Tips for breaking in a brand new engine?

[Mk6 GTI]

You should be able to feel the engine going tight - like it doesn't want to rev. I just kept taking mine to that tight point momentarily in 2nd or 3rd, then backing off for a bit & doing it again. It only takes a decent drive of a couple of hundred kms to get to the point where the engine feels reasonably free & responsive.

I know what you mean.. thats when i would keep pulling off. It was generally around 4000rpm. Ive driven to newcastle and back. Made sure i fluctuated the revs while on the freeway. Like i said before i have accidently let it rev to 5500rpm a couple of times but hopefully that hasnt caused any damage! :|

So how long till i can start having a real go do you think?? I have 1200kms

[brad]

I know what you mean.. thats when i would keep pulling off. It was generally around 4000rpm. Ive driven to newcastle and back. Made sure i fluctuated the revs while on the freeway. Like i said before i have accidently let it rev to 5500rpm a couple of times but hopefully that hasnt caused any damage! :|

So how long till i can start having a real go do you think?? I have 1200kms

If it feels good now, then go for it. I was giving mine some short "tests" by about 1000km. Wouldn't take it to a track day at those mileages but for the occasional big pull in 3rd out of a corner or up a hill........ I love my engine - good fuel economy, no oil usage, spins nicely, good power, good torque.

[Mk6 GTI]

If it feels good now, then go for it. I was giving mine some short "tests" by about 1000km. Wouldn't take it to a track day at those mileages but for the occasional big pull in 3rd out of a corner or up a hill........ I love my engine - good fuel economy, no oil usage, spins nicely, good power, good torque.

Awsome, thanks for that brad!

Yes its a awsome engine! How many kms have you got now?

[brad]

I've got a 2 year old 1.8TSI 118kw/250Nm Skoda Octavia (same engine as an entry level Audi A4 or what they have just started putting in the Passat). It has 46,000km on it.

[WhiteJames]

Both articles on ‘breaking in the motor’ are great reads.

I guess you avoid the two extremes:

Babying it or driving it around town in peak hour traffic with bugger all load, little oil pressure & not enough cool airflow. On the other hand, not so much a good idea thrash it at high revs or use more than 75% throttle for fear of piston ring flutter, esp. with a boosted motor. Piston rings on the MK6 motor (EA88 are stronger than the piston rings on the MKV motor (EA113) re: piston ring flutter.

Worth noting that I found that once the motor heats up to its ideal operating temperature, the DSG gearbox generally takes up to 3 times longer to warm up to provide the Volkswagen trademark silky smooth automated shifts.

Cheers.

WJ

[kennyc]

What would happen if you dont drive it in properly?
Im just driving it normal, easy for a bit then manual mode and thrash it.

Like will it stuff the moter down the track? Not that good with cars and never bought a new car before so not sure.

[WhiteJames]

In my younger days, I’d head out to the speedway and watch the ‘blow-up parties’. Basically involved putting a brick on the accelerator of an old vehicle and leaving it sitting stationary at full rpm. Most blew up between 2min-5min.

With modern day manufacturing methods & close machining tolerances, giving your ride a hard time may not damage the motor excessively, esp. if the motor is receiving plenty of cool airflow to dissipate the heat. Having said that, vehicles that have been thrashed from new & on a regular basis always seem to have motors that feel tired. With the GTI being turbo, have to be careful not to glaze the bores, otherwise as the article states, excessive oil consumption. Similar thing with ECU retune too soon coupled with flogging it - aka piston ring flutter. In in the hands of an average driver, the motor may not completely loosen up untiil 20,000km.

In respect to the turbo FSI – I’d say you’d want to be on boost for majority of the time. The extra compression of the turbo boost, which comes on at 1700rpm for max torque in the MK6 GTI, will help separate the piston rings, forcing them into the bores. When off boost, as the article states, the piston rings are not doing much, just along for the ride.

