ClemsonAudi

I did break mine in with the usual variations in speed, etc. Seemed like it only took 2 hours to get to 1000 miles LOL.

Johndefiore

I only took one hour.

Sam Giancana

You know what they say about opinions. Well you'll find a hundred different videos like this one if you search, all saying something different. Even this guy says Acura only breaks the engine in for 150 miles, then go thrash it on the track, contradictory to the rest of his story. Even Honda's regular cars see redline at the factory. The fact is I've floored every demo I've ever tested, as I'm sure most people do. And there's plenty of cars out there that were demos, yet we aren't seeing any catastrophic failure. I agree you need to take it easy on the breaks though at let them seat. Otherwise, just drive it.

makisupa5-0

You may be right, but I'm guessing the Audi engineers know better. I'll take their advice and follow the manual.

mplsbrian

That’s fine and good and it may work for you your whole life but it comes with the risk that at some point in life you might draw a short straw and get a powertrain warranty denial for a very expensive issue on the basis of “improper breakin.” I’m sure all it would take is a quick ECU scan to see logs showing you were bouncing off the rev limiter before you even had to put gas in it. Audi doesn’t want to pay $5000 to replace your faulty piston rings if they don’t have to and so of course they will check. Same risks you take when you tune IMO.

Sidenote,
1) great reason not to buy lot cars in quoted post above

2) great reason to make sure your paperwork reflects the correct mileage at which you took delivery, if you do buy a lot car. Then should you be dealing with this situation you can defend yourself with a simple “that’s fine and good that somebody thrashed it around while unloading the boat at port, but I took delivery at 50 miles so it’s your problem not mine.”

Sam Giancana

Good for you. You should do what the manual says. Your car may perform slightly worse than someone who does a hard break in though. However, I don't know in what world engineers write an owners manuals in the automotive industry. If fact, the engineers in the BMW factory recommend a hard break in, as I found out when I did European Delivery and visited the factory. On top on that, the dealer I bought from said they break in their cars with a hard break in based on advice from engineers that have visited the dealership from Germany and told them the best way to break in their vehicles.

I guess in your fantasy world automotive engineers write owners manuals, what you see on TV is real and Santa Claus will be visiting in 2 months.

Sam Giancana

Perhaps you should go back to school and take reading comprehension 101 because I never mentioned how I break in my new car. Do you think I break in my car like I drive a demo? Do you see catastrophic failures of cars bought of the lot? Have you ever once in the history of cars seen a warranty denial due to improper break in, when I'm sure millions of cars have been bought without a proper break in?

The most hysterical thing of all is the majority of people here discussing the ECU tune, piggyback, etc. they are going to get yet they freak out when anyone mentions doing anything slightly outside of what is written in the manual for break in. A tune is a sure fire way to make your engine operate outside of normal operating parameters. No matter what you do you can't make your car operate outside of normal operating parameters during break in without a tune.

In fact, here's some ways you can cause a warranty claim denial. I don't see improper break in on the list:
https://www.autoblog.com/2010/12/28/...-car-warranty/

makisupa5-0

I personally have not seen good evidence of what you are describing for Audi. And your hypothesis that the team who writes the manual doesn't consult with the engineers seems unlikely. Given what you are saying, what do you think their reason is for giving incorrect advice?

JCOA

My take on this, is most people buying a new Audi will probably not keep the car past 100K miles. Engines these days last hundreds of thousands of miles. So whether it is broken in hard or according to the Audi manual, it is not going to matter, because it will last during your ownership. Now, I don't believe in trashing something and then passing it on. Anyway, if something happens before the warranty runs out and the ECU actually logs events, such as running to redline during the first 1000 miles, then the owner may be on the hook for the replacement/repair of an engine. To me manufacturers are usually vague on break in procedures, so that this is pretty specific leads me want to follow the advice. Different manufacturer's motor may respond to break-in differently, maybe because of the design. And maybe that is why there are different break-in procedures per manufacturer. Don't know.
I had a motorcycle that had a procedure that looked like this. Start it, warm it up, but don't ride it. Let it cool down. Start it, ride it around under light load until it warms up, let it cool down. Your bike is ready to ride normally. That motor ran great, through 4 race seasons, plus practice, and 6 more years of trail riding. Never had to do a top end or even valve adjustment. Still had great compression when it was sold. Broken in hard, because it didn't even have an hour or 5 miles on it, before it was full throttle/redline. Had a GTI that I broke in pretty nicely, but couldn't completely stay out of it for the first 300 miles. It saw redline a few times. After 300 miles, game on. It lasted 180k in my possession and it still was running strong. It religiously burned a quart of oil every 5000 miles, throughout it's life while I owned it. No more, no less. I abused that motor, but only when it was warmed up and it was never put it away wet. I have had 2 trucks, the current one has 168k and the previous one with 135k (when sold) and both ran/run like new. Not broken in hard, because trucks are not sports cars and they aren't fun to run hard.
I doubt I will keep either one of our Audi's much past or even to 100k, so I don't think it matters how it is broken in. Examples above may suggest it doesn't not matter. Either way they should last at least 200k or it is on Audi for poor design.

nicotino15

My thought is it doesn't matter how you drive it as long as the oil is up to normal operating temperature. I think this is especially true early on, and I think the manual says to keep it under 4k for the first 1k miles to ensure that the car is not beaten on at cold temperatures especially when the engine is new.

I could be wrong, but the manual is quite vague and very simple in language, so I tend to think it's more of a precautionary break-in method than an absolute.