blip

Just been to my local Subaru dealer to test drive the MY03 WRX. Loved it and am putting an order in tomorrow

Anyway I told the sales guy that I want the car with PPP and asked whether I needed to wait until the car was run in (1000 miles). He said that it didn't matter as the WRXs don't need running in, that it's not like the old days and what with these modern engines, etc there isn't really a running in period!!

I'm seriously confused now as have recently read loads of posts on SN about guys with new WRX's poodling around below 3500 until they get to 1000 miles. What is the correct advice about this?

Beefy

Drive it in anyway, makes sense for any car even when the dealer says it doesnt need it.

Shark

I would run the car in for 1000 miles keeping below 4000 rpm.

David

Big Goon

Ask your dealer why the car needs to go back to the garage for an oil change at 1000 miles then...

chrisp

Read the manual, mine said to stay below 4,000rpm for the first 1000 miles. However my dealer said dont labour and dont redline and dont sit at a constnat speed. With my UK model I kept below 3500 for the first 500 miles and then went upto 4000 with the odd steady cruise to 4,500. Near the 1000 I hit 5,000 a few times but only when the engine was really warm. Dont come out of the 1000 service and go straight for the redline either

clarence

The Owners' Manual is the most accurate reference. After all, it is written by those who design, test, develope, & manufacture the car. If they don't know what's best for the car, who does?
Nearly all manufacturers recommend less than 2/3 of max revs, no full throttle, no labour, no constant speed, & gradually increasing revs after running-in period.

Mr.M

3000 rpm is well adequate, in my 8 it's doing over 80 in 6th gear. There will be no harm if you go over this for very short bursts i.e. overtaking etc. Try and vary your rpm and build it up slowly.

BOB.T

The initial oil fill is often a different oil, modern oils are that slippy that a new engine wouldn't run in properly! With today's level of machining there's less need to run in but it still doesn't harm, hell it's only a 1000 miles

Having said that, we had a 1300 courtesy car and we ragged the nuts off it, right from it's PDI We did around 30K in it with no worries and it went like stink

co55ie

Sounds like the dealer is ****.
Most cars will use a mineral or semisynthetic engine oil to allow the parts to bed in properly due and then usually a switch is made after 1,000 miles or so to a more slippery oil.
Dont labour the engine justuse it progressively building up its performance and dont forget that the gearbox will also benefit from a little bedding in too as will all the other mechanical components of the car.

BMWhere?

My dealer told me it doesn't need running in, but to make sure the engine is nice and hot before putting your food down.... so i kept it below 4000rpm and took it gently for the first 1600km (1000miles)!

rb5 286

iTrader: (2)

my local dealers are holding me off test driving their sti and wrx until they've done 1000 miles and been serviced so that i get full benefit of the test drives.

they will also be PPP'n the wrx which, in Simons own words

think ur salesman aint got a clue wot he's going on about

storm555

A few years back our company had a couple of Clio RSi's. I drove mine sensibly for the first 500 miles or so and then drove it hard for 30,000 miles over about 2 years. The other one was driven very steadily for 2 years and it was always noticably slower when I drove it on the odd occasion compared to the one that had been driven hard. Certainly don't thrash the nuts of your car but IMHO cars appreciate hard driving.....

Leslie

Any engine needs running in to be at its best throughout its life. They can't machine bores,pistons,bearing surfaces yet to the sort of finish you get on a well run-in engine.

If you follow Chrisp's advice you wont go wrong.

Les

Petrol-Head

Nail it from day one....it's under guarantee !!!!! are you going to keep it for longer than the warrantee period ? probably not !

SiPie

Congratulations on possibly the most ill-advised and stupid post I think I've ever read on Scoobynet

FERRARINUTTER

Ferrari test an engine for 24 hrs on a bench at 10,000 rpm, if it lasts it goes into a customers car..........

The customer still has to run it in.........

forest172

I`ve done 600 miles in my STI and 99% of the time I have been slowly building up the revs and changing gear at 3750rpm, just before the beep comes in.

