Running in or not.

[baldric313]

Picked up my new car 2 weeks ago and am running in gently as per the owners manual, got to say its very boring pootling around like that although the economy is great. Just thought I'd ask what other new owners have done do you run it in gently or have you gotten bored and put your pedal to the metal.Personally I can't wait to try the car out properly.

[Nicky boy]

Running in! No thanks. Did very mixed driving from day one

[Wardy]

Vary engine revs and the type of driving you do in the first 1000 miles, I just wouldn't thrash it.

[Stevoraith]

As Wardy said really.

Both brand new cars I've had I've just driven them 'normally' from day one. No special molly-coddling, no limit on throttle travel, but by the same token, not bouncing it off the rev limiter either.

Our Fabia never used a drop of oil and never gave a hint of mechanical trouble in the 5 and a bit years we had it. The Octavia is only on 2500 miles but so far it's not used any oil either.

[baldric313]

Thats basically what I have been doing just keeping the revs down. Just thought it would be interesting to see what other people think, the dealers tell you nothing but I guess they would soon invalidate your warranty if they felt you had been thrashing it and caused a problem.

Great car anyway and hope to keep it for a few years, so plenty of time for fun driving.

[Aspman]

I didn't shy away from full throttle but I did avoid high revs for the first 1000 miles.

Car has run without problems or excessive oil consumption for 4yr.

[baldric313]

Sounds good, only another week or so and I should be able to enjoy it a bit more.

[eccleshill]

Same as the rest! I just drove it normally except:

generally used Tiptronic to over-ride the DSG and stop it rolling along in high gears at 1200 rpm - tried to keep revs to a minimum of 1500-2000 rpm

Restricted myself to just a couple of full throttle, red line S mode blasts in the 1st 1000 miles.

Now done 9000 miles and have used 1 litre of oil - first half litre at 3000 miles then another half litre top-up at around 8500. Engine is sweet as a nut and pulls like a train :-)

[jrw]

As long as the engine is warm (oil up to temp) take it through the rev range through all the gears. I have used half a litre of oil in 17k now and in runs like a dream.

[countryboy]

Like others have said, don't molly coddle it. That is the worst thing you can do to a new engine really. Have some fun and put your foot to the floor but just don't get it bouncing off the rev limiter all the time. I picked up my car when it had 3000 miles on the clock and it used about half a litre in the first few hundred miles. I started giving it a good hard run regularly and the oil consumption has now settled down to about half a litre between services, which are annually at about 7-8000 miles.

Ian

[Bullit]

I've said before having been on a Grimaldi line car carrier that dropped/picked up new cars around Europe your car has been 'thrashed' already. Do you think all the drivers on the docksides drive them carefully ? As an example a Merc SL convertible and an alfa doing donuts !

[baldric313]

I've said before having been on a Grimaldi line car carrier that dropped/picked up new cars around Europe your car has been 'thrashed' already. Do you think all the drivers on the docksides drive them carefully ? As an example a Merc SL convertible and an alfa doing donuts !

Yeh I have thought about that. I will start to have some fun with it over the next week or two. Thanks for all the input everyone it's nice to get an opinion or two.

[Retsef]

I've said before having been on a Grimaldi line car carrier that dropped/picked up new cars around Europe your car has been 'thrashed' already. Do you think all the drivers on the docksides drive them carefully ? As an example a Merc SL convertible and an alfa doing donuts !

Speaking as an employee of one of Grimaldi's car carrier competitors, it is not normal for stevedore drivers to thrash cars around these days. During our cargo operations, cars do not go over 20mph on the ship or 40mph in the car compounds. However, there are always exceptions to the rule....The main thing to watch out for is if your car is delivered late, as often this is due to stevedores crashing it in to something and it then being repaired by the VPC.

With ref to the OP, I would have thought the vehicle could be driven relatively normally from new. Most engines are now run-in on the bench and so it is probably the gearbox which needs the run-in more. I'm no expert on car mechanics though so feel free to say that's a load of old tosh!

[baldric313]

Speaking as an employee of one of Grimaldi's car carrier competitors, it is not normal for stevedore drivers to thrash cars around these days. During our cargo operations, cars do not go over 20mph on the ship or 40mph in the car compounds. However, there are always exceptions to the rule....The main thing to watch out for is if your car is delivered late, as often this is due to stevedores crashing it in to something and it then being repaired by the VPC.

With ref to the OP, I would have thought the vehicle could be driven relatively normally from new. Most engines are now run-in on the bench and so it is probably the gearbox which needs the run-in more. I'm no expert on car mechanics though so feel free to say that's a load of old tosh!

