dealer phoned last night - vRS will be here next week!!

can't wait

quick question re running the car in - is it still necessary and if so roughly how restrained and for what distance?

(petrol vRS)

cheers

I was told to keep it below 5k rpm for the 1st 500 miles and thats about it. I should get the manual out and have a look..... in fact I will. Hold fire!

OK...... the book says :-

Up to 1000Km

- 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

1000 - 1500Km

- increase the power output of the engine gradually up to the full speed of the gear engaged, that is up to the max permissible revs.

Do not drive at engine revs that are too low. Shift down as soon as the engine is not running smoothly.

Just boot it.

encephalopathy - my brain hurts too!

Cars that are driven reasonably hard from the outset seem to produce more power.

Cars that are driven reasonably hard from the outset seem to produce more power.

They do seem to but I'm not sure if that is because they loosen up quicker and in the earlier part of their life do feel that more nippy. I worry about them being trouble in later life though. Always a tricky one to answer with any real knowledge as I've never had a car from new to high mileages with the exception of a Fiesta 1.8d BT van some years back that got caned silly from day 1, but then they all did so all seemed the same!

I'll give it some beans upto about 5.5k rpm as and when I get the urge for the first 600 miles then I'll have a proper play!

I ran the Leon in for about 800 miles in the same way, but it did that in the first weekend we had it!

There are guides to running petrol & diesel engines on the Honest John website:

Honest John: Frequently Asked Questions item 16 & 17.

I'm following his advice with my new vRS TDi (3 weeks old) and have used it before on previous vehicles.

Having said that, I'm sure the best running in we did on a car was my wifes old Renault Scenic 1.8 petrol that we went to France in with the kids a month after we got it. At 60K miles it still wasn't using any oil between changes.

I've heard it said before that rental cars get well run in because a) customers thrash them from day one and they get driven by people with different driving styles. Don't know what they're like at 50K miles though.

Personally, I stick to the manufactures recommendations. I did (well just about! )

I didn't want a situation where they start to plug the engine managment thingy into something and then tell me I have driven it too hard early on, if I needed to put in a warrenty claim for something big. Not sure exactly what a dealer can tell from a laptop and the right software, in fact I could be wrong totally, but someone told me that the car can record all sorts of thing like when the ABS is used etc. Being naturally cautious I didn't hammer it until it got close to 1500 miles. I have heared the argument regarding driving it it hard from the off, but It just seemed 'wrong' to me.

Just a suggestion for when you pick it up, especially if it's a black one.......get it out in direct sunlight if you can and check the paintwork.

You ARE getting a great car I love mine, but if there is something you are not happy about reject the bugger!

Not really what you want to hear, but I suppose my experience has altered the precautions I will take in the future when buying any new car! However, I will say again, it is a wonderful car and you will enjoy it, especially when you give it some stick later on. Oh yeah it has a great boot too.

Congratulations in advance,

Paul.