Advice on Driving a Brand New Car

[MikeyFingers]

My girlfriend just bought a brand-spankin-new Volkswagon Eos. She's worried about driving the car too fast when it's new and potentially damaging it. I know based on just common sense that you shouldn't beat on a new car and it is better to take it easy, but I don't know the details.

So I have 2 questions for any car aficionados in here:

1 - Is there a top-speed/RPM that she should not exceed? For example (off the top of my head), is it something like "do not exceed 4500 RPM/60 MPH", something like that?

2 - How many miles should she put on the car before it's OK to drive normally?

[Pilgrim]

1) READ THE OWNER'S MANUAL. IT TELLS YOU WHAT TO DO.

I don't know why that's the last darn thing people do....

2) What I always told people when I sold cars: drive it the way you're going to drive it. Don't punish it and don't baby it - just drive it.

[Chunk-O-Funk]

Just tell her to drive like a normal person.

There's really no need for a break-in period on today's cars. Beating on any car is not a good idea. I know, the word "beat" might give that away, but,....you know.

Like Pilgrim said. Just drive it.

[iamlowsound]

New cars actually do have a break in period. You can get the info from the dealer or the owners manual.

lowsound

[anyonefortennis]

I believe manual for my Jetta Wolfy says 1000 miles without big speed jumps ,red line, or >110mph FWIW. I think it said something else about the first 600 miles as well so read up.

Does the EOS come with the 2.0TFSI?

If so you don't need to worry about a thing - my family and I have taken 3 of those engines off the lot brand new and never had issues with them. There is a rev limiter, top speed limiter, and maybe even a torque limiter so just warm it up, put that puppy on "S" and enjoy it.

[MikeyFingers]

^I don't know what that is.
As for everyone telling me to read the owners manual....yeah, that was the first thing we did but we couldn't find anything in there on the subject. Maybe we missed something.
Being that I work an overnight shift, I'm finishing my workday at about the same time that she leaves to go to work (6am). So she asked me to look up some info for her overnight since today is the first time she would be taking her new car on the highway.

I looked all over and if this was a math problem, all the varying points, both professional and amateur, can be rounded off to this median average:
Just take it easy. Don't accelerate too fast, don't go above normal highway speeds, and let it warm up amply before driving.
That's basically the exact same thing I told her last night, which is what set off her overly-cautious worrying in the first place, and that's what led to this thread.
So basically, she's driving to work as I type this and when I spoke to her about an hour ago to report my findings, everything seemed fine. It's a new car, I trust in Germany's ability to build a car that won't explode when you take it past 60mph.

[txbasschik]

Goodness, are these new cars really so delicate that you have to "break them in"? The "let it warm up" advice is the best. All vehicles should be allowed to warm up...never take off with a cold motor.

I recently bought a '99 Jeep Cherokee Classic with a flat 6 4.0 litre, and I love it! Took it out and put it through its paces the day I bought it. Tough little motor, tight handling, good mileage, great performance, and FUN to drive!

Cherie

[PSPookie]

Originally Posted by txbasschik

The "let it warm up" advice is the best. All vehicles should be allowed to warm up...never take off with a cold motor.


Cherie

Actually, the best way to warm up a car is to drive it normally. When you start up you should give it about 30 sec for the oil pressure to come up to a normal level and then just go. The thinking is that the car actualy warms up faster this way which results in reduced engine deposits

[bassybill]

Heh heh! Have I got news for you guys...

As someone who worked in the industry for years, I can tell you that trying to "break in" a new car is pretty much a waste of time. That's because the guys at the factory make a point of flooring the throttle to the red line for a full minute at the end of the production line, the very first time that the engine gets fired up - bone dry.

You can hear the hideous, agonising metallic screaming noise change to a mere roar as the oil gets pumped around to where it's needed. I reckon most new cars get to the dealers with about 5000 miles worth of engine wear as a result of this 60 seconds of abuse. Then the new owner gets it and runs it in gently for a bit.

[hover]

Originally Posted by bassybill

the guys at the factory make a point of flooring the throttle to the red line for a full minute at the end of the production line, the very first time that the engine gets fired up - bone dry.

You can hear the hideous, agonising metallic screaming noise change to a mere roar as the oil gets pumped around to where it's needed.

Not that I'm refuting your claim as you know more from real world experience than I, but what maker does this? I thought pretty much all new engines were bench tested before they even hit the assembly line???

