Recommended Break in / period?
12-20-2006, 12:50 AM
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Recommended Break in / period?
It's my first post here. I just picked up my Daytona Grey / Black interior with premium package a few days ago.
I was curious to see what other RS4 owners were recommended on the break in as to what their dealers said. I'll be happy to post what I was told, I'd just like to see a few responses first
Thanks.
I was curious to see what other RS4 owners were recommended on the break in as to what their dealers said. I'll be happy to post what I was told, I'd just like to see a few responses first
Thanks.
12-20-2006, 04:14 AM
#3
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I'm intersted as to what you were told.
BTW, I don't personally believe in what the manual says, but its your car(and what could I possibly know). Most who have followed the Audi recommendations have had initial oil consumption, but MOST have had oil consumption diminish as miles have accumulated. Some still have persistant oil consumption issues.
12-20-2006, 04:56 AM
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My dealer told me exactly what the manual says. I'm following RI RS4's
break-in process within those constraints. By the end of today, I'll be over 600 miles and will gladly welcome 7k rpms, ;^).
I'll try to find that post.
I'll try to find that post.
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12-20-2006, 06:54 AM
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RI RS4's break in method from 11/07
My break-in method and results
Posted by: RI RS4 on 2006-11-07 10:36:20
Account #: 90745
In Reply to: What's the best way to break the beast in? posted by Shillens on 2006-11-07 08:19:26
The owner's manual contains some hard RPM and throttle position limits up to 1200 miles. (6000 rpm up to 600 miles, 7000 rpm up to 1200 miles, no full throttle until 1200 miles, and then only occasionally until 1500 miles) Within those limits the engine can still be wrung out pretty hard. (Torque peaks at 5500 rpm.) This type of engine, with Alusil cylinder walls, needs to have some serious power applied to the rings in hard acceleration and deceleration, in order to properly seat the rings in their grooves and against the cylinder walls. Deceleration using compression breaking is extremely helpful during the process, since it reverses the loads on the pistons and rings and allows all surfaces to wear-in well.
WOT is also very bad for this engine when it's not broken in. Mixture enrichment during WOT will blow-by into the oil and contaminate it. I generally recommend 3/4 throttle maximum until 1200 miles.
Remember, also, that this engine, by design, is not fully broken in until between 7K and 10K miles, due to the hard silicon cylinder walls.
I will point out that maximum piston ring forces occur at maximum engine torque, which is about 5500 rpm. This falls within even the early < 600 mile break-in RPM limit. You just aren't supposed to go to full throttle yet ... but, nothing in the manual says you can't get damn close.
The key is to run the engine up hard, to maximize the ring/cylinder wall forces under acceleration, and then to allow the engine to use full compression breaking, to reverse those forces. This allows the rings to fully wear into the piston grooves and to lap themselves against the cylinder walls. This is much easier to do when the engine is young. As it gets older, deposits in the ring grooves can prevent full seating.
I broke in my engine fast and hard, within the RPM and throttle guidelines in the manual, with 2nd and 3rd gear hard acceleration and engine compression deceleration, after complete engine warmup, followed by cooldown, constant cruising in 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th gears, and then repeating the hard acceleration. I did this every time I took the car out during the break in period, to seat the rings and wear-in the cylinder walls, which are hard silicon. At 1800 miles I changed the oil and filter.
Here are my oil consumption results:
1.5 Qts/1800 miles -- factory oil
Zero Qts/(1800 to 5000 miles) -- Elf Excellium LDX 5W-40
Zero Qts/(5000 to 6400 miles) -- Motul E-tech 8100 0W-40
Using an aggressive break-in regime will reduce oil consumption over the life of the engine, and increase maximum power output. I have had no oil consumption since changing out the factory oil at 1800 miles.
BTW, unless you over rev the engine, the most violent time your engine ever sees is those first few seconds after cold start. This is when wear is at it's highest. This is also why you want to start her, and drive her away, so that the engine and oil can warm as quickly as possible. Racing engines have dry sump heaters and pumps to bring the oil up to operating temperature and pressure prior to starting.
____________________________
2007 RS4
Daytona Grey/Silver
____________________________
Posted by: RI RS4 on 2006-11-07 10:36:20
Account #: 90745
In Reply to: What's the best way to break the beast in? posted by Shillens on 2006-11-07 08:19:26
The owner's manual contains some hard RPM and throttle position limits up to 1200 miles. (6000 rpm up to 600 miles, 7000 rpm up to 1200 miles, no full throttle until 1200 miles, and then only occasionally until 1500 miles) Within those limits the engine can still be wrung out pretty hard. (Torque peaks at 5500 rpm.) This type of engine, with Alusil cylinder walls, needs to have some serious power applied to the rings in hard acceleration and deceleration, in order to properly seat the rings in their grooves and against the cylinder walls. Deceleration using compression breaking is extremely helpful during the process, since it reverses the loads on the pistons and rings and allows all surfaces to wear-in well.
WOT is also very bad for this engine when it's not broken in. Mixture enrichment during WOT will blow-by into the oil and contaminate it. I generally recommend 3/4 throttle maximum until 1200 miles.
Remember, also, that this engine, by design, is not fully broken in until between 7K and 10K miles, due to the hard silicon cylinder walls.
I will point out that maximum piston ring forces occur at maximum engine torque, which is about 5500 rpm. This falls within even the early < 600 mile break-in RPM limit. You just aren't supposed to go to full throttle yet ... but, nothing in the manual says you can't get damn close.
The key is to run the engine up hard, to maximize the ring/cylinder wall forces under acceleration, and then to allow the engine to use full compression breaking, to reverse those forces. This allows the rings to fully wear into the piston grooves and to lap themselves against the cylinder walls. This is much easier to do when the engine is young. As it gets older, deposits in the ring grooves can prevent full seating.
I broke in my engine fast and hard, within the RPM and throttle guidelines in the manual, with 2nd and 3rd gear hard acceleration and engine compression deceleration, after complete engine warmup, followed by cooldown, constant cruising in 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th gears, and then repeating the hard acceleration. I did this every time I took the car out during the break in period, to seat the rings and wear-in the cylinder walls, which are hard silicon. At 1800 miles I changed the oil and filter.
Here are my oil consumption results:
1.5 Qts/1800 miles -- factory oil
Zero Qts/(1800 to 5000 miles) -- Elf Excellium LDX 5W-40
Zero Qts/(5000 to 6400 miles) -- Motul E-tech 8100 0W-40
Using an aggressive break-in regime will reduce oil consumption over the life of the engine, and increase maximum power output. I have had no oil consumption since changing out the factory oil at 1800 miles.
BTW, unless you over rev the engine, the most violent time your engine ever sees is those first few seconds after cold start. This is when wear is at it's highest. This is also why you want to start her, and drive her away, so that the engine and oil can warm as quickly as possible. Racing engines have dry sump heaters and pumps to bring the oil up to operating temperature and pressure prior to starting.
____________________________
2007 RS4
Daytona Grey/Silver
____________________________