Hi folks,

Could I be so bold as to canvass your opinions as to whether you treated your brand new Fabia Vrs's any differently for the first few miles of ownership?

I'm due to collect my brand new Black Fabia Vrs from my local dealer in Southampton next week and I'm really excited!!

In fact, I can't ever remember getting so excited about a new car, even when I picked up the Vectra 3.2 GSi I have.

Do you have to be caeful of anything: oil use, maximum revs etc?

Your comments and opinions would be greatefully received!

Richard, the Organist in Southampton where it is damn cold, again!

Oil is a main concern for the first few thousand miles.....Keep your eye on it and put the correct spec oil in ....Nothing else will do!!!!!!!!

The manual says dont rev over 3k for the 1st 1000 miles the let the engine run in properly IIRC.

There are different schools of thoughts though as to which is best.

Personally, I think you should stick by the manual, then gradually increase the revv's after the initial run in period. This is not to say you should rag it as soon as it has 1k miles, but you should be able to use the entire rev range.

Some people say (with petrol engines anyway) that you should rev high from day one, sealing the piston rings and increasing power. My brothers 172 had 7 miles on the clock when we collected it, he pretty much ragged it from day one and just before he sold it with 30k miles on the clock it had 174 bhp at a rolling road session. By contrast, when he picked up his 172 cup with 18 miles on the clock he took it steady for in excess of 2k miles before using the full rev range. That only had 164 bhp on a rr day (same rolling road)

You could also argue that the engine tollerences where slightly different during manufacture and thats why there is a 10 bhp difference, also driving style, servicing and how well it's kept probably play more of a part.

Personally, if a manufacturer says take it easy for xxx miles i'd do that rather than risk an increase of 3-4 bhp and potentially reducing the lifespan of the engine.

Sticking to the book is the safest bet. However I don't have the patience and once the oil was warm, I would batter mine to death. It turned out to be a 'quickun' too !

Yep. I collected mine a week ago today, and so far i've clocked up 584 miles and i've managed to not take it past 3000rpm to many times, anyway thats all you really need anyway. Its still a blast to drive, Enjoy, you'll know yourself when driving it how far you should rev it at the start!!

Sticking to the book is the safest bet. However I don't have the patience and once the oil was warm, I would batter mine to death. It turned out to be a 'quickun' too !

Pretty much the same here. I did use full throttle (on a diesel ), but didn't exceed 3500rpm for the first 1000 miles or so. Not that theres a huge amount of point in revving past that anyway.

I did use a whole litre of oil before the first service mind - but I haven't had to top it up since.

I used honest johns method to run in my fabia vrs.

nothing above 3000 rpm for first 1000 miles, making sure to take it to 3000 on occasion.

nothing above 3500 rpm for the second 1000 miles so up to 2000 miles. Making sure again to take it up to 3500 rpm regularly.

2000 - 3000 miles nothing above 4000 revs. again taking it to 4000 on occasion

then after that whatevr you like, but reccomend taking it up to 4500 rpm now and again to blast the soot out.

my car didnt use a drop of oil for the first 6000 miles and doesnt smoke like some others do.

Like gav I did the Honest John to the letter

I've tried to keep it between 2000-3000 rpm. Goes smooth.

Like most others here didn't rev about 3000 for the fist 1000 miles. BUT i didn't notice the bit in the manual about "don't use full throttle!". Now done nearly 10k with no problems so far and it feels quick enough to me!

You will also notice that the diesel engine doesn't fully open till it reaches near 10,000 miles. After the initial few thousand it just gets better and BETTER.

The manual says dont rev over 3k for the 1st 1000 miles the let the engine run in properly IIRC.

There are different schools of thoughts though as to which is best.

Personally' date=' I think you should stick by the manual, then gradually increase the revv's after the initial run in period. This is not to say you should rag it as soon as it has 1k miles, but you should be able to use the entire rev range.

Some people say (with petrol engines anyway) that you should rev high from day one, sealing the piston rings and increasing power. My brothers 172 had 7 miles on the clock when we collected it, he pretty much ragged it from day one and just before he sold it with 30k miles on the clock it had 174 bhp at a rolling road session. By contrast, when he picked up his 172 cup with 18 miles on the clock he took it steady for in excess of 2k miles before using the full rev range. That only had 164 bhp on a rr day (same rolling road)

You could also argue that the engine tollerences where slightly different during manufacture and thats why there is a 10 bhp difference, also driving style, servicing and how well it's kept probably play more of a part.

