Benefits of an 'italian tune up'

[Matt UK]

I'm curious about this, from a technical point of view.

I was brought up in an era when Dad would take his cars out early on a Sunday morning and give them an 'italian tune up' - bacially, he went for a hoon.

But with modern engines, is it required / beneficial? Due to living in the congested SE and having a big lazy auto, my commuter car can spend all of it's time below 3k rpm. So I like to stretch it's legs every now and then.

But apart from it being fun, what is the technical benefit to modern engine stuffed with sensors and computers?

[Matt UK]

Hmm, an interesting read. I'll have to make sure the cars get a regular ITU.

No need for the MX5 though - since I bought it the poor little blighter probably thinks it's been exported to Milan

[Matt UK]

asbo said:

Six Fiend said:

My E34 540 owner's manual says it should be allowed to rev higher in the range to clean it through if it's been used at low revs for a fair while.

Indeed, the E34 M5 Owner's Manaul used to specify at least one trip to the red line every journey. Always made me laugh that.

I like that. I've not seen it in the e39 handbook. But I think I'll dig it out for a look..