long drives (6+ hrs) as part of break-in period acceptable?
05-11-2001, 02:57 PM
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long drives (6+ hrs) as part of break-in period acceptable?
Should pick up my new S4 by Tuesday (per dealer, haha), and I'm planning on driving it from SF to LA to attend the E3 conference next week.
I know I'm supposed to keep it under 4k rpm, but any other words of wisdom for the break-in period? Heard I need to constantly vary the rpm's, but how long is "too long" at any particular rpm? The drive takes approximately 6 hours. Will probably be under 1k miles after the drive back, too.
Thanks for your comments.
By the way, I plan on keeping it a long time, so I'm not looking for any of the "drive it hard now to maximize acceleration" theories.
I know I'm supposed to keep it under 4k rpm, but any other words of wisdom for the break-in period? Heard I need to constantly vary the rpm's, but how long is "too long" at any particular rpm? The drive takes approximately 6 hours. Will probably be under 1k miles after the drive back, too.
Thanks for your comments.
By the way, I plan on keeping it a long time, so I'm not looking for any of the "drive it hard now to maximize acceleration" theories.
05-11-2001, 03:02 PM
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just...
avoid using the cruise control if your on a flat section...simply run the rpms through a range of about 250 up and down of your cruise rpm.
You want to vary the load on the engine, don't bog it and don't rev it too high for prolonged periods...do NOT get overly attached to that 4000rpm thing if you need revs for passing or going up a hill. Better to rev than to bog ANY day. I still don't believe there is any mention of 4000rpms anywhere in the manual. It clearly states not to go into the upper third of the SPEEDO (which would be over 110 anyway).
Dont worry about it too much, just play around with the revs and try not to fix the car at one particular load too long. It is VERY good with a new car to get it FULLY warmed up and run it at full operating temperature and then cool it down gently...the hardest thing on a car is short-hops with the engine barely getting to operating temperature so a nice variable load long trip is about perfect.
You want to vary the load on the engine, don't bog it and don't rev it too high for prolonged periods...do NOT get overly attached to that 4000rpm thing if you need revs for passing or going up a hill. Better to rev than to bog ANY day. I still don't believe there is any mention of 4000rpms anywhere in the manual. It clearly states not to go into the upper third of the SPEEDO (which would be over 110 anyway).
Dont worry about it too much, just play around with the revs and try not to fix the car at one particular load too long. It is VERY good with a new car to get it FULLY warmed up and run it at full operating temperature and then cool it down gently...the hardest thing on a car is short-hops with the engine barely getting to operating temperature so a nice variable load long trip is about perfect.
05-11-2001, 03:05 PM
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Not a theory...
and driving it hard is not about maximizing acceleration. It is about running your engine the way you plan on driving it long term. Their are many different components that are breakin critical.Two specific components are piston rings and valve seats.
If you break in your engine at a constant low RPM, low load, then your rings and seats will seat accordingly. Then under hard driving at a later date you may experience blow-by on the rings and poor performance out of your valve train at higher RPM's.
This is just my experience from years of building racing engines.
S4BURNS
If you break in your engine at a constant low RPM, low load, then your rings and seats will seat accordingly. Then under hard driving at a later date you may experience blow-by on the rings and poor performance out of your valve train at higher RPM's.
This is just my experience from years of building racing engines.
S4BURNS
