how fast should a test drive be?

[donkeyboy]

Hello all, After having some work done by a local lotus dealer, The nice men there took it for a test drive to "bed" the breaks in before i collected it. However, i was a bit anoyed when i spotted them on the main road doing 110mph in my car when i was on my was to collect it. Is this normal behavior for a dealer?

[edswales]

When took my exige for a test run I was clocking up some pretty good speed on the country roads - in fact the dealer sold me the car by getting me to puch it to 8,500 rpm through the gears. Having said that I was still conservative. If I'd of had the chance I would have definitely gone that fast. As long as it was on a decent road you shouldn't be worried.

[TonyHetherington]

You know yourself that 110mph is ridiculously easy to reach, and stop from - I wouldn't be worried at all.

[StuartB]

Its a speed wholly inappropriate for the public highway, however you are going to reach that sort of speed on track so they have to know it is okay

[Paul RN]

Silly question perhaps, but how did you know they were doing 110 when you only saw them?

[TIPPER]

Sounds to me like they were having a 'play' with your car. I'd mention it to them and go elsewhere in the future.

[jondude]

I personally think, if your 110 mph is accurate ( for how do you know??? ), that this dealer is an ass. You do not need these speeds to bed in pads. You should not, in fact, hit high speeds until they are bed in...and this is done through brisk and slowly harder brakings.

They have taken your car out for a thrash.

Now, although it is true the Elise can handle this speed, it most certainly cannot on a cold engine. If this dealer is pretending they simply MUST bed your brakes for you ( total twaddle, it is the easiest job in the world ) then I would not expect them to have used sub 3k revs for 20 minutes before opening up. ( The head gasket hates revs on cold )

I would complain to the top man - forget the workshop.

If you have cared for your Elise then an outing such as above on a cold engine should not be a worry, more a concern.

Complain, get your money back - and never, ever go there again.

[Hollywood Wheels]

Whilst 110 is fine in these cars, it's not their car and neither is it necessary to do that kind of speed to bed in brakes. Most worrying thing is, did they let it warm up properly before bringing it up to that speed? Very much doubt it. I'd be having words. Go on, name them!!!

[black_potato]

jondude said:

I personally think, if your 110 mph is accurate ( for how do you know??? ), that this dealer is an ass. You do not need these speeds to bed in pads. You should not, in fact, hit high speeds until they are bed in...and this is done through brisk and slowly harder brakings.

They have taken your car out for a thrash.

Now, although it is true the Elise can handle this speed, it most certainly cannot on a cold engine. If this dealer is pretending they simply MUST bed your brakes for you ( total twaddle, it is the easiest job in the world ) then I would not expect them to have used sub 3k revs for 20 minutes before opening up. ( The head gasket hates revs on cold )

I would complain to the top man - forget the workshop.

If you have cared for your Elise then an outing such as above on a cold engine should not be a worry, more a concern.

Complain, get your money back - and never, ever go there again.

With regards the Pads it all depends on the compounds used, for a more track oriented pad like Pagid RS14's 110-30 110-30 type stops as soon as they have been fitted IS recommended.

With regards the rest I expect they just told the spanner monkey to run it up and down the road for a few times and he jumped in and nailed it from cold as they often do & yep I'd bollok them for it.

[TonyHetherington]

Was it a Lotus dealer?! IT would really surprise me if they were being foolish; they drive much much faster and more expensive cars (please don't take that offensively) every hour of the day and so why would they have a need?!

If it was being driven like an ass, sure complain, otherwise just have a quiet word with your contact next time you're in and say "here, why would they be driving it fast up there?!" (rather than the whole letter thing)

[mr_c]

just a point, but if they were caught doing such speeds in YOUR car, then the speeding tickets going to be coming to you. I'd be well pissed off with them to be honest.

[GreenV8S]

No respectable dealer would instruct their employees to break the law, or condone them breaking the law. If they can't bed the brakes in without breaking the law then I'd say they can't bed them in. (I'd be surprised if pads suitable for road use came with instructions that couldn't be carried out legally on the road, but I guess it's possible.)

Most likely somebody went out for a test drive, got carried away, and will get a severe bollocking for being seen driving irresponsibly. If it was me, I'd tell the principal what happened and ask them what they intended to do about it. And I'd expect some bland assurance that the person involved will be told off and it'll never happen again, and a small present plus an apology.

[donkeyboy]

The reason i can confirm thier speed was that i was following them in an M3, although they didn't know it. I gave tham a bollocking, and got a discount and an apology. I suddenly felt that i was being unreasonable for getting annoyed, so i was after other opions on the subject (hence the post) but it seems that i was more than with in my rights to get cheesed off.

I'm not going to name names here as it may have been a one off

Thanks for your comments

[donkeyboy]

on the upside my Larini pipes sounded gorgeous when i was behind her (i've never herad them before from behind as i'm always in the diving seat)