New car - running in period?

[Dangerous Dan]

Hi all.

Is it still necessary to 'run in' engines on new cars nowadays, or are they just "get in and go"?

If running in is still preferable, what 'tactics' should one employ when running in an engine? How do you know if/when an engine run-in is successful? What are the reprocussions for not running in an engine correctly/at all?

I do intend on winning the lottery this Friday (sorry if anyone else has bought tickets - it's my turn!), and would need some all-important running in advice for my fleet of new shiny things that I will undoubedly buy.

The missus wants shoes, but when she said "mmmm, a shoe cupboard would be niiiice" I really heard "Ferrari F430 Scuderia will get me going long time"

[arfur daley]

It will probably would have been ragged silly on the pdi roadtest for starters.

[jimxms]

Let it know who's boss right from the get go and thrash the cr*p outta it. Don't want the car thinking you're a wuss and getting into its little ECU brain that all you wanna do is waft everywhere.

[James Dean]

I'm predicting 5+ pages of discussion.

[barky]

Keep a touch below the red zone of rev counter for first few weeks & all should be well .... engines are bench tested these days .... most drivers will never reach red zone so the old 'running in' period is history

[Caruso]

I remember reading the warning that came with a new car once regarding the brakes..."Avoid Emergency braking for the first 300 miles". So better to crash then?

[craigjm]

Varies from manufacturer to manufacturer and to be honest how long you are going to keep the car and how it is financed

[R300will]

modern engine design means that failure to 'run in' an engine poses less risk. With dads audi it was basically don't clog it for the first 1000 miles then it has an oil change then free for all. The car also had a 'delivery rev limiter' meaning it couldn't be put past 4000rpm. Probably a long motorway run with varying rpms for 10 minutes at a time, not past 4000 though, should do it. But each manufacturer tends to have their own ritual.