work pretty much whatever you do with it. 

I must disagree with you here. From my  - over 600,000km drove so far in different cars, from new or not - my conclusion is: the way the car is operated in the first 2,000km will determine whether you will have issues or not with the car.

For example, I believe in good-old fashioned running in. My TDI does not consume any oil between service intervals - always maximum on the deepstick. I have reached the 50,000miles/80,000km with the car. A friends of mine who abused it from day one with red line sprints consumes oil about 700ml between service intervals. And he is just at the 30,000miles/48,000km mark.  That's caused by too much wear in the first period of the engine.

 

Same with brake pads and discs: I am at 50k miles/80k km with the original brake pads and original discs... 

 

In my opinion running in is the most important task to do with your car if you want to keep it in perfect running order.

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Hi fellows,

 

Thanks for this great topic. It answers most of my questions.

 

What do you think about the start/stop system during the run-in period? Shall I disable it for the first 600 miles or leave it do it's job?

 

Is there anything about the turbo I should be aware during the run-in period? Any specific guidelines?

 

Regards,

Nick

Edited by NikolayZhelev
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Hi Nikolay,

 

In my opinion, the start/stop is a "turbo killer". For example, if you're travelling for 2 hours on the motorway and you're oil temperature is aprox 102-105 celsius and you go into a gas station and start/stop turns off the engine - this is "turbo killer". The oild does not have a chance to cool down and the turbo is no longer properly lubricated - it uses the same engine oil - so, in time you will have a "leaky turbo" - that is the first sign of trouble. 

 

As a general rule, you should never switch off the engine until the oil cools down to let's say 99 celsius - this gives the turbo a chance to cool down and you increase the life span of the engine.

 

If you plan on using the car for only 3 year - forget all the above, doesn't really matter, cars are designed to resist abuse for 3 years/100 000km. After that you start to get problems.

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Sorry for beginner's question, but how do you exactly know the temperature of the oil?

 

 

Make sure the oil is up to operating temperature (~80oC) before you start increasing the revs past around 2,500rpm.

 

I can't seem to have a card on Maxi Dot with oil temperature under vehicle data (where there's speed, mpg etc.). Is it the big gauge on the main dash (the coolant temp gauge?)

 

I've just got my 220 TSI L&K, absolutely love it! 2nd day and I'm trying to be gentle, yet I don't want to start doing something wrong to it :)

Edited by kasperoo
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You have to select what info you want on the maxidot from the car set up section of the infotainment system. Then you can scroll on the maxidot to see what you have added and oil temp is one of those cards. If you have your infotainment manual to hand it is all explained in that book rather than the owners manual.

 

Sorry but cant remember exactly where it is but someone will no doubt be along soon to remind us. If nobody else has posted by tomorrow morning I will go out and check for you and post again

Edited by Sagalout
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Hi Norian,

 

Thank you for your reply and advise!

 

After reading a lot of controversial opinions on the engine break-in/run-in topic one thing is not very clear for me:

 

Shall I apply moderate load to the engine between 2000 and 4500 RPM or just vary the rpms slowly without pushing the throttle? I'm aware I should NOT push full throttle in any case and not load the engine at low rpms (below 1700 for example), but shall I load it above that in order to apply some good pressure on the piston rings for proper sealing?

 

I'm looking forward to hearing from you guys.

 

Kind Regards,

Nick

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Hi Nick,

 

I believe the best approach is to have slow and smooth acceleration, in order to avoid sudden bursts of load on the engine. You will see as the miles pass that the engine is more willing to cope with acceleration and you get less and less the feeling that engine is resisting, fighting back on you as you accelerate.

After aprox 3,500km (aprox 2,200miles) that feeling should be gone

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  • 4 months later...

This question isn't related to just petrol engines I guess but as I have purchased a TSI I didn't see the point in starting a new topic. Do modern turbos suffer the same problems turbos did 10-15 years ago? I remember being told not to switch the engine off (04 e60 530d) without letting the turbo run idle for a minute to allow the oil to cool which would in affect save the life of the engine somewhat but with stop-start now a feature so I'm thinking the technology must have progressed. What are people's thoughts on this? Is this something I need to keep in mind with the Superb?

Edited by CTRob
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Turbos get very hot and they "bake" the oil in their bearings if you just switch off the engine right after prolonged high load. Modern engines (including the TSIs) will take care of this by circulating the coolant with an electric pump even after turning off ignition, as long as it is necessary to prevent turbo damage due to residual heat. In short, not a problem  - been taken care of.

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Enjoyed reading your advice, Rainmaker - I'm currently running in a 1.8TSI EA888 and I recognise the bit about resistance / flat spot. 

 

VW's manual is slightly different - says do not exceed 2/3rds of maximum speed or fully depress the accelerator. 

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  • 1 month later...

Just got my new Skoda 280 sportline today.

I tried to run it in DSG manual mode and found it the downshift is not as responsive as the test vehicle I have driven. The transmission seems to be unresponsive e.g. downshift to 2nd at 40-50km/h the car will be unresponsive rather than matching the rev like the vehicle I have test driven. The car's transmission seem to have a "brain fart" moment where it doesn't know what to do.

Can it be because it is a brand new car that the engine/transmission will be in "protected" mode to prevent unnecessary downshift and rev blipping? Does any other new Superb owner have similar experience? 

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4 hours ago, cyberkank said:

Just got my new Skoda 280 sportline today.

I tried to run it in DSG manual mode and found it the downshift is not as responsive as the test vehicle I have driven. The transmission seems to be unresponsive e.g. downshift to 2nd at 40-50km/h the car will be unresponsive rather than matching the rev like the vehicle I have test driven. The car's transmission seem to have a "brain fart" moment where it doesn't know what to do.

Can it be because it is a brand new car that the engine/transmission will be in "protected" mode to prevent unnecessary downshift and rev blipping? Does any other new Superb owner have similar experience? 

It might be a good idea to check the "running in " advice in the manual.

Our Golf R (similar powertrain) wasn't subjected to downshifting into 2nd at 30 mph until it passed the 1K miles pont..........

Try "S" mode after you've done a few miles, it will shift up late & down early, just like driving a manual............

 

DC 

 

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2 hours ago, old newbie2 said:

It might be a good idea to check the "running in " advice in the manual.

Our Golf R (similar powertrain) wasn't subjected to downshifting into 2nd at 30 mph until it passed the 1K miles pont..........

Try "S" mode after you've done a few miles, it will shift up late & down early, just like driving a manual............

 

DC 

 

 

Good to hear DC, have just recently read the manual, I'll try to take it easy for the first 1000km and see how it goes after that. 

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I've got fat recently. So much so I have considered 'running'. There are places that are dedicated to this activity. Howerever, I had not considered I could be running in a TSI Engine. It sounds exciting. A new envoironment where maybe I can be distract from the fact I am running. Yes, I like this!

Edited by l4wrence
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7 hours ago, l4wrence said:

I've got fat recently. So much so I have considered 'running'. There are places that are dedicated to this activity. Howerever, I had not considered I could be running in a TSI Engine. It sounds exciting. A new envoironment where maybe I can be distract from the fact I am running. Yes, I like this!

I think you'll find that the TSI engine actually does too much of the running for you. You'll just get fatter. Best if you run in a track suit, IMHO.

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