One day after getting my GTI

[Alfy]

So I went yesterday afternoon to take delivery of my march 08 built Tornado Red 5dr GTI..

Everything went really well, the salesman talked me through all of the functionality of the car, and I never realised how extensive that MFD was! you can adjust almost everything through it!!

I did however have a strange smell coming from outside of the car after an enthusiastic drive... I think it may have been the brakes (possibly bedding them in) not entirely sure..

overall my impressions are, for $43000 this car has so many more features than my accord which was worth about the same! i love it! oh and i was advised running the car in would take up to 1,500kms.. and that I shouldn't rev the hell out of it, just take it up to 4,000-5,000rpm.. Your thoughts?

[tezza]

AHHHH sweet GTi

Like me you are totally in love with this car. I love mine to but are selling due to the Touareg coming in but is totally awesome car.

Interesting you say the salesman went through everything with you, when we picked ours up they did not show us a thing and I am after 2 years still learning some of the tricks.

Question what can you adjust through the MFD ? I thought it was for display proposes only (maybe I should read the manual again)

tezza

[Splashalot]

Your experience mirrors mine, Alfy - the sales lady took at least 30 minutes to explain every feature on the car - very impressive.

Re. running-in - there's lots of info and conflicting advice on the web. My personal experience is that babying your new car will cause glazing of the bores and subsequent poor performance. After making this mistake on a Subaru, which turned out to be the sluggiest car I've onwed, I now run-in my cars by keeping revs under 4-5,000 but making sure I load the engine for brief periods - eg. three-quarters throttle at 2-3000rpm up a hill. I have used this method on my last 3 new cars and all have strong engines which use little oil.

As for the Accord vs Golf - I couldn't agree more. I recently bought an Accord Euro Lux. for my wife and the Golf leaves it for dead in every regard.

SS

[SmutsGTI]

Well done, 13 days still left for me. The MFD is awesome as its been upgraded in MY08. As for the smell this is normal as it would be the first time for most of the drivetrain it has had any decent heat, I had a HSV a few years back and it stunk for a few weeks when i got it, i think mostly its the metal in the exhaust and brakes that cause the smell.

Enjoy
Smuts

[RIS00]

i got the whole **** show when i picked mine up, ribbon around it, basket of goodies including wine, 45min tutorial, it was all much i thought.
with the smell mine smelled for the first couple of days its gone now, with the breaking in i havent done anything specifically just drove it normally and hard, how can you drive it easy? i cant.
Mines already got 1000km on it and its only a week old!! hahahahaha just shows how much i love driving it

[FJ Steve]

Congratulations on your new drive.

When we picked up our Mazda6 wagon (3 years ago), the salesman spent an hour with us, explaining EVERYTHING about he car, before he would let us drive off. Fantastic service.

As for the smell, it could be any of the following:
1. Exhaust being run in
2. Brakes (as you suggested)
3. Aircon being run in?

[VW Convert]

Congrats on the new car Alfy, the more you drive it, the more you will love it.
I still find myself making excuses to go for a drive after nearly 2 years!
My wife refers to the Jetta as Jezzabel and is convinced I love it more than I love her!

Like me you are totally in love with this car. I love mine to but are selling due to the Touareg coming in but is totally awesome car.

Ditto.....absolutely a great car!

Interesting you say the salesman went through everything with you, when we picked ours up they did not show us a thing and I am after 2 years still learning some of the tricks.

I got a pretty comprehensive rundown when I got mine, make sure you insist on a thorough introduction when you get the Touareg.

Question what can you adjust through the MFD ? I thought it was for display proposes only (maybe I should read the manual again)

tezza

If yours is a couple of years old (like mine) you won't be able to change settings through the MFD. My understanding is that from 07 on they introduced the bigger MFD which includes the ability to program certain functions.

Cheers

George

[tezza]

Congrats on the new car Alfy, the more you drive it, the more you will love it.
I still find myself making excuses to go for a drive after nearly 2 years!
My wife refers to the Jetta as Jezzabel and is convinced I love it more than I love her!



Ditto.....absolutely a great car!



I got a pretty comprehensive rundown when I got mine, make sure you insist on a thorough introduction when you get the Touareg.



If yours is a couple of years old (like mine) you won't be able to change settings through the MFD. My understanding is that from 07 on they introduced the bigger MFD which includes the ability to program certain functions.

Cheers

George

BUGGER ........ Yeah mine is 2006, like you make up all the excuses to take her for a good long drive to open it up even with the price of Petrol. Interesting to note too when I went in to get the Touareg, took it for a test drive the Sales Person was more interested in talking about everything else other than the Vehicle, some guys really need a lesson on how to sell. Went back a week later and took the car overnight learnt a lot went back and upgraded our order.

