[Luke Up!]

Spotted a lovely looking 63 plate black Up! this afternoon near Fenton (Stoke-on-Trent) earlier this afternoon.

Just a shame the guy/gal in it was driving it like a complete loon, must have been doing at least 90 when i saw it.

Picking up my new baby next week and certainly wont be treating her like that!!

 

[Beevee]

Good for you. Treat your new car with a bit of respect. Run in for the first 1000 miles and you will reap the benefit.

 

[Night Owl]

Good for you. Treat your new car with a bit of respect. Run in for the first 1000 miles and you will reap the benefit.

This is a concept that is probably quite alien to younger folk in this era of buy and use! and it will work!

Beevee ,is completely right though with cars.Treat it gently for a 1000 miles or so,and you will have a much better car afterwards.

We have been there and done it.

Go well.

 

[Scrubnut]

Agree.

2-3000 rpm. Town driving for 200 miles then a few long trips varying speed and gears. That way the piston rings and brakes bed in properly and you'll benefit from a sweet engine with better mpg.

Some say a badly run in car is the next owners problem. Only if your not keeping it very long.

 

[Robbyrook]

Who is to say that the car which Luke Up! saw wasn't run in? Someone could do quite a few (thousand) miles in three weeks?

Mind you, I've only done just over 1,100 miles since my car was new on May 3rd this year.

I did follow the instructions in the manual on how to treat the car for the first 1,000 miles though.



Edited by: Robbyrook

 

[tibbles Stryker]

Haha haha ha, was me on way to maccy d's to practise my j turns..ran mine in flat out everywhere ha haha
45 in first

 

[Supermegamonkee]

Haha haha ha, was me on way to maccy d's to practise my j turns..ran mine in flat out everywhere ha haha
45 in first

Are you for real?

 

[shakotanVIP]

Modern engines don't really require a 'run-in' period. This isn't the 1950s anymore.

 

[Andy T9]

Modern engines don't really require a 'run-in' period. This isn't the 1950s anymore.

Not to the same extreme as engines back then, but still important.

Piston rings need to bed in to the honed bores (this is done for oil retention) ragging the engine from day one will damage the rings/bores and you'll burn oil/get poor mpg.

Soft metal bearings in the Crank/Con-rods - They are not a polished running surface until properly run in, and won't produce a proper film of oil between the bearing/journals. They won't take the abuse of high rpm/high loads when new, and can get damaged. This might not show up until later in life, e.g you get some engine seizures or bottom end knocking at say 70/80k, way too premature.

 

[Beevee]

Modern engines don't really require a 'run-in' period. This isn't the 1950s anymore.

Even modern engines respond well to gentle treatment for the first 1000 miles. It's a good idea to follow the guidelines in the handbook for better long term running. Of course if you are changing your car every three years it won't affect you just the poor next owner.

 

[tibbles Stryker]

Ha ha I don't care it'll be someone else's problem, gonna see how fast I can go in reverse before my next j turn

 

[wetflyingmonkey]

I've always wanted to know how fast a car will go in reverse flat out - please post the results.

 

[downunderup]

Just be lucky you are not Australia.
Here you would be called a HOON.
In most states they have ANTI-HOON Laws, and if you are caught doing what you are doing, your car is impounded for 28 days.

 

[SMART EXAMINER]

Perhaps it was a car delivery driver or an idiot car salesman,and not the owner.A lot of them drive like clowns.
Lets bring back the sticker for the back window for new cars."Running in please pass" Do you remember those?

Edited by: SMART EXAMINER

 

[Cadfael]

625 miles run-in time are enough
as the rule says "1000 km" in km-counties ...

As far as I know VW said for the Lupo 10 years ago: NO run-in time!
I had to make 200 miles on German motorways back home - and this is impossible/dangerous with 50 mph! I drove 60 mph and sometimes 75 mph ...

A run-in time only makes sense, when you change the oil after the 1000km (or miles)!
Motorbikes still have a run-in time and they have the first oil change after 100 km/miles.
The tiny run-in metal which is in the oil has to be removed.

It makes no sense to drive the car carefull and then (with the metal pieces left in the oil) run the car on full speed. These metal parts in the oil could damage the motor anyway.

Okay; for many motorbikes it is normal to run them at 5,000 rpm, 7,000 is still normal and the red area begins at 12,000 rpm. But it is also the way of manufacturing the motors. Cars are meanwhile built for stupid and careless drivers!

MORE IMPORTANT ...
than the rpm is the acceleration to me ...
You can drive your new car at 75 mph as long as you accelerate gently.
To my mind a kick start with putting in the next gear at 3,000 rpm every time is more poisoness that the speed. A slow increase is better for the motor.

 

[Derkie54]

Most metal particles will be stopped from re-entering the engine by the filter.

 

[Night Owl]

Most metal particles will be stopped from re-entering the engine by the filter.

I agree.Oil filters are vastly better today than they were in days gone by.

I know a lot of manufacturers say you do not need to" run engines in " but all engines are made of a multitude of Alloys and to just give these various components a chance to " mate " with each other, in my opinion ,will pay you back in later ownership with a much smoother engine.

Go well.

 

[Robbyrook]

In the Owners Manual Skoda suggest the following. Surely Skoda themsleves know if the car should be run in or not?

New engine
The engine has to be run in during the first 1,500 kilometres.

Up to 1,000 kilometres
Do not drive faster than 3/4 of the maximum speed of the gear in use, i.e. 3/4 of the maximum permissible engine speed. No full throttle. Avoid high engine speeds. Do not tow a trailer.

From 1,000 up to 1,500 kilometres
Gradually increase the power output of the engine up to the full speed of the gear engaged, i.e. up to the maximum permissible engine speed. During the first operating hours the engine has higher internal friction than later until all of the moving parts have harmonized. The driving style which you adopt during the first approximately 1,500 kilometres plays a decisive part in the success of running in your car. Never drive at unnecessarily high engine speeds even after the running-in period is complete. The maximum permissible engine speed is marked by the start of the red scale area of the revolutions counter. On vehicles fitted with a manual gearbox, at the very latest shift up into the next gear when the red area is reached. During acceleration (depressing the accelerator) exceptionally high engine speeds are automatically reduced, yet the engine is not protected against too high engine speeds which are caused by incorrectly shifting down the gears resulting in a sudden increase of the engine speeds above the permitted maximum revolutions which can lead to engine damage. For a vehicle fitted with a manual gearbox the converse situation also applies: Do not drive at an engine speed that is too low. Shift down a gear when the engine is no longer running smoothly.