Personally, if a manufacturer says take it easy for xxx miles i'd do that rather than risk an increase of 3-4 bhp and potentially reducing the lifespan of the engine.[/quote']

Hey Paul, rip that car of yours to shreds and naturally pick another 10bhp to put you in CSW territory!

Thank you very much, all of you, for responding to my question. Basically no more than 1/2 throttle and keep it under 3K for the first 1000 miles. Then gradually increase over the next thousand, reserving full whack until about 3 thousand have passed.

My thoughts on running in.

For an engine to run at maximum efficancy (i wish i could spell lol ) The rings have to bed in to make the best seal.Now imagine how good your expensive PD oil is,its that good that a unstressed engine will never bed in, if you poodle around you build a nice glaze on them pistons and your engine will never bed in,the only chance you have is to give it some stress when its new,thats why alot of race engine builders run engines in at full throttle.I used to race motor bikes high, performance 2 strokes anf when rebuilding the engines the piston and rings where cleaned in solvent before assembly so the parts ran dry for a few seconds on startup to help the bedding in.

I also worked for years reconditioning ford cargo truck diesel engines for a big distribution company,a pattern emerged alot of engines were coming back with exesive oil comsumption,the problem was eventualy traced to rings not ever bedding in.We solved the problem with special running in oil which was slightly abrasive and we would build a engine and run it in a jig on full throttle for 8 hours with this oil.(dont really know the composition off the oil but it came from the mobil oil company especialy for the job) That solved the oil consumption problems.

Last year I bought a new golf gti PD150 a engine thats known to use oil early in its life.I drove or should i say my wife drove the car very hard from mile 1 and 20k miles later it hasnt ever needed topping up with oil,the same theory iv aplied to my VRS..........just my theory lol and i am very clever ..though my spelling does not show it lol

iv had a couple of new cars and work vans in my time, and i have found (especialy in the work vans) that if you drive it as you mean to keep driving it, they seem to go alot better, as my first new car and my first new work van i drove them by the book and they didnt feel as punchyand used alot more oil as the ones i gave the welly. might just be my imagination, but the car i have now (54 plate, fabia vrs) i have given it the big shoe since day one and its on 35k and feels smoother than the day i bought it, plus its never needed an oil top up. you do the maths.

I would stick with the manufacturer's running in recommendations. They know more about the engine than anyone else does and are the ones who provide a warranty for it. That warranty does not cover damage or defects due to failure by the customer to comply with the operating instructions in the owners instruction manual.

I also stuck with the manufacturers recommendations, but for some reason, mine ended up guzzling oil.

I took it steady sometimes, floored it sometimes. Its fine, Ive now done 4000 miles and its not used any oil yet!!

Apart from the dent in the wallet - isn't using a little oil a good thing with diesel engines? :confused:

Apart from the dent in the wallet - isn't using a little oil a good thing with diesel engines? :confused:

No idea ! Ross?

iv had a couple of new cars and work vans in my time, and i have found (especialy in the work vans) that if you drive it as you mean to keep driving it, they seem to go alot better, as my first new car and my first new work van i drove them by the book and they didnt feel as punchyand used alot more oil as the ones i gave the welly. might just be my imagination, but the car i have now (54 plate, fabia vrs) i have given it the big shoe since day one and its on 35k and feels smoother than the day i bought it, plus its never needed an oil top up. you do the maths.

I drove mine "normally" from day one with no running in, and it has never used a drop of oil, and worked perfectly... 20k now and counting.....

Stick to the book mate. Fine with all the theories here but YOU know yourself you did the right thing if there's a problem you don't have to lie to the manufacturer with 'honest, I did run it in , in accordance with your instructions'.

Stick to the book mate. Fine with all the theories here but YOU know yourself you did the right thing if there's a problem you don't have to lie to the manufacturer with 'honest, I did run it in , in accordance with your instructions'.

i agree, stick with whats in the manual and if you feel like it follow honest johns guide as its just an extension to what the manual says. I wouldnt thrash the nuts off it the day you get it.

Definitely take it easy for a bit, get it warmed up and then give it a little work to do, following the guidelines. I did rev it according to 'honest john' pretty much but always allowed the car to warm up with modest acceleration (still do that now, esp. on a cold morning like today) and allow to idle for a little bit before turning off ignition after a spirited drive

Another thing is to get the oil change done a little sooner perhaps for the first one, if you do relatively low mileage.