Yes will be asking for a FULL Detailed instructions when it arrives, otherwise might have to hook up with someone who owns one to show me

[Greg Roles]

Congrats my man, awesome ride. Kinda make an accord look silly at the lights too, and they ain't a totally slow car.

New cars always have smells, all sorts of things to run in, but I agree with the exhaust comment. Most likely paint / coatings burning off!

I also agree with the load it idea, you need a lot of throttle, but not a lot of revs. High combustion pressure, which is easy to achieve by upchanging early ( keeps the revs down ) and flooring it ( high combustion pressure ) which seals the rings the best. Make her LABOUR, but allow the brakes, tyres, trans etc time to run in too, which is basically why you avoid to many revs at first.
Watch the revs, but feel free to floor it.

Damn, what a problem!

[Alfy]

wow.. i just got back from a 3hr stop and start drive LOL!

went past my work and showed it off to a few of the guys there.. then went for a spirited drive on the great western highway, enjoying the gears throughout the 80km/hr speed zone..

i have been loading it as much as possible, so when i read some of the comments i thought "i was doing just that!"

time for a vacuum me thinks! ahahahahaha
oh and clean up those rims and exhaust! tempted to wash it, but still overcast..

[livingthedream]

I also agree with the load it idea, you need a lot of throttle, but not a lot of revs. High combustion pressure, which is easy to achieve by upchanging early ( keeps the revs down ) and flooring it ( high combustion pressure ) which seals the rings the best. Make her LABOUR, but allow the brakes, tyres, trans etc time to run in too, which is basically why you avoid to many revs at first.
Watch the revs, but feel free to floor it.

Damn, what a problem!

So you are basically saying put your foot down and push it but don't over rev (go past say 4-5000rpm)?


In regards to a 2.0T FSI engine does anyone know with the DSG when she likes to change gears(eg at what revs) when your into her abit? Want to make sure i run mine in properly when i pick her up. So this info beforehand would be helpful?

[Greg Roles]

YEP!

In your shoes, I'd be using 0-4000rpms as much as possible, and upchanging early to keep the motor labouring ( working hard ). Sitting at one speed, cruising along like on the freeway is the worst way to properly run in a set of rings. Lots of opinions on this issue, but it seems everyone that drives their car hard from new gets a higer performing one, and people that potter get less, not that they probably ever notice. Funnily enough a better ring seal gives better economy and cleaner oil!

My last car a V8 BA GT got a huge 500km drive through the mountains from new and I had it pulling up the hills in 3rd and 4th from 20-30kph with my foot flat as much as possible. It was "magically" up 20hp at the wheels consistently on other stock ones. In a GTI I'd absolutely do this!!

[datracer99]

Definitely run it in with load. Don't baby it. Don't sit on a constant speed.

You also need to load up the engine on the down shifts. Use the engine to slow the car as well as to accelerate. this makes sure the rings bed in on the up stroke as well as the down stroke.

I took mine for a run as soon as I bought it. Used it mainly up to 4000rpm with moderate load (don't totally labour it just load it up) and the odd run up to 5000rpm. I would accelerate then slow down just using the gears. I'm sure a few people who saw me thought I was nuts.

After only 200km i started using a bit more rev range, with the occasional blat to redline.
The engine used about 300ml of oil in the first 3000km. Since the oil change at 7500km it hasn't used any oil. i'm now at 12000km.

My race engines (Nissan SR20) get run-in using the accelerate/decelerate technique on the dyno. Then after about 15 minutes of that they get to cool down, then they get tuned. Within a few runs they see full revs/Full load.
They then get THRASHED on the race track. Nothing breaks, good sealing, good compression. Bearings last up to 4 race seasons, but rings get replaced every 2 seasons. They cop far tougher treatment than any car will see on the road.

Out of interest, is anyone doing track days in their GTI?

If you want it to last make sure you change the oil at 7500km, not at 15000.
My oil after 7000 was showing that it worked hard. Not surprising, considering it lubricates a turbo, which gets bloody hot.

Unless you have warranty issues, don't waste your money on the optional 7500km service - they don't even change the oil. Change it yourself if you can - it's not hard. just use a VW approved oil - The best value I have found is Valvoline synthetic, available at repco.

Enjoy your new ride

[Greg Roles]

Wow, haven't heard about the decelerate concept before, will have to ponder that one, but it sure wouldn't hurt! Interesting..... but you're spot on!

[RIS00]

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