Breaking in your new car

[PhilMart]

I have gone to the link that is mentioned in the sticky relating to breaking in your car. I have also done some web searches on breaking in engines of cars.

To say the LEAST this is perplexing so I want to ask as many people as possible the following

1. Have you broken in your car using 1) hard breakin 2) soft breakin?
2. Did you perform any oil changes within the first 1000 kms apart from first service?
3. If you have had experience with either do you think the result is as promised.

I like the idea of what the web site states, but the proof is in the pudding .. real owners .. real cars!

Phil

[Greg Roles]

Hi Phil.

I'm only a week in, but I started on here asking a similar question. The people here set me straight.

A bit of mixed info out there, but overall I am convinced the cars come with a good break in oil. With the TDI you have no option but the synthetic anyhow. You can change it as much as you want, but make sure you use VW approved oil, NOT "meets the spec" oil. Warranty issue if something goes bang.

I like to change oil and filter twice as often as recommended. That's just me.

I am convinced hard break in, but hard as in making it labour, not max revs. Maximum force on the rings / cylinder walls.

motomanusa goes into it the way I like. Ultimately it's YOUR car...

Just driving it around in the traffic will be OK. Just don't spend too much constant freeway time for the first few thou. THAT'S the biggest risk.

[moguzhan]

from my own experiences...

1. the car isnt "opened up" and you can smell a lot of burning rubber and engine components working.

2. you need to thrash the car a bit because its the best time to find its faults and whether everything works and listen for noises from the engine.

3. if you get chipped, you will love it and the car will "open up" sooo much more otherwise you will have to wait until you hit approx 20,000kms to get a similar feeling.

4. i would drive a lot of different speeds, hwy, normal roads, fast speeds low speeds etc.

on my first 1000 i used lots of hwys and normal roads. did a 1000 in 2 weeks anyway. thats 2 full tanks of petrol.

id change oil at 7500 or so kms as well.

no point baby'ing the car...give it a good wash and wax and even then you will get over it once you get your first scratch.

thats my opinion anyway

[redgti20t]

I'm picking up my GTI next week. There's a definite risk in being TOO gentle with the car during the break in but i wont be thrashing it either. I plan to drive it gently until the car is warm then regularly drive it to 3500rpm while in the first couple of thousand kays. After that I'll start to extend depending on how tight the engine's feeling and how much it seems to be enjoying the revs. I'll change the oil at 4000-5000km and then will make sure to start hitting redline soon after that
I've have no proof this is the correct method but it's what i plan to do with mine...

[Mischa]

I have gone to the link that is mentioned in the sticky relating to breaking in your car. I have also done some web searches on breaking in engines of cars.

To say the LEAST this is perplexing so I want to ask as many people as possible the following

1. Have you broken in your car using 1) hard breakin 2) soft breakin?
2. Did you perform any oil changes within the first 1000 kms apart from first service?
3. If you have had experience with either do you think the result is as promised.

I like the idea of what the web site states, but the proof is in the pudding .. real owners .. real cars!

Phil

also its worth being weary of what people on forums say. go do some research of your own and make an informed decision. if you dont plan on keeping your car for more than 150 or 200000kms then it doesnt even matter anyway.

[mrx]

I'm picking up my GTI next week. There's a definite risk in being TOO gentle with the car during the break in but i wont be thrashing it either. I plan to drive it gently until the car is warm then regularly drive it to 3500rpm while in the first couple of thousand kays. After that I'll start to extend depending on how tight the engine's feeling and how much it seems to be enjoying the revs. I'll change the oil at 4000-5000km and then will make sure to start hitting redline soon after that
I've have no proof this is the correct method but it's what i plan to do with mine...

Good luck trying to stick to that! Let us know how long you actually end up holding out for. I reckon 5000rpm might be a more realistic target.

[Mr R32]

According to the VW manual for the R32:

For the first 1000km:

1. don't drive faster than 3/4 speed;

2. avoid high engine speeds (revs); and

3. don't tow a trailer (not sure how that works with an R32's exhaust??)

Between 1000 and 1500km speeds can gradually (?) be increased to the maximum road speed or engine speed.

There's nothing else in the manual about warming the engine up, oil changes, cooling the engine down, whether short trips should be avoided or how long to run it for. There's also nothing in there about how to drive after 1,500km.

I've got 2 cousins who are mechanics - both say basically the same thing: what motortuneusa says about break in is essentially correct (and 100% correct for newly assembled engines, especially motorbikes). For the first few hundred km the engine should be loaded up to bed the rings in but there is no need for max revs. Although there is no need for max revs, the odd high rev gearchange won't kill the engine either (though I am not taking the car to max revs).

