Opening it Up

[James]

As those of you who know me will know, I collect my new car (the one below) in October. This will be the third and probably final new car I buy. So it has got me to thinking about when to open it up, how long to bed it in for and how to maintain peak performance.

My previous car I treated with respect for about 20 miles, and did then frequently open it up when warm to get the oil circualted and engine parts bedded. Suffice to say there have never been any flat spots, and it performs far better than average of a similar spec car. It was taken on a dyno and measured at 10 BHP over the manafacturers statistic, despite the car never being modified. And there is an argument for high power at the start. A colleaugue states that a well known magazine did a test with 2 bikes, both 1 mile on the clock. One was ragged, one was treated like a baby. The ragged engine turned out to be faster in the long run. The following web site actually states that the window of oppurtunity for peak engine performance is within its first 20 miles as the rings seal permanantly and this determines the power output/power loss through mechanics.

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

What are your views. I know the risk is that the engine may not last as long... (10 years as supposed to 14), but I must stress that my only point is to make good use of power through the revband a few times once the engine is warmed up, for the first 100 miles.

[Rick]

I've never run anything in. I would say in todays high tolerance manufacturing that it is not required. When i got my 250LC new in 1981 i got a written list of the procedure, i totally ignored it and it is still running today. Enjoy your new car, and welcome to the torque steer club

[waremark]

Hoping to fetch a new car from Germany later this month, so looking forward to the replies! In the past I have generally taken handbook advice. A common approach has been to try not to exceed half throttle or revs for about 100 miles, then two thirds of each for about 1,000 miles, and to thrash the car before about 2,000 miles. I also try to vary speed/revs. This regime has limited me to about 120 on the two previous occasions I have fetched cars from Germany. I should be happy to be persuaded that I should really be using all (in this case) 390 horses.

[jont]

This was a regular thread on the 205 GTi drivers forum when it came to rebuilt engines. As James said, the 2 schools of thought seem to have 2 extremes of view.
However one common piece of advice was that whichever approach you take, long periods of constant RPM are bad - so using A roads rather than M-way is preferable while running in.

Although I've never had a new car myself (and probably never will), I'd side with the view that running in is no longer required. I suspect longevity has as much to do with regular servicing and care as how carefully (or otherwise) the first couple of 000 miles are driven.

It slightly worries me that 20k miles between oil changes is seen as reasonable these days - particularly with so many cars now being turbo'd too. Making sure the oil is warm before giving it any stick, and similarly driving off boost for the last few miles (or let it idle for a couple of minutes before switching off) is the best way to preserve the turbo.

[7db]

As Jont says - I ran my car in very gently, but I think the thing which will affect its life most is having 6k mile services and never going over 4k revs until the oil is warm (takes about twice as long as the water to warm up, and can be seen by a drop in oil pressure, or sometimes felt in the transmission tunnel).