Although on a long run last night I couldn`t resist a couple of blasts upto 5 ish. i.e coming up slip roads etc. Come on it won`t hurt it on the odd occasion, and that`s what I think they mean. As long as you don`t hold it there and keep on doin it.

scoobyslut

If any dealer had of given me such advise on how to run a new engine in,I dont think I would be purchasing from there, as if the sales reps talk like that, what attitude do the mechanics that work there have? Do they run the same thoughts, so has your car now been thraped from its initial pdi road test???
dealership s;ike this dont give the others a running chance.

sammyh

iTrader: (1)

Please peeps, read the manual it DOES NOT tell you to run it in for the fun of it!

It is in the manual for a reason, the car will have its running in oil for a reason and your engine will thank you for it in the long run


Its only a 1000 miles so be patient.

teepee

try having a look at this web page, i think nearly all of it makes complete logical sense, so perhaps the dealer was not so far off the 'truth' (whatever that is)

http://mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

I too would follow Storm555 advice, a few gentlish miles then start using it as Subaru intended - remember warm it up properly first.

revitt

I have now owned several bikes from new and 2 cars. I always run them in the same way.

Never labour the engines as this puts excessive strain on everything. Revs don't really do much damage unless it is sustained. Get some good load onto the engines, this helps bed in the rings, can be tricky unless you have some good hills around. If you must do some motorway miles don't sit at a constant speed. The first few hundred miles are the most important so B roads are best for this period.

During running in you are removing all of the machining marks etc from everything so you will have extra crap floating around in your oils. Running in oil is designed to take care of this, but as with all things it is a compromise and can't cope with excessive or sustained loads.

I developed this running in method when I was racing and needed to make my engines and gearboxes last as long as possible, I ran on a shoestring budget.

The dealership where I have my bikes serviced always comment that my bikes seem to run smoother and develop more power than the norm so I must be doing something right.

I too have been told that you don't need to run in engines anymore, I always thank them for there advise and then ignore every word of it.

At the end of the day everyone has their own opinion and most will disagree with one another so pick the advise you like best and follow that.

Mungo

When I was enquiring about a new WRX from Cheam Motors, the sales guy said they were still running in their demo car, and so couldn't thrash it. These new cars still do require running in - like it's been said, that advise isn't in the manual for a laugh.

DaveBlueRA

Whats gonna be the best way to run my RA in after a engine rebuild and a new turbo?

scooby-new

Can I ask: Who is your dealer? Please let me know so I can avoid buying anything from them.

Leslie

Well said Sipie

Les

Jza

I was told the same thing for my MY01 WRX - service manager confirmed but said he would still take it easy for the first few thousand miles.

Jza

SiPie

Cheers Leslie and thanks for your previous good advice on the subject which I followed carefully

RaZe-=Buzz=-

Clarence said, on Page 1 :
So why do we all change the exhaust, ecu, dumpvalve, wheels, spolier,seats, turbo, injectors etc etc etc....

They spend millions designing these cars for us to change them at the drop of a hat.

Anyway, back to topic - I agree with running in - always have done it on bikes, never had a new car though.

Brun

The correct advice would be to ignore the dealer
Even if modern engines don't require running in, would you buy a second hand car which had been screwed from day one?

[Edited by Brun - 3/10/2003 6:09:15 PM]

SiPie

Well here's a simple comparison

Bought my MY99 (ex fleet ) with 60k on clock. Felt good but .... never quite right, always a bit rough around the edges. Now being a company car, obviously the guy previously didn't give a **** about warming it up/cooling it down and I noticed the initial service was carried out at 1800 miles, so clearly a case of general neglect from day one

So........... The engine blows at 86k and I run the new one religiously... varying revs, never above 3,500 rpm etc etc

And now.......Never have I felt an Impreza engine run smoother or sweeter and I am taking into account the comparison from a block that's done 60k-86k to a brand new one.

Just over 2k on it now and I sure know what I'd do if I ever bought a new Impreza

[Edited by SiPie - 3/11/2003 1:47:03 PM]