That's a load of old tosh!

No seriously, I work in the offshore industry and I would imagine that the health and safety in docks and on the ships is similarly stringent. Although there are always occasions when things like thrashing cars etc can be gotten away with.

[Mattcooper79]

my Vrs TSI now has 50 miles on it and i have done and will continue to drive it as any normal car, a bit of mechanical sympathy and wait until everything is warm before using full power.....

[ooosh!]

thrash it!

flog it!

buy a new one!

let someone else worry about it

i did 1000 miles conservative..ish driving might git it chipped now

[lfc958]

My last 4 new cars & this one I have run as recommended i.e 3/4 of max revs for the 1st 1000km ( approx750 miles), then gently pushed rev to max over next 1000 miles, & not pushed it till i have at least 1500 miles.

Doing this has resulted in me never having had any engine issues ( so far ) , I had to only put 0.5l top up before 1st service, result being is that i never had to top up oil between services & checking the oil just before it went in ( again), the dipstick was showing half full or empty depending on your outlook

So treating the engine with a bit of respect early on seems to pay in the long run

[DbD]

Why not just follow the manufacturers advice - surely that is more reliable then anything you'll find on some forum?

[jrw]

Why not just follow the manufacturers advice - surely that is more reliable then anything you'll find on some forum?

Because in my experience it doesn't bed things in correctly causing heavy oil consumption. My polo 1.9tdi used oil all the time having religiously followed the running in procedure. Likewise my dads 1.4 16v which was previously owned by a granny used a ridiculous 1 litre every 1k. My bora and now the vrs use non as they were driven sympathetically but hard and normal, averaging at most half a litre every 18k.

Edited 15 July, 2011 by jrw

[Wardy]

Why not just follow the manufacturers advice - surely that is more reliable then anything you'll find on some forum?

'Some forum'...

Some forum, which, in many cases is found to offer advice and knowledge in excess of what the manufacturer and their associated dealers either know, or are willing to share.

[eccleshill]

Why not just follow the manufacturers advice - surely that is more reliable then anything you'll find on some forum?

It is not a case of not following the manufacturers' recommendations it is more a case of how they are interpretted. In the "old days" new cars had a notice in the back window "running in - please pass" because advice then was not to exceed 30mph for the first 1000 miles.

Now advice is a little more involved; here is what the manual for my Octavia says:

A new engine

The engine has to be run in during the first 1 500 kilometres.

Up to 1 000 kilometres

– Do not drive faster than 3/4 of the maximum speed of the gear in use, that is 3/4 of

the maximum permissible engine speed.

– Do not use full throttle.

– Avoid high engine revolutions.

– Do not tow a trailer.

From 1 000 up to 1 500 kilometres

– Increase the power output of the engine gradually up to the full speed of the gear

engaged, that is up to the maximum permissible engine revolutions.

During the first operating hours the engine has higher internal friction than later until

all of the moving parts have harmonized. The driving style which you adopt during the

first approx.1 500 kilometres plays a decisive part in the success of running in your

vehicle.

You should not drive at unnecessarily high engine revolutions even after the

running-in period is complete. The maximum permissible engine speed is marked by

the beginning of the red zone on the scale of the revolutions counter. Shift up into the

next higher gear on a vehicle fitted with manual gearbox before the red zone is

reached. Extremely high engine revolutions are automatically governed, by the way.

For a vehicle fitted with a manual gearbox the converse situation also applies: Do not

drive at engine revolutions which are too low. Shift down as soon as the engine is no

longer running smoothly.

To some people that seems to say "drive like a granny for the first 1000 miles". In fact what it says is not to use full throttle for the first 1000km (650 miles) but it is OK to use 3/4 of the rev band - 4500 rpm on my 1.8TSI which means pretty healthy acceleration.

What people are saying here is that to get the best out of the engine use that 3/4 of the rev range frequently.

I have had 2 cars bought ex rental with 12-14k miles on the clock and another ex company car with 20k miles. I am pretty sure that no gentle running in was done for these yet none of them used any significant amount of oil - ie no more than 1/2 litre between services.

Just noticed - that is my 1000th post

Edited 15 July, 2011 by eccleshill

[Wardy]

Congrats on the post milestone

[baldric313]

'Some forum'...

Some forum, which, in many cases is found to offer advice and knowledge in excess of what the manufacturer and their associated dealers either know, or are willing to share.

Thanks Wardy

This is exactly why I thought I would check on other forum users opinions. Manufacturers and dealers don't always get it right as we all know