Running In

[henspeed]

Most people on here follow a rule of running in the motor nice and gently for the 1st 1000 miles!
I have however heard rumours in the past that it is better to run an engine in hard, ie give it welly right out of the box
Anyone got any thoughts on this?
A mate of mine did this on his new cough (saxo VTR) and when questioned about the running in procedure said "well if it goes pop Citreon will replace the engine on warranty, so what does it matter"
His car seemed pretty quick in comparison to other paxo VTR's

Not that I plan for one second to thrash my GTi from word go but what are your thoughts on my mates theory?

[Hurdy]

Follow the guidelines of the makers as closely as your right foot and the little devil inside your head will let you

Running in has more to do with the long term benefits you will reap with the cars fuel and oil consumption rather than the max bhp it will give you. Thrash it from the offset and you may see minor benefits to the cars power, but longer term you will pay for it.

[K1]

I wouldn't say thrash it, but maybe drive it 'briskly' (when engine is warmed up) rather than nanny around in it. Thats what i intend to do when i collect my ed 30 in June.
I nanny-ed around in my current car when new (rx8) shifting at 4k rpm max rather than use the full 9500rpm. As a result i had what was known as a sticky 3rd port which should open after 7,000rpm to give more power. As a result, my car would stutter (CEL light flashing), power cut and revs die down to less than 4,000rpm. Scary when overtaking! Other owners who didn't experience this apparently used the full rev range. The general consensus with the rx8's is to use the full rev range rather than half of it. But not foot to the floor type driving, if you know what i mean.

Kev

[henspeed]

What do you think of the RX8?
I had a drive in one a few weeks back but decided it was a touch impratical, hence the golf is on order

[Hurdy]

Just been offered an RX8 today
One of my workmates has to free up some dough so put it up 4 sale

2yrs old
18k mile
red
Chrome 18's
Alpine sound
£11.5k

Hmmm. I wonder if the wife would have it instead of her 1.2 auto punto

[wantmygti]

Shifting early and not using full gas are important when running in, but you also need to use the gas and revs in increasing amounts.

You can't run it in with negligable acceleration. Some degree of force is needed to push the piston rings into the bores.

[henspeed]

That sounds like a reasonable price for the mazda

[K1]

Hurdy, i think the rx-8 will be a much better drive than her punto 
Great handling car, and sounds ace with aftermarket exhaust, but constant need of refuelling takes the sting out of the joy of ownership. In its defence, my 1st year service was on £85, 2nd year £160. So cheaper than GTI i think. Here is a pic of my car showing off




Or maybe you can get here this one:
http://www.petrolheads.co.uk/sales/160928.htm.

Saying that, your colleagues price is good, i only got 12k for mine after 2.5 years of ownership.

[Teutonic_Tamer]

Most people on here follow a rule of running in the motor nice and gently for the 1st 1000 miles!
I have however heard rumours in the past that it is better to run an engine in hard, ie give it welly right out of the box
Anyone got any thoughts on this?
A mate of mine did this on his new cough (saxo VTR) and when questioned about the running in procedure said "well if it goes pop Citreon will replace the engine on warranty, so what does it matter"

Just remember, though - what French car manufacturers (and probably VAG too) say they will do for warranty purposes - will in fact be very different to what they actually do.  They will also ask how it was run in, and if you admit to NOT running it in as per the owners handbook, then bye-bye warranty claim!

As others have said, run it it properly, in accordance with the owners handbook, and you can be satisified that your engine will last longer.

Don't forget too, that those proponents of "thrashing it out of the box" are usually race engine tuners, who strip and re-build their engines every other week or so!    I know I posted some links for workshop manuals, but I'm sure you don't want to get overtly intimate with your donkey!     

[Teutonic_Tamer]

I wouldn't say thrash it, but maybe drive it 'briskly' (when engine is warmed up) rather than nanny around in it. Thats what i intend to do when i collect my ed 30 in June.
I nanny-ed around in my current car when new (rx8) shifting at 4k rpm max rather than use the full 9500rpm. As a result i had what was known as a sticky 3rd port which should open after 7,000rpm to give more power. As a result, my car would stutter (CEL light flashing), power cut and revs die down to less than 4,000rpm. Scary when overtaking! Other owners who didn't experience this apparently used the full rev range. The general consensus with the rx8's is to use the full rev range rather than half of it. But not foot to the floor type driving, if you know what i mean.

Yeah, but a rotary Wankel engine is very different to a reciprocating piston engine, and can be treated differently! 

For a piston engine, a good running in regime would be to start off with very light throttle, low revs, and light engine loads - and progressively build up both revs and loads (but still avoiding WOT) - and end aiming for full throttle, max revs, and max engine loading at about 1,200-1,500 miles.  It is absolutely vital not to maintain a "constant" rev loading, say for the first 600 miles, and then to cane the pants off it suddenly.  You need to vary the engine revs, up-to, say 3,500rpm (not consantly at 3,500rpm) for the first 300 miles, then upto 4,500rpm for another 300 miles, and so-on.