MichaelB_1969

By the way, a researcher would quickly point out that it's very likely that "most" people break in their vehicles along the lines of what the factory recommends - especially with a car like the S4.

Therefore, if a % of cars have oil consumption issues, a higher number will be from cars broken in as per factory recommendations simply because a much larger number are broken in that way.

I'm not saying this is proof one way or the other, but it certainly would have to taken into consideration when determining whether there is true cause and effect here versus a simple case of law of averages.

MichaelB_1969

Hmmm, you're probably right. If so, they should call in "Normal".

Toecutter

I think that "most people" break in their cars by just hopping in and driving according to their usual driving habits from day #1. In other words, how many people take the time to break in their car according to any specific procedure any more? A few enthusiasts and a few highly regimented people maybe, but "most" people? I doubt it.

MichaelB_1969

I agree 100%. However, "most" people buy an A4 vs S4. I'm assuming S4 owners on the whole are more aware of this stuff than A4 owners, and certainly more aware than Camry owners.

However, I'm only making an assumption. I have no real evidence one way or the other.

Bobby Kinstle

I did some research with a friend in the industry today and he pointed out that a break in period involves far more than just the piston rings. It's also for the valve seats, numerous bearings, transmission, clutches, just about every moving part in the drive train. He also didn't buy the Motoman theory of why a hard break in actually worked. The general conclusion was that any actual benefit is likely coincidental.

I followed the break in instructions on my B5 and today 13 years later, it burns 1 quart every 4,000 miles. Over the years it's pissed out incredible amounts of oil through the seals and from a clogged suction pump.

Toecutter

Google tells me that the top 10 selling vehicles in Nov. 2012 include the Ford F150, Chevy Silverado, Honda Civic, and Toyota Camry at the top four spots. I can't picture more than a handful of the owners taking the time to RTFM enough to look up and follow the break-in schedule.

Even among S4 owners, how many can say they STRICTLY adhered to either the Audi or the Motoman method?

My owners manual is out in the garage and it's 3am so I'm not going to look at it right now, but I think it says something like, "Do not exceed 4000RPM for the first 600 miles" and "avoid steady RPMs from highway driving" or something like that. Yeah right, like either one is realistic.

The Motoman site says:
"Do Three 1/2 Throttle dyno runs from
40% - 60% of your engine's max rpm
Let it Cool Down For About 15 Minutes

Do Three 3/4 Throttle dyno runs from
40% - 80% of your engine's max rpm
Let it Cool Down For About 15 Minutes

Do Three Full Throttle dyno runs from
30% - 100% of your engine's max rpm
Let it Cool