Importantly though, engine revs and speed should be modulated so that you are never at 1 speed or rev count for long. What I am \not sure of (and have raised in the forum before) is the extent to which VW pre-run in their engines before they are bolted into the cars, if at all. Despite the dealer telling me to just follow the manual for the first 1,500km I'm not convinced that engines are fully run in if at all (if they are, why the need to avoid high engine revs?).

For my run in I am allowing the car to fully warm up to operating temp' before driving a metre. I have not driven short distances and have spent at least 1/2 hour driving after the car has been warmed up before turning it off. The car has spent most of its 750km out of the city and in the country where there are plenty of hills and quiet roads where I have constantly varied the revs and speeds with changes anywhere between 2,500 and 5000rpm, but mostly around the 3,000-4,000 range. Like what cogdoc has said, I've also done hill runs in 5th or 6th starting at 20km all the way up to 110km. I am also not using the launch control in the car yet but will do so after around 2-3,000km. I also intend dropping the oil after 1,000km despite the first service being at 7,500km.

Guess I'm not driving it like a F1 car, but I'm not driving Miss Daisy either - my run in is on the medium to hard side....

[Steve]

We picked out GTI up in Melbourne and drove it home. It sat at around 110km/h for the first 750km or so of its life, but we changed gears often and did 110km/h in everything from third to sixth - changing as often as every twenty seconds.

After that, we drove it like we do now: normally around town, but with some spirited driving on the twisties on the way to our house. It's seen the red on the tach a few times - but that can't be a bad thing, considering the DSG in sport mode doesn't change until well inside the red anyway.

It uses a bit of oil - though most VW 2.0T's do. I'm curious as the manual reference to "high revs" - what's high? 4000rpm? 6000rpm? Red line or beyond? It's easy to avoid the other criteria, but that's the unknown I guess.

[Logzy]

For my run in I am allowing the car to fully warm up to operating temp' before driving a metre.

Are you serious, you let the car fully warm up, as in it sits there and idles, before driving it.?

That is the worst possible thing you could do to a new engine, especially when youre trying to run it in, all it will do is glaze the bores.

[SoVeReIgN]

For my run in I am allowing the car to fully warm up to operating temp' before driving a metre.

Bad idea!!

Sure, let it get some oil around the engine by idling for a minute or so, but don't let it sit idling for 10~15minutes for the run in!!

[REDMKVGTI]

For my run in I am allowing the car to fully warm up to operating temp' before driving a metre.

Crazy.....

Just drive the car like you will normally and you should be fine, don't spank it too much, but don't baby it either. The only overwhelming/consistent advice is to not let the engine run at a single constant speed (ie idling until it's warm or driving on the freeway using cruise control for prolonged periods).

For my run in I took the car down the great ocean road. Twisties and hills, perfect "running in" road.

[PhilMart]

Bad idea!!

Sure, let it get some oil around the engine by idling for a minute or so, but don't let it sit idling for 10~15minutes for the run in!!

I read pretty much the same thing .. let it warm up .. but then rev it up at 2500RPM .. the reason being that the oil does not get "flung" around as it needs to until 2500RPM (website info). You arequite happy to leave it stationery during that process they say.

Well thanks all for the info .. there doesn't appear to be a good way or bad way of doing it .. I will research further and post my own results here.

In closing though it would appear that getting the rings seated is not the only thing about breaking in an engine. There are bearings and cams that need to be looked after as well. It almost seems like a sliding scale for the use you intend it for .. sedate driving vs rev head or near competition. If that is the case then you would probably just drive it out the gate as you want to drive it normally taking into account a few things about redlining, warming up and oil changes, as well as revving up and down the RPM scale.

Phil

[origin]

Hi Guys,

This is my method....

As I was leaving the dealer. I put my foot on the floor all the way...I think this is a real test before the warranty finish...If it can pass 3 years without any problem with the engine. I reckon the engine will last forever...

NB: with regular services 1000km and 5000km after that....

Good luck Guysss....

[Splashalot]

[QUOTE=origin;136540]Hi Guys,

This is my method....

As I was leaving the dealer. I put my foot on the floor all the way...QUOTE]


Remind me never to buy a used car from you

I'm also a fan of the varying med-high load/moderate revs run-in technique. This is explained in a rather long-winded way in the following link on a US Acura (ie. honda) forum. I don't agree with everything written there, but it gives some sound priciples behind this school of thought. Hope it's helpfull to all those running-in their new pride and joy

http://tsx.acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1443&highlight=break-in

SS

[Mr R32]

Are you serious, you let the car fully warm up, as in it sits there and idles, before driving it.?

That is the worst possible thing you could do to a new engine, especially when youre trying to run it in, all it will do is glaze the bores.

Should have been clearer guys. It doesn't sit for 10 mins idling. It gets to temp within a couple of mins then its game on. By "fully" the reference was to somewhere between cold and around a 1/4 on the gauge.