[Professor Peach]

I was reading Evo Magazine, who seem to be over the moon with their Cooper S. They mentioned thrashing it from day one and ended up getting excellent performance from it (rolling road testing showed the car way more powerful than manufacturers figures).

So should I mollycoddle it when I get it, light engine loads and low revs, or hammer it from day one?

And what is the official running in procedure anyway?

[ALD0]

Wouldn't completely thrash a new car, just vary the driving style a bit...

[Tunster]

Quote: Originally Posted by Professor Peach (original)

I was reading Evo Magazine, who seem to be over the moon with their Cooper S. They mentioned thrashing it from day one and ended up getting excellent performance from it (rolling road testing showed the car way more powerful than manufacturers figures).

So should I mollycoddle it when I get it, light engine loads and low revs, or hammer it from day one?

And what is the official running in procedure anyway?

I've had my Cooper S now for just over 2 weeks now. Done 500 miles (which 300 were motorway/A Road miles done this weekend ). Being quite honest, I have only kept to what it outlays in the manual for 95% of the time. I've tried to vary the revs all the way through most of time too. However, I haven't totally thrashed it at all using all the power available.

Although, the basic conditions stated in the manual say that you keep under 4250rpm for 1250 miles, recommends not to go full throttle (as this pushes it to overboost mode), not to exceed 100mph and advises to vary the revs.

However, I've occasionally pushed it over 4250rpm in certain circumstances. Don't be too nancy pancy with it, but, I guess if you want the car to last, then don't be too harsh in the first 500 miles. I'm now going to slowly increase the revs and intensity of my driving upto 1250 miles. It does seem to be opening up a lot more now .

This is my very first new car. Will be interesting once I get to 1000+ miles and open it up on sport mode to see what it can really do .

[Nerrep]

On my new One I'm pretty much following the handbook - no more than ~4000rpm, and not more than 3/4 throttle where I can avoid it. I believe a lot of the 'drive it like you nicked it' advice comes from the bike scene whereby a new bike pops out of a box with zero miles on the engine. In contrast your car has almost certainly been tested, and probably thrashed around by the primates at the transport facility.

Please correct me if I'm wrong; this is only information I've learned from reading about. It has absolutely no basis in empirical testing or first-hand knowledge. I'd always maintain that doing what the engineers that designed the engine say is best - it is in their interests to make sure that you have an engine that is as reliable and long-lasting as possible.

[captint]

I read that too, I think a thrash and then after 2000 miles a oil and filter change

[Tigger, Eeyore & Roo]

Evo are absolutely right; thrashing a car from day 1 will give the best possible performance figures! However, it's also going to make it a very rough, relatively short lived, engine. I don't imagine that's going to bother the staff at Evo too much, but it's your engine - you decide!

Tigger.

[alski]

r53 was hugged, 30k rolling road at 242bhp, from gtt 220 kit fitted after 10k + miltec catback and bigger intercooler more recently
looking for 100k so always warm her up b4 giving it beans, not much goes past 30k on the evo fleet, and most r56 give better than the offical figures, so cant all be down to evo ragging it

[neilobe]

Think there is already a thread on this... Mine was driven to the manual up to 500 miles then after that i built up the revs, and had it rolling roaded at 1200 miles, so i guess that was its run in
Modern engines these days dont need a long run in, there tried and tested at the factory.. my thinking is 500 miles is quite enough, but its up to you, its your car..

[supa-dupa-cooper]

Both my new MINIs have been run in to the book In the Dooper, its only in the last 100 miles or so that ive started to drive it a bit differently

[Tigger, Eeyore & Roo]

Quote: Originally Posted by neilobe (original)

Modern engines these days dont need a long run in, there tried and tested at the factory

If you visit an engine factory (and I have done) you will find that the tests carried out on the finished engine are extremely brief. They are just long enough to make sure the engine meets its design spec and emission values and that there are no coolant or oil leaks, then it's shut down again. The whole process only takes a couple of minutes at most and contributes nothing to the running in process.

A modern myth is that engines are run in at the factory; this is simply not true. There simply isn't the time or space in a modern factory to do this, let alone the margin to pay for the fuel to run the motor in

Tigger.

[neilobe]

Quote: Originally Posted by Tigger, Eeyore & Roo (original)

If you visit an engine factory (and I have done) you will find that the tests carried out on the finished engine are extremely brief. They are just long enough to make sure the engine meets its design spec and emission values and that there are no coolant or oil leaks, then it's shut down again. The whole process only takes a couple of minutes at most and contributes nothing to the running in process.

