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Breakin questions

jeromy

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
TX
So, this will be my first NEW car purchase in a while and wanted to get a little up to date on breakins for the car. Does VW have any official breakin rules or does the standard old 1000mis rule apply to these new engines too ?

And more important to me is.. is there any rev limit I should place on myself during the 1000miles with the GTI engine?

Thanks

:bow:
 

loft

Ready to race!
Location
Long Island
Ok so this is what my dad says and hes a real car nut, so i'd follow these directions:

Drive the car carefully the first 1000-1500 miles, keep the revs low, like around 3000rpm max. Then as you going through the first 1000 miles of breaking in increase the speeds and revs you are using, until you are driving regularly at around 1000 miles. Its supposed to be done gradually increasing through the 1000 miles. He says alot of people make a mistake by driving like a baby for 1000 miles then flooring it and going crazy at 1001 miles which will actually mess up the car worse for long term then doing his method. Also if you go real high in revs during breaking in, its not a problem, you just need to only be up there for a short period of time (thats the key).

Hope this helps man.
 

Gulfer

Administrator
Staff member
Location
Everywhere
Car(s)
Nothing
Had to chime in, everyone says to varry the revs. So i'll repeat that too :) Staying at constant revs doesn't do anything for breakins.
 

jeromy

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
TX
Thanks loft. I will try it then and llets hope all is well in 10 years, lol
 

nomios

Touring Car Champion
I just drove my new GTI home last night. The break in advice I got was drive it like you stole it!

But in all seriousness, the manual does have a section on break in period. For the first 500 miles try to refrain from wide open throttle and do not exceed 3 quarters of the speedo (in other words keep it under 120!)
 

101st_IanC

Autocross Newbie
Location
UK
I was told by the technicians that they are pre-run-in on benches
You want a fast car then go for it from day one..

But vary the revs - I'm more worried about bedding-in the brakes

As I have ordered the DSG I'll probably keep in D and below 4000 for the first 1000 miles - then move to S and Manual and have the fun..
 

marx92x

Autocross Newbie
Location
Phoenix, AZ
101st_IanC said:
I was told by the technicians that they are pre-run-in on benches
You want a fast car then go for it from day one..

But vary the revs - I'm more worried about bedding-in the brakes

As I have ordered the DSG I'll probably keep in D and below 4000 for the first 1000 miles - then move to S and Manual and have the fun..

Sounds cool, but is there any official info from Volkswagen to confirm this?
 

newtogolf

FIA World Rally Car Champion
Location
london
had mine about a week. 95% of the time ive been keeping below 3000 revs.

as for the other 5%, well, sorry but u just cant help it sometimes. gone up to a max of about 5000 revs but ive never entered the red zone. also ive never stayed above 3000revs for more than about 2 seconds.

so hopefully the car is still in good nick.
 

101st_IanC

Autocross Newbie
Location
UK
marx92x said:
Sounds cool, but is there any official info from Volkswagen to confirm this?

Only what nomios mentions about a section in the manual..
There are lots of threads on different Forums..
General consensus is that you should always warm the engine up before pressing the loud pedal too much. Not just waiting for the temp guage to reach normal - but a few minutes more to get the oil circulated and up to operating temperature..
Also after "spirited driving" drive the last few miles gentler to cool the car down...

As to the running in I would take the advice from the manual but go with my feelings :iono:
 

KharatosGTI

Rally Car Newbie
Location
Bay Area, CA
Read the user's manual in your glovebox, break-in recommendations are in there, can't do any harm by following them.

Some people promote the hardcore break-in method but since it wasn't mentioned anywhere in the manual I thought I'd stick to what VW says.

:iono:
 

McPsycho

Rally Car Champion
Location
Daytona, FL
taking it easy during the break-in period seems almost impossible. and i think next tuesday im gonna go get the apr remap installed which even tho theres the stock setting you can leave it on will tempt me even more to florr the sheet out of it. but for the most part ill try and be gentle with her. TRY. :evil:
 

bilbos

On the Kop
Location
Pennsylvania
I have heard both theories as to how to break the car in. Generally followed the take it easy for the first 1000 miles rule.

However, when I picked up my last car (Audi TT), I asked the technician about this very thing and he said, and I quote, "thrash the arse off it". So conflicting views then.
 

marx92x

Autocross Newbie
Location
Phoenix, AZ
I'm aware of the two camps re: breakin technique.

But I don't recall reading that there was NO break-in period needed for the MKV GTI. Infact, I remember reading in that NY phonebook of an owners manual that there IS a break-in period.
 

Admir

Just finished watching Fast&Fuzzynuts
Location
Virginia
if anything is going to break on the car, i would want it to break while in warranty and not after the warranty expires.. my gti has a little less than 350 miles on it.. i went somewhat easy for the first 200 miles.. didnt redline it at all, it did rev up to 5000, because i seriously dont think ur not breaking anything in if ur under 3000 rpms.
after 200 miles on the car, its been redlined, smoked some tires thru 1st and half way thru second, hard downshifts etc.. actually im taking it to the track either this weekend or next one.. to get some stock numbers..
 
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