Par5nTwo

Okay fellas I have searched and read many things about breaking in these cars. I don't have mine yet, but when I do I want to be ready. This will be my first new car, except for GSXR 750 bike and I can tell you what I did.

There were two types of people. One, the guy that followed all manufacturer recommendations with break-in. Two, people who didn't. I rode with a couple hard core guys with a lot more experience then me and I trusted what they said. I'll never forget what they said and I lived by it. They told me that if I wanted my bike to run hard then break it in hard. They said to take the bike to redline in every gear at least twice and also engine brake and coast. They said it seats the valves quick and boosts compression. I did that to my bike and it did run hard as F__K!! I raced numerous stock GSRX 750's freeway and street and would always edge them out.

So I am leaning toward what I know. I don't know squat about Audi's though as this will be my first one. I would love to hear from guys that have done both. I'm leasing the car so long term I'm not worried about.

Thanks guys!

ezveedub

Good luck with running it hard brand new. The engine is not supposed to see sustained high speed runs for the first 500-600 miles. After that, you can run it hard. The cylinder walls and piston rings need to break-in properly, otherwise it can prematurely wear the bores. Trust me.

redrocker55

If you have read the posts on this forum about breaking in the car you know that the moto-man method is what has worked for many on these forums...A-world and A-zine.

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

When we hear about engines burning excessive oil it's because the engines were broken in soft.

I followed moto man / Dr GP method and I'm at 58,000 miles and have not needed to add a drop of oil.

I have many long hills around St Louis. I concentrated every day for the first 2 weeks on holding higher engine speeds while going down these hills. Then slowly accelerating up the hills in 2 and 3rd gears near but not quite at redline.

My engine purrs.

Par5nTwo

Thanks man for you opinion, that's all I'm looking for. what makes me think is the test drive I had with the Audi sales guy. We took out a S4 with 56 miles on it. He floors it and takes the first three gears to red line, then wraps it around a few turns and hits takes 3rd to redline. He then let's me do the same and I romp on it for the next 15 minutes. So how could they sell that one confidently? Just asking. Thanks.

DrGP

I call BS! You get one and only one opportunity to break in your engine, then you live with the consequences. Following the manufacturers recommendations, MIGHT actually get the piston rings seated completely. But it might not. If you want to insure that your piston rings will seat quickly and completely, you need to take a more aggressive approach. I do not advocate driving it like you stole it, but IMHO, that technique is better than the easy break in advocated by the Manufacturer. Those who have tried my(motoman's) recommendations KNOW it works. http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm. No one who has used the technique has had engine problems or ended up with an engine that consumed appreciable oil(all engines consume small quantities of oil). Many have thanked me for my recommendations. I challenge anyone to find a report on the Internet or anywhere else that shows engine problems or other issues reported from those that have used the technique. What you will find is that your car will perform very well and consume very little if any oil. So here's how to do it.

First and foremost, make sure the engine is up to normal operating temps. 2-3 times a day, NO MORE, (until you get to 1K miles) accelerate the car WOT to the red line, lift off the accelerator and allow the car to engine brake back to normal cruising rpms IN GEAR. I assure you that nothing unusual will occur once you reach the red line. In fact you can accelerate just shy of the red line if you are squeamish, but the car has already been run up to the red line at the factory. Do not do this drag race style from a dead stop. 1st, second or 3rd gear all work fine based on road condition and speed limits. WOT below the redline at will, followed by engine braking. No back to back WOT runs to the red line. After 1k miles, anything goes.

But why should you listen to me rather than Audi. Because Audi doesn't care if your car BURNS oil. They have arbitrarily set the standard for excessive oil consumption so high that they will almost never have a warranty claim. At 1 qt/1200 miles as being "within acceptable limits", you would add 10 qts of oil in 12k miles and still not be considered excessive. Pure Audio BS.

Par5nTwo

That's exactly what I was looking for, thank you! I couldn't agree more!

ezveedub

Simply put guys, I'm not going to do much explaining, BUT, what i'm saying is a factory guide to the break-in. The aluminum block needs a bed-in period. In Germany, they have had blocks prematurely fail due to high speed runs, something which in the US, does not occur much (no Autobahn like Germany), but it is mentioned, so the first 500-600 miles, you can drive it hard, just not for sustained periods of high speed runs. After this period, you can run it hard. I see these cars on a daily basis and deal with them all the time.

m444

The point is, break-in should be done by varying the engine RPM a lot. Also the engine needs plenty acceleration and deceleration loading at varied RPM. One should try not run constant RPM during break-in.

helix139

Nobody is advocating sustained high speed runs, but following the factory recommendations isn't the answer either. Dr GP has it right. Get it warm, run full throttle to redline and engine brake back down a couple times a day, engine brake liberally and every chance you get, vary the RPMs, and feel free to take a few full throttle runs short of redline in between. It worked for me on this car and my previous one. Heck, I had it to redline within 20 minutes on my drive home from the dealership, and I'm almost at 20k miles on mine and have never had the oil level drop by any appreciable amount on the dipstick or MMI and have had no issues.

ezveedub

Running an engine up to redline and deceleration is for breaking-in piston rings and only needs to be done about 20 times. I never said not you couldn't redline the engine, I said it should not be ran for extended periods at high engine RPMs or high speeds for the first 500-600 miles. I have had several new Audis every year for the past 7 years starting with the C6 A6 3.2 and a few others with over 140,000+ miles both turbo and non-turbo and have never had any engine issues what so ever. You can follow what or who ever you want, I just telling you from the informed side of this business.