A modern myth is that engines are run in at the factory; this is simply not true. There simply isn't the time or space in a modern factory to do this, let alone the margin to pay for the fuel to run the motor in

Tigger.

What i meant is the engines have been tested in extreme circumstances. Driving a car gentley for 2000 miles isnt going to strengthen the engine and tighten the seals, the worst thing to do is drive it like this then go and thrash it..
Its best to use a combination of diffrent driving building up the revs and speed, whether you do this over 500 miles or 1500 miles is up to the owner at the end of the day.

[Tigger, Eeyore & Roo]

Quote: Originally Posted by neilobe (original)

What i meant is the engines have been tested in extreme circumstances. Driving a car gentley for 2000 miles isnt going to strengthen the engine and tighten the seals, the worst thing to do is drive it like this then go and thrash it..
Its best to use a combination of diffrent driving building up the revs and speed, whether you do this over 500 miles or 1500 miles is up to the owner at the end of the day.

100% agree!

[Ant FR]

think about this,

Nissan GTR is built in the factory, it then rolls out of the factory production line, straight on to a rolling road to test the power. it is then taken to the test track which is 1 mile long. The test driver does 2 full laps with the the throttle wide open and the brakes on at 60 mph to bed the brakes in. It then does 4 full bore standing starts in quick succesion to refine the clutch. Then is loaded onto a low loader and shipped to its owner who treats it wiht kid gloves.

Oh and i know i've said this before, but we have the docks near to where i live, and let me tell you most cars come off the ship travel the 1-2 miles to their storage area, and most of it is flat out or sideways from cold. It got so bad where my mate works that they now have security guards with speed guns to stop the speeding due to the amount of wrecked cars.

So just bear that in mind as you sit at 2000rpm for the first 500 miles......lol

[Professor Peach]

Some good advice there, thanks all.

I think the sensible answer is (as is often the case) just to apply some common sense. Don't go mad with it, but don't mollycoddle it too much either.

Four days and counting...

[Lawrothegreat]

I guess it comes down to how much you care for the next owners.

I personally believe you can thrash a car from day one, and you probably will not have a problem for 60,000 or 70,000 miles. But after this, oil consumption will rise etc, and whoever owns the car at this time could be in for an expensive time.

[puzzle]

I've always had it drummed into me to not to over rev for about 1000 miles and to have an oil change after that to get rid of any last debris or general nastiness collected at build.

Engines are usually tested to extremes solidly for about 24hrs (well I know Ford and Jaguar do so would expect the same from BMW and MINI) so would not do a massive harm trashing from day one but as said before this will shorten the life of the engine.

[Goonery]

Running a new car at the manufacturers recommended levels is a good plan. With all my MINI's and BMW's I've had since 1996 (i've lost count how many ) I've always treated them gently for the first 400 miles, 600 to 800 raise the stakes a bit, and then after 1000 I'd say its fine to do what you want. The engines tend to get better at around 4000 miles in my opinion, and at 8000 they always seem to be as smooth and peppy as they can be. GP is now on 15000 and is driving wonderfully

[Tigger, Eeyore & Roo]

Quote: Originally Posted by puzzle (original)

Engines are usually tested to extremes solidly for about 24hrs (well I know Ford and Jaguar do so would expect the same from BMW and MINI)

I have visited engine factories and have never seen any evidence of any practice other than engines being run for just long enough to test emissions, power output, water and oil tightness; this whole process only takes a minute or two. Do you have any evidience that "24 hour testing" of every engine happens anywhere in volume volume manufacturing? I'd be interested to be proven wrong.

[captint]

Quote: Originally Posted by Tigger, Eeyore & Roo (original)

Evo are absolutely right; thrashing a car from day 1 will give the best possible performance figures! However, it's also going to make it a very rough, relatively short lived, engine. I don't imagine that's going to bother the staff at Evo too much, but it's your engine - you decide!

Tigger.

Bear in mind modern engines last for 100'000s of miles, so it won't be you or the next couple of owners it affects

[Mejy Poo]

I'm glad you posted this, was wondering myself!

The car salesman basically told me to thrash it when I bought the car last week. Just coming up to 600 miles now and I'm starting to push it a little more. Really can't wait till it's reached the 1250 mile mark then i can see what it's capable of!

And will my Dooper need an oil change early? I wouldn't have a clue if it did or did not?