[UncleFluffy]

I've not worked with regular production engines, but the custom builds I've used were always shipped with a note saying to attach a drill to the oil pump and spin it for 15 minutes before running the engine to make sure that everything's properly lubricated. The idea that flooring the throttle first is SOP scares me.

To the OP, if there's no specific instructions in the manual, I'd recommend you keep the RPM below 2/3 of redline for the first 500 miles and then do an extra oil change.

[MN_Bass]

With all my vehicles in the winter new or old, (Just got a 2010 Kia Forte, very nice), make sure you let them warm up in the winter, 20-30 min, I have seen/heard to many cars have problems because of not letting them warm. I never pushed the kia passed 65 when I got it, and no sudden jumps in speed, I also changed the oil at 1,500 and then at my regular 3,000 mile intervals.

[Deepak]

No hard accelleration (stay under 4k rpms assuming 8k redline) for the first 500-600 miles.

The piston rings in your vehicle need to be properly seated to work optimally, and high loads on a new engine will prevent this from happening. The result will be high oil consumption, exhaust polluted oil, and all of the problems associated with poor lubrication.

[L-A]

The low RPM advice puzzles me. I've been told twice by a Subaru mechanic that their cars should ideally keep the redline for a minute once a month, from the first day it is used. We did that, and I guess it played a role in keeping ours working like new for 7 years.

Not breaking in the engine through its workable RPM range sounds weird to me. Maybe I'm totally wrong.

[MJ5150]

Originally Posted by Deepak

No hard accelleration (stay under 4k rpms assuming 8k redline) for the first 500-600 miles.

Hey cool! I work with a guy named Deepak. Now I know two people named Deepak. Not the most common name around these parts, so interesting I know two of you guys now.

-Mike

[UncleFluffy]

Originally Posted by L-A

The low RPM advice puzzles me. I've been told twice by a Subaru mechanic that their cars should ideally keep the redline for a minute once a month, from the first day it is used. We did that, and I guess it played a role in keeping ours working like new for 7 years.

Not breaking in the engine through its workable RPM range sounds weird to me. Maybe I'm totally wrong.

Your mechanic is correct - if an engine runs below a certain RPM level for a long period, it can sometimes develop a slight "step" in the cylinder wall because the pistons aren't travelling over their full range.

If you don't know that the engine has been run-in at the factory then being gentle for 500 miles or so allows all the moving parts to settle in to working together. (And doing an oil change at the end of this process will clear out any little metal fragments generated in the settling-in process).

Once you've got past the initial babying of the engine (which Subaru may do at the factory) then you should do as your mechanic suggests.

[TrooperFarva]

Originally Posted by UncleFluffy

Your mechanic is correct - if an engine runs below a certain RPM level for a long period, it can sometimes develop a slight "step" in the cylinder wall because the pistons aren't travelling over their full range.

How does engine speed affect piston travel? Wouldn't that be a product purely of the crankshaft and the connecting rods?

[UncleFluffy]

Originally Posted by TrooperFarva

How does engine speed affect piston travel? Wouldn't that be a product purely of the crankshaft and the connecting rods?

There's a tiny amount of elasticity in the connecting rods. The faster the piston is travelling up/down the cylinder the larger the amplitude of the piston travel. Only by a very small amount, but over time it can have an effect.

[Deepak]

Originally Posted by L-A

The low RPM advice puzzles me. I've been told twice by a Subaru mechanic that their cars should ideally keep the redline for a minute once a month, from the first day it is used. We did that, and I guess it played a role in keeping ours working like new for 7 years.

Not breaking in the engine through its workable RPM range sounds weird to me. Maybe I'm totally wrong.

IANAMech, just a gearhead, but I'm skeptical of any advice about cars without a milage component.

Working a car's engine out through its range is sound advice, but a full minute (!) of redline seems egregiously high.

I'm having trouble even imagining how this could be done in a safe and legal manner without staying in a low gear the whole time, and getting the added stress that brings.

Not to mention that hard revving requires more lubrication. Excessive redlining can cause oil starvation issues, which is why race cars often use dry sump oil systems.

Sorry if that sounded overly incredulous, but it goes against everything I've seen.

Originally Posted by MJ5150

Hey cool! I work with a guy named Deepak. Now I know two people named Deepak. Not the most common name around these parts, so interesting I know two of you guys now.

-Mike

Heh, one of our clients has 3 Deepaks (one with the same last name too!) so I'm constantly being CCed on emails that don't have anything to do with me. The best part is one is in the same field I am so I can never be sure!

[57pbass]

New cars are like the Acme cabs..they need to be broken in.....

as stated earlier..

read the owners manual cover to cover....