Ed 30 Running in ? and Ipod connectivity?

[sammini7]

Hi Guys,

Firstly I would just like to say what an excellent forum! I intend in driving my golf below 3500 RPM for first 1000 miles is there any other precautions I should be taking whilst running my car in ? Also how do I go about hooking my ipod upto my radio ?

Regards

Sam Hinkley

[kenny.s]

Hi Sam, welcome, i've not been here long but i've already learnt a lot.

I picked up my GTi about 3 weeks ago, got about 800 miles on it so far and absolutely love it!
A good friend of mine is a mechanic at the dealers i bought the car from. He's been on just about every VW training course there is, including the W12 beast! I asked him about the running in thing and he assured me that all the engines (well GTi anyway) are bench tested/run and are basically ready for what ever the unscrupulous consumer can throw at it, regardless of what the manual says. It just sounds better to say "treat your new car gently" for the first X many miles than "go thrash the ar$e of it" So i wouldnt be too concerned about trying to keep the revs below a certain level. Granted the engine is still brand new and some "running in" is still to be done but your better to just drive the thing.
The most important advice i could give you is to avoid loading the engine up at low revs, ie pressing the throttle in high gear up a hill, it's better to change down and use some revs regardless of what that might be 4k, 4.5k, 5k whatever. I also firmly believe you can do more harm to an engine by molly coddling it in it's early days, you will do it no harm giving it the odd blast up through the gears using 3/4 or so throttle then letting it potter along for a bit but try not to let it sit at the same speed for extented periods either, basically as i said earlier, just drive it and enjoy!

Afraid i cant help with the ipod thing, i'm getting a Kenwood DNX7200 fitted so i never bothered with any of the factory options.

Kenny

[08micsta]

Hi there and welcome to the forum 

With regards to the Ipod. Did you spec the Ipod Prep Kit from the factory or are you talking about a aftermarket install?

If you got the Ipod Prep Kit from VW (installed in the factory) then you will find the Ipod plug in the centre console behind the handbrake/ E-brake lever. IF you didnt spec the car with the Ipod Kit there should be a 6 CD Shuttle in there.

Simply plug the ipod in the plug (it slots in nicely and comes with adapter for different ipods) and switch on the CD Player. Keep pushing the CD Button on the head unit until it brings up 6 playlists and bingo you have your music.

Assuming you have the Ipod Kit installed already I would suggest the following when listening to music:
1. Try copy your music at a reasonably high quality level. Due to the VW sound system being a split system (Bass and treble speakers are seperate) you may notice it will sound tinny and incomplete when listening to music through the Ipod.
2. I would suggest you turn the volume on the actual Ipod full blast. Else your volume on the cars CD Player will be limited.
3. For better sound you could also put the Ipod onto the Bass Booster equalizer.

The thing with the Ipod Factory Kit is that it simply reads the Ipod. So dont expect to see song names etc on the head unit.

If you have any questions with regards to aftermarket units for your Ipod then speak to Hurdy etc. They know what they are talking about 

And enjoy your new car 

Mike

[Andy B]

There are two things that annoy the tits of me with our ipod preparation. One is VW's fault, the other is Apple's fault.

VW: They Ipod fits into a slot to connect. What they should have done is had a cable that connects to the ipod, THEN put the ipod in. Why? Because you can't choose more tracks while the IPOD is already inserted, and it's something that passengers often like to do on a long journey. 0/10 for VW. I believe that BMW's latest cars have a better setup.

(Clearly, this isn't a problem if you don't go for the armrest and just have a lead going into the glove compartment)

Apple: What dreadful software on IPODs. So much for the hype.

1) TO build a playlist you have to:
a) Select your tracks/albums (hold down the centre button till the selection flashes...how did you know to do this? Well, you just have to know. There is nothing to help you on screen. So much for 'intuitive')
b) Once your tracks are selected, you have to navigate to 'playlists->on-the-go', then scroll down through your tracks to the end where it says 'save playlist', then press that and on yet another menu confirm this choice. It saves the 'on the go' playlist so that it can be seen by the VW head unit (as CD #) (# depends on how many saved playlists you already have).

Want to edit a playlist, add tracks to it? YOU CAN'T. How crap is that?

