Interesting article here:-

Puma Race Engines - How to run in a new engine

I'm wondering if this item is equivalent to the badly explained item in the manual re using high revs? I've brought the Skoda manual item to the attention of Skoda UK as the 2 dealers I've seen haven't had anything conclusive to say about it.

"Over the next 1000 or more miles the friction levels inside the engine will continue to fall as the bores glaze up. The harder you use the engine the faster this will happen. Drive like your granny and it might take 5000 miles before the engine is fully loose. It won't blow up because it's not fully loose if you use it hard but the power will continue to increase as the friction levels drop. Also the combustion chambers carbon up which raises the compression ratio slightly and improves thermal efficiency as the carbon acts as an insulator. You might see another 2% or 3% power once the engine is really loose compared to the first run on the dyno after the initial break in period."

The Skoda advice is no different to any other 'running in' owners manual advice I have ever seen.

AFAICT they just want to minimise engine early life failures.

is the advice 1000 miles with no excessive acceleration and to keep below 3000rpm?

It's also known the following:

Break In Secrets--How To Break In New Motorcycle and Car Engines For More Power

It's also known the following:

Break In Secrets--How To Break In New Motorcycle and Car Engines For More Power

I've read some rubbish on the Internet, and that site is one of the worst. The author harbours some fundamental misconceptions about engine operation.

The Skoda advice is no different to any other 'running in' owners manual advice I have ever seen.

AFAICT they just want to minimise engine early life failures.

Skoda current advice in my manual from 1000-1500 km is to gradually increase the revs to the max in all gears, which is 6000rpm and legally and practically not doable, so I've asked them to explain that item. AFAICS it's a clumsily worded version of an 'Italian tune-up', unless they can explain it differently.

"FYI I was checking my speeds at 2000rpm in each gear. 2nd, 3rd ,4th, 5th and 6th come in conveniently at 25, 30, 40, 50 and 60mph, but at the 6000rpm limit that would equate to 75, 90, 120, 150 and 180mph! Legality apart, 6000rpm may be achievable on the road in 2nd and 3rd, possibly 4th for some models, but for 5th and 6th I think the road wheels would need to be off the deck!"

So I've been looking at the threads here and the manual to get my head around it and so I can explain it to SWMBO when we finally pick up our Octy 1.4 TSI in a few weeks. And here in simple terms is my summary. On the basis we do 12 -14000 miles a year. And that the tacho 'goes' to 8000 but the 'usable range' maxes at around 6000 with redlining from 7000?

Keep it gentle until the engine has warmed up. But don't 'dawdle' in lower revs.

For the first 3 weeks (700 miles/1100km) drive sensibly/defensively/'normally' keeping the revs above 1500 and below 4500 (3/4 of 6000 rpm).

For the next week (260 miles/400km) (again once the engine has warmed up) use all the gears a bit more without redlining but keeping the revs at the upper end where possible.

Yeah, I'll probably just check the trip for miles travelled. But the 'week' thing makes it easier to think of how long I need to keep an eye on things before I try to see if it'll do 90mph in 2nd gear*. Does that make sense? And if I do all that can I assume I'm not doing my engine any harm and will see plenty of workable life (and the expected power) out of it?

(I've never bought a new car and never needed to think about 'running in' before so apologies if this sounds like elementary stuff to everyone else!)

* Joking!

My beleif is to drive normally from the start. If you need full throttle and full revs , use them. Most of the time, you will be cruising anyway.I have always done this and never had any problems.The vRS went to 80k without me ever having to top up a drop of oil... same goes for the fiat, used normally from new, mapped at 4,000 miles and used the full power of the map from then on, again, never had to top it up with oil (and I do check it) 87,000 miles now, and no engine, turbo, g/box, clutch issues at all. My most was when I kept a car for 4 years (beleive it or not, it was a saxo VTR) and I ran it to 150,000 miles with no engine issues at all, engine still felt like new (the gearbox died at 113,000, but thats an ok mileage for a gearbox to last, especially a citroen one!)

I would recommend using the car as you would every day, the only "proactive" thing I do is never turn the engine off immediatley after "fast" driving, I always cruise to where I'm gonna stop so the turbo has chance to cool before being switched off....

Skoda current advice in my manual from 1000-1500 km is to gradually increase the revs to the max in all gears, which is 6000rpm and legally and practically not doable, so I've asked them to explain that item. AFAICS it's a clumsily worded version of an 'Italian tune-up', unless they can explain it differently.

"FYI I was checking my speeds at 2000rpm in each gear. 2nd, 3rd ,4th, 5th and 6th come in conveniently at 25, 30, 40, 50 and 60mph, but at the 6000rpm limit that would equate to 75, 90, 120, 150 and 180mph! Legality apart, 6000rpm may be achievable on the road in 2nd and 3rd, possibly 4th for some models, but for 5th and 6th I think the road wheels would need to be off the deck!"

Well so far after a first quick response to my question, quoting back to me the parts of the manual *other* than my question, it's been 1.5 weeks with no further news. So it's fairly clear Skoda UK and/or the VAG group, 'cos it's the same office, have no idea what the 'high rev' bit of the running-in is about.

Re-reading it, and knowing it can't be done in all gears, legally or practically on the road, 6000 rpm can be approached in 2nd, but for what reason, and for which engine, as the manual covers all Octavia engine models?

I suspect I'll just have to tell them I'm running out of 1000-1500km distance window and that unless they clarify/modify that item, by return, to something achievable, I can't carry out the procedure currently described.

Should later the engine life, or performance, be adversely affected by lack of this item of procedure, I reserve the right to draw attention to the inadequacy of that part of the procedure at the time, as described.

I don't have a Skoda manual to hand, but I can quote the Citroen UK advice verbatum - "Avoid revving over 4_000rpm, or letting the engine labour, for the first 1_000 miles".

I don't have a Skoda manual to hand, but I can quote the Citroen UK advice verbatum - "Avoid revving over 4_000rpm, or letting the engine labour, for the first 1_000 miles".

The 1000km procedure is pretty standard, it's the 1000-1500km procedure which is unusual. For some reason it wants max permissable revs, ie 6000, but doesn't explain why, how often, for which engine(s) nor that even in 2nd you'll be doing 75mph. 3rd-6th obviously even faster. Sounds to me like something only done on a dyno, or a badly described version of the 'Italian tune-up'. Anyhow still no reply from Skoda UK, so I'm not going to be doing it, but if it's important to the longterm wellbeing of the engine, then it hasn't been adequately described and I've given SUK every opportunity to put that right, which they've so far failed to do.

I don't have a Skoda manual to hand, but I can quote the Citroen UK advice verbatum - "Avoid revving over 4_000rpm, or letting the engine labour, for the first 1_000 miles".

I remember it was written on my AX GT book, too!

I remember it was written on my AX GT book, too!

The thing is, the advice was the same for petrols and for the XUDs that had a governer at maybe 4_600!

The thing is, the advice was the same for petrols and for the XUDs that had a governer at maybe 4_600!

I note some car makers max engine powers are currently quoted at 6-6500 rpm!

I note some car makers max engine powers are currently quoted at 6-6500 rpm!

Yeah, but the XUDs were diesels!