For those that have to drive on the highway for initial run-in, I initially did two trips from Sydney to Canberra, mostly on the Hume Freeway with revs sitting around 2700rpm @ 110kh. The revs couldn’t be varied on the freeway as much as I’d like, but the freeway was undulating, creating plenty of load on/load off in the motor. 2700rpm seemed like enough turbo boost for an adequate run-in procedure. In less than four weeks, I travelled @ 5,000km with trips to Jindabyne, Bathurst, Newcastle, Caberra and Wollongong. Most drives were touring and it was winter time, so the cool dry air helped, I guess. Didn’t touch sport button or paddles up until just before 5,000km (3.0 – 3.5 weeks after collection). Last trip from Sydney to Brisbane plus day trips (2,500-3,000km) in my old MKV GTI had the GTI not using any oil at all (47,000km odo). Most turbo motors will use more oil than NA vehicles, esp. around town & when worked hard. My neighbours R32 uses no oil compared to the GTI.

I’m in two minds about initially doing a RNP run from Sydney to Wollongong immediately after delivery of the MK6 GTI. A Royal National Park (RNP) would be good to vary the revs and I may use the paddles for this drive this time around, after owning the MKV GTI giving me plenty of practice with the paddles. But RNP is 60kph and 80kph zones. The speed limits may not be high enough to add sufficient load on and off to the motor.

The same trip via the Sydney to Wollongong freeway has speed limits that range from 50kph to 110kph with plenty of peaks & valleys to load & unload the motor, a higher average speed, more varied speed limits along the way, and additional airflow may provide more beneficial for the rings to the mate to the bore.

Also undecided if I’d take it up the Macquarie Pass in the same trip – 20min of nothing but steep ascents with the occasional plateau to give the motor a rest. Wait and see.

Cheers.
WJ

[hooba]

I don't understand your concerns about the speed of the RNP run, as speed and load are two different things. My take is that it would be an ideal trip for a run in, plenty of gear changes across a number of hills. As for the 80km/h limit, you may know something I don't about how heavily this is enforced.

That said, like you said modern manufacturing methods of engines mean that the importance of the run in period ain't what it used to be. People probably worry about it more than they should (how many demonstrators are carefully run in?), and the biggest danger is babying the new engine too much.

[WhiteJames]

In respect to the earlier 1st article - Motoman's logic (mototuneusa.com) - about 300 rebuilds & running motorcycles/snowmobiles, someone decided to investigate this with GM, Ford & Honda engineers to see what their opinion was. Bear in mind motor vehicles heating & cooler is not as pronounced as that of a motorbike or snowmobile:

Car & Engine Performance - Technologue Editorial - Motor Trend

Here is another article about running in a aeroplane that takes consideration of cool air and giving the motor some intermittent load occassionally:

Engine Break In - Shell Aviation

Glazing in a nutshell:

Stealth 316 - Engine Break-In

Synthenic oil use & break-in:

Synthetic oil during engine break-in? Here's what the oil manufacturers say... | Roadcarvin Magazine

Old school break-in:

How to "Break-In" Your Newly Rebuilt Engine

My considerations for running in a motor: Load, Revs, Air-Temp & Humidity, Gear Ratios & Speed.

Thrashing the vehicle in lower gears revs the motor, but does not neccessary load it up as the lower gears allow the motor to spin up easily. Higher gears, like 4th gear that may be around 1:1 will make the motor work harder per revolution of rear wheel drive. Important not to labour the motor with too high a gear at lower speed limits (60kph). Higher speed limit will allow for higher gears & therefore higher load on the motor, without over-revving with the advantage of more cool air hitting the intercooler/radiator/engine. Similar to riding a bicycle in its lower gears, peddling fast, but not going anywhere is not that difficult on your legs. Labouring the motor would be like being in too high a gear on the bicycle & when trying to ride up a hill - not good either. Staying in a higher gear at faster speeds should ensure the motor relies on torque rather than power, therefore creating higher loads, help forcing out the piston rings - everybody loves a torquey motor. Nobody likes a speeding ticket. RNP and Old Pacific Hwy around Brooklyn Bridge have many deaths, albeit most are motorcycle deaths; these areas are very much patrolled.

Cheers.
WJ

[WhiteJames]

Interesting points raised in the first link above re: Motor Trend:

1. MotoTune USA claims are unverifiable in that motors may have a power/torque deviation of 2% to 10% from the factory.

2. Microfinished bores, high tension rings, precision build tolerances ... form an excellent seal from the factory; power improvements from break-in may be miniscule.

3. Bench Test - if the first 20 miles is crucial to mating the piston rings to the bore, why wouldn't the factory undertake this job.

Cheers.
WJ