New engine running-in?

[Crispy]

Hi all.

Just recently picked up a new polo. The dealer said there were no specific requirements in terms of breaking in the new engine.

My brother-in-law told me to drive it fairly hard, and constantly vary my speed for the first 1000 kms with no cruise control.

I have tried to find some documentation without success.
Any ideas?

[Johnbu]

Your brother in law is correct.

Just make sure it's warmed up, then drive it hard.

[Crispy]

Your brother in law is correct.

Just make sure it's warmed up, then drive it hard.

Thanks or your quick reply.

[polojared]

I've used cruise control a fair bit, its no different to staying on a steady speed using your foot. VW told me the engines are run in at the factory. Btw, I have also being giving it to my Polo. They seem to love it.

[Brian916]

There are two schools of thought. Be gentle as possible or drive it like you stole it.

Theory one is about being gentle and giving everything a chance to warm up and wear in. Was important when it was important to condition metals that were poorly cast. Not so important now.

Theory two is about getting the most power by making the best ring/bore seal. Rings only seal through pressure in the combustion chamber, and the only way to get that is to have high load/revs with lots of 'bang' from lots of air/fuel. Most engines, the theory goes, are today built to similar specs as a custom built race engine about 10yrs ago. Race engines are run through a gentle warm up cycle, and then get run on a brake dyno up to red line 3 or 4 times, then idled to stabilise temperature, shut down, and the oil drained for an analysis in the lab - looking for particles in it, and break down of the oil.

I've used the latter for the last few motorcyles I've bought, and consistantly met or exceded the claimed power output for the model. Others with the 'be gentle' I know that have done the dyno challenge have been below or just at claimed power.

If you don' have a dyno, it's suggested to run the car/bike in 3rd gear from idle to red line, full throttle (don't bounce of the limiter), three times, then gently home (or to dealer) for an oil/filter change.

Oh, my bikes run in this way have also used far less oil than others too - ring/bore seal means less get's past the rings to burn.

Break In Secrets--How To Break In New Motorcycle and Car Engines For More Power has thoughts of a race bike builder - been using his 'secrets' for years.

[stucam]

A fascinating article/webzine. Would a new GTi come loaded with synthetic oil as opposed to valvoline etc. Is this an issue only for bikes? S

[Transporter]

Hi all.

Just recently picked up a new polo. The dealer said there were no specific requirements in terms of breaking in the new engine.

My brother-in-law told me to drive it fairly hard, and constantly vary my speed for the first 1000 kms with no cruise control.

I have tried to find some documentation without success.
Any ideas?

You should be searching for a new engine running in instead of wear-in.

[pologti18t]

Best advice is:

Don't leave it idling for any length of time. Warmup should be done under gentle driving, not idling.
Don't run the car in during peak hour. Worst conditions ever for a new engine. Therefore best to pick a new car up on a Saturday then take it for a nice run before returning home.

I think most new performance cars come filled with synthetic oil. Whether you change this at manufacturers intervals or 1/2 them is up to you. If you expect to keep the car 3-5yrs and <100000km I wouldn't bother doing extra synthetic oil changes. The only person that may benefit is some other owner down the track

I've followed the routine that Brian suggested above on a couple of bikes (ZX6R, GSXR750) and the engines do seem to rev freely and use minimal oil between changes.

When I got my Polo GTI in 2006.. the first run-in trip I did was nearly 1000km from Sydney to Walcha and back via the Oxley Highway, i did give it a hammering once warmed fully. To this day the engine revs cleanly to the red line and uses minimal oil between changes. Even the gearbox has behaved itself (know problem on that model). As Brian said... its all about keeping load on the engine (both acceleration AND deceleration). So I did all the tricks like popping it in 3,4 and 5 on the freeway and accelerating hard (squeeze throttle not jab it) from about 60-120... then taking the foot totally off the accelerator and letting the engine decelerate the car. Apparently that is also good for the gearbox bedding in.

[GTi Crow]

I have a fairly easy 27 klm run to work in 60kph speed limited areas. To run in my Polo 77TSI (as I did with my Golf GTI) I use cruise control a lot - but manually (with a DSG) change the gear so that the motor is reving at different speeds every few minutes from the 1100 up to over 4000+ on regular cycles with the occasional burst to 5000 or more. All the time cruising at 65kph on the speedo (which equates to 60/61 on GPS). First 200 klm was done as country running varying speed up to 110 kph. I found this worked really well for my cars and have not had any excessive oil usage and no motor or acceleration issues.

[gavs]

Hmmm, so when the GTI gets here, I buy some mineral oil and a new filter, drain out the synthetic oil, fill it with the mineral stuff, take it for a spirited drive up to Chum Creek road and home or through the back of Eltham/Warrandyte making sure to put plenty of load through the engine, drain the oil, put on the new filter and put a new lot of synthetic in it. That correct?

[noone]

Overkill. I would not redline it for the first few thousand, but otherwise lots of flat foot.

[brad]

I must say, this is a great idea for a thread. I don't think engine run-in has been discussed a lot before..... probably because nobody really has an opinion on the subject.

[GTi Crow]

I must say, this is a great idea for a thread. I don't think engine run-in has been discussed a lot before..... probably because nobody really has an opinion on the subject.

This subject tends to pop up at some stage in most threads for specific cars within this forum, although more when the model is new rather than ongoing, so if you were a keen searcher you could find them. To me there is a simple rule - don't baby it, don't overdrive it and just make sure you use most of the rev range regularly during the first 1,000 klm. Works for me.

[brad]

This subject tends to pop up at some stage in most threads for specific cars within this forum, although more when the model is new rather than ongoing, so if you were a keen searcher you could find them.

10char

[kaanage]

Apparently that is also good for the gearbox bedding in.

Yes, the high loading periods helps grind off any high spots in the gear assemblies, quickly while the unloaded periods help the surrounding areas cool down so that the heat treatment isn't locally affected. Constant low loading will wear down these spots slowly so there is more localised heat build up with the possible damage to the heat treatment of the parts.

A school friend's dad used to race touring cars (back in the '70s) and he said that the best engines and gearboxes were always the ones that they ran in at Bathurst.