Running-in - how serious?

[Colin P]

erics said:

ALSO, do NOT run the car at constant rpm for 620 miles! Ie, motorway miles. Engine needs diverse rev activity.

Yes, I'd been meaning to come back to add that.

I'm not a believer in the "prevent new owner from binning it" suggestion. That won't bother the manufacturer, they'll just sell you another. It'll be about warranty claims and I suspect is unnecessary on 99% of cars, but if one has something a touch out it gives the chance to identify it without doing massive damage.

I would buy a demo, but only if the price differential is enough to compensate for the peace of mind in knowing how your car has been treated it's whole life. Seeing as an ex demo in the same spec as mine would only have saved me £2/3K on the price of mine which was unregistered and had 26 miles on it (incl the trip to the PPF installer) it was something of a no brainer for me.

Edited by Colin P on Tuesday 30th May 15:49

[kitcat7]

There is a school of thought that modern engines do not require 'running in' and that to do so only glazes the bores leading to high oil consumption early in life. They say that it is best to thrash it from day one, so that everything beds in as quickly as possible.

On my last car, a Mk 7 Golf R, I did just that, using the red line from the moment I pulled away from the showroom and for all the 50 miles home. It appeared to do no harm either at the time or for the 7 years that I owned it after that.

My current Legende was bought 2nd hand, so I don't know what happened to it prior to my ownership, but as others have said, the oil temperature gauge is an invaluable feature and one I consult all the time, especially before giving it the beans.

Whether I would be brave enough to give a new A110 the same treatment I'm not sure though..........

[Colin P]

Parked it with 600 miles on it last night. Might need to go and get some milk later

[Whaleblue]

Colin P said:

Parked it with 600 miles on it last night. Might need to go and get some milk later

So, 20 miles of warm up before reaching for 3550 revs

[Rob_RCF]

I have an A110 GT on order. My first new car.

Personally I'm going to be following the running-in guidelines as recommended by the manufacturer. That does not mean babying it, just driving normally without exceeding 3500 rpm for the first 620 miles and then driving a bit more liberally without going too hard up until 1800 miles. Probably a lot of driving around town and B roads where I'm not sitting at a constant speed and the load naturally varies.

I wouldn't recommend gunning it straight out of the dealership though, even if you do intend to do a hard break in. Remember it's not just the engine - tyres and brakes also need time to bed in until they reach their full performance. I've seen recommendations anywhere from 200-500 miles.

If anyone wants to know a bit more I'd recommend at least watching Engineering Explained's video about engine break-in on youtube and also savagegeese has a video which goes a bit more in-depth with interviews with engine manufacturers. I don't want to spam a bunch of links, but they are easy to find.