Want to delete a playlist? YOU CAN'T... not without waiting till you get home, then firing up Itunes on your computer, plugging in your ipod and doing it from there.

Why would you want to delete a playlist? Because you only have 6 slots, and if you're away on holiday for a week, you might very well wish to listen to some music that isn't on the playlists you've already created.

Apple is like a religion for some. Just like religion, it's a lot of hot air.

All in all, very much less than ideal. Far better if you can to get a decent head unit and plug in a decent MP3 player which doesn't have these stupid flaws.

I wouldn't buy an IPOD now. I wish I knew all these things before I did.

[CocoPops]

With regards to running in...
I shall employ the method I've used with other new cars, make sure it's fully warmed up and then run the engine through the complete rev range.
I've not experienced any issues on previous cars (Clio 182, Micra160SR, Honda S2000 - all owned from new) and frankly, the engines are bench tested first plus the warranty is there

I believe that the engine if run in lazily (ie low revs) then the pistons arent pushed to the extend of their stroke, and so can lead to lip creation in the cylinder bore thus not allowing full power generation in later life as the pistons then need to overcome this lip.

[Andy B]

I believe that the engine if run in lazily (ie low revs) then the pistons arent pushed to the extend of their stroke, and so can lead to lip creation in the cylinder bore thus not allowing full power generation in later life as the pistons then need to overcome this lip.

Eh? Have you got a link for that? My admittedly basic knowledge of a piston engine tells me that the pistons travel the same distance up and down in the chamber no matter what revs or combustion levels are set at. The pistons are connected to big fat piston rods that join the piston to the crankshaft. Therefore, the extent to which the piston travels is governed purely by the shape of the crankshaft.

Hopefully someone can clarify, but the idea that the piston travels further up inside the engine if the revs are higher seems wrong to me.

[stevieC]

regards to running in. Get in it,warm it up then boot it arse thats how you run it in .

[08micsta]

I was told that the pistons travel the same distance regardless of the revs....
Just cos the car is making a noise at 6000RPM just means that the pistons are moving extremely fast.

Imagine the wear and tear on a car if the pistons moved at different distances at different RPM levels?

Andy-

I agree with you about the Ipod. When we ordered the car I thought wow. We can plug our Ipod in. But once you have had the Ipod and gone through all the hassle its just a waste of time.

Another thing about VW is that they create a headunit that can read MP3's off an Ipod but the CD Player cant play Mp3"s??? Whats with that...
In my opinion the Ipod connection that VW supplies is utter waste. Its nice to have the connection but thats only if you have lots of time to waste figuring out Itunes etc.

Mike  

[Horney]

I believe that the engine if run in lazily (ie low revs) then the pistons arent pushed to the extend of their stroke, and so can lead to lip creation in the cylinder bore thus not allowing full power generation in later life as the pistons then need to overcome this lip.

Eh? Have you got a link for that? My admittedly basic knowledge of a piston engine tells me that the pistons travel the same distance up and down in the chamber no matter what revs or combustion levels are set at. The pistons are connected to big fat piston rods that join the piston to the crankshaft. Therefore, the extent to which the piston travels is governed purely by the shape of the crankshaft.

Hopefully someone can clarify, but the idea that the piston travels further up inside the engine if the revs are higher seems wrong to me.

You're correct although maybe excessive heat and high spinning forces may cause the rods to grow by a tiny amount, but it would a very tiny amount.

My Dad has always thrashed his cars from new (But once fully warmed up) and never had any problems with engines. His old 1.6 GL+ MKIV escort eventually found it's way into my ownership as my first car and it was quicker than my mates XR3i and it had covered 180,000 miles!!!

Nick

[Andy B]

Another thing about VW is that they create a headunit that can read MP3's off an Ipod but the CD Player cant play Mp3"s??? Whats with that...

Oh yeah... Sorry, I forgot how much that annoyed me too when I first found out you had to do everything through playlists (and even then, you can't see which track's playing etc.).

Was it really too much to ask to be able to control the ipod from the display in the car?

We're hoping eventually to upgrade our RCD300 - that's why we went for the lowest spec stereo, so hopefully the solution will be a lot better. Might be that Kenwood 7200, or its successor!