new TT RS - no running in process!?

[PinkFatBunny]

colleague has just picked up a new TT-RS - great looking car and does tempt me away from my M4. But when I asked him about taking it steady and running the engine in he said the dealer told him that as long as he didn't red line it in the first few hundred miles he'd be fine and can drive it however he likes.

Is this the norm with high end Audis?

I know BMW M's you got told to take it steady until the running in service at 1500miles.

[JulianHJ]

It was the same with my Focus ST earlier this year - no running in period or service. The engineering tolerances are good enough that it's no longer required, apparently.

[AJB88]

Same with my Cupra 280 and its actually worked out well.


The 2.0TSI engine in my Cupra is same as Golf R and S3, some of the 2014 models were fitted with a weak turbo called N revision, My car has this weak turbo.


there has been numerous documented turbo failures and 99% of the time the car they fail on was "run in". mine on the other had has been running Stage 2 420ps for over 3 years now.

Drive it like you stole it (once oil temps are up of course)

[Dr G]

Agreed - don't be mean to the engine (labour it, rag it) for a few hundred miles but other than that go for it. Do keep a close eye on the oil level as new rings take a fair while to fully bed in.

[Chalky74]

new RS models will not allow you to rev over 5500 revs until the engine is warm as a protection cause the older models would allow you to gun it straight away which is stupid on a new vehicle...

[Nedzilla]

Don't know if this is true but when I had a M3 many yrs ago I seem to recall reading/being told on numerous occasions that BMW used a 'running in oil' which was of inferior quality which allowed the engine components to bed in better during the running in process which is why it was essential that the initial oil service was done after 1500 miles.

Clearly Audi doesn't do it then!

[w8pmc]

Nedzilla said:

Don't know if this is true but when I had a M3 many yrs ago I seem to recall reading/being told on numerous occasions that BMW used a 'running in oil' which was of inferior quality which allowed the engine components to bed in better during the running in process which is why it was essential that the initial oil service was done after 1500 miles.

Clearly Audi doesn't do it then!

That is correct, been that way on the proper M's for a while. The running in service needs completing at around 1200 miles.

I can't recall what fluids are changed, but pretty sure on the M5 it was the M-DCT oil that was different from the factory, but could have been the engine oil too.

[annodomini2]

They are run in on a dyno or test cell before being fitted to the car

[superlightr]

I think although it may not need it its good practice to bed in brakes and other components over the first few hundred miles.

I had my RS6 from new and there were reported issues with the brakes warping etc the posts where drivers had been a bit more gentle in the first 1000 miles appear to have reported no issues with the brakes, others where they did not appear to had the issues.

So - I was gentle for my first 1000 miles and now 2 years later brakes have been good and no issues with the car at all.

Its also good to get used to the car, feel how it handles and get yourself bedded in with it. 1000 miles goes quickly in the big schemes of things although feels forever when you first have it.

Did the same with any new car Ive had,

[Zooks]

My dealer told me the same thing when I picked my tt up but it’s in the manual to run it in for the 1st 1500km. Avoid full throttle, 5k max revs etc

They also said running 98 Ron would make no difference to performance but again the manual recommends it

I’m beginning to think my Audi dealer is full of st

[annodomini2]

The engine has 2 knock sensors so in theory should be able to compensate for the fuel type

[xjay1337]

yes but it's a high performance car so should be ran on the best fuel.
i use vpower only in my fiesta FFS .

Generally hard-ish run-ins are better anyway so I would just drive it as you would normally and this is true for 99% of cars.

[Evolved]

Mixed bag this one. Even high performance rebuilt engines have mixed feedback on the correct procedure.

Some say give it beans and use the cylinder pressures to help bed the rings etc.

[annodomini2]

Hard run in for race engines is a performance/life thing, a race engine needs to be on peak performance in as short a time as possible.

You can't be waiting till x races in before the engine hits peak performance. But at the same time, it doesn't matter if you have to rebuild it after a few hundred or thousand miles, it's a race engine!

[James_B]

The advice when I bought my B7 RS4 was not to use the full rev range when cold.

When I picked it up it was sat idling for a good long whike as I was shown around it, so when I got in to pull away it was up to temperature.

The first metre it ever travelled once bought was from a floored throttle, up against the redline, with a side-stepped clutch lighting up all four tyres.

Maybe I was just lucky, but in five years of motoring it neve so much a stuttered once. Not a penny spent on anything to do with the engine other than two standard services.