One for Brian O'Reilly and all of the Petrol Heads out there
Posted by: oldie on 19 August 2004
Having just bought a new car [still less value than my Lp/Cd collection]and being of the old school I have started to "run it in" at 30/40 mph 2000/3000 rpm with no stress on the engine. The recommendation from the Manufacture is to keep to 30/40 for the first 625 miles then give it hell, well they actually say, "then drive it normally".In the pastI have always kept to the old recommendation of 30 ish for the first 1000 miles then gently increase speads for the next 3000 miles . The last car had 123,ooo miles on the clock and never needed the oil topping up between services so running in seemed to work. Whats the latest thinking regarding "running in",is it now still necessary, or has it gone the way of all of the old ways, what do you do to run in your cars? or does nobody bother these days.
oldie.
Posted on: 20 August 2004 by long-time-dead
Posted on: 20 August 2004 by Steve Toy
3/4 rev range and 3/4 top speed for the first week does the trick I find.
Driving at 30mph is a bit drastic, counterproductive and rather annoying for other road users...
Basically while running in a diesel engine I change gear at 3000 revs and don't do more than 85mph.
TBH, unless stuck behind a truck (or car driver with no excuse for driving at 40mph in 60 zone) with only a short section of road in which it is safe to overtake I rarely go beyond 3000 RPM before changing gear. I rarely do more than 85mph anyway.
Interestingly I find that diesel engines usually don't reach optimum fuel consumption and performance until after 60,000 miles.
I base my findings not on technical knowledge of the workings of engines but on ten years' experience of driving taxis (and other cars)from brand new to over 300,000 miles on the clock, with a personal annual mileage including private non hire/reward driving of around 60k/year.
After 180,000 miles with the Octavia 1.9 TDi (110 bhp) that I drive we've stopped using purely synthetic oil to save money. Any thoughts on this?
Regards,
Steve.
[This message was edited by Steven Toy on Sat 21 August 2004 at 6:19.]
Posted on: 21 August 2004 by Rana Ali
Hi Oldie
Eeking a bit more perf without invalidating the warranty or insurance.....
1) As Brian has mentioned, if your car has active knock (I'm not sure about the K9 engine in your car, but I think it has), then on warmer days you will get better throttle response using super-unleaded (97/98 RON) - my professional preference is for Shell's one. If you have a friendly garage owner, you can find out if your car's management system can allow a global increase of ignition across the map within the tolerance of the certified (homologated) engine tune...that will lift your performance somewhat noticeably.
2) Also Mobil 1 or other fully synthetic lubricant can potentially slightly reduce friction and help both performance and durability. For Mr. Toy's 180,000 miler, semi-synth is a good way forward on cost/benefit grounds. Mineral oils should only be used with more frequent oil changes on diesels and turbos. I'm not a fan of those for modern engines which are much more highly rated and operate at higher temperatures.
Ports and intake stuff are usually optimised for the best perf/emissions/economy so best not to fiddle unless you intend to trade off one against the other. Exhausts are potentially a way forward but beware of usual legal restrictions (noise/warranty/emissions/insurance).
Cheers
Rana
Posted on: 21 August 2004 by oldie
Rana / Brian,
Many thanks for your advice, it was much appreciated . I suppose I had better lock the socket set and spanners away again then,maybe I could just tweek the zimmer a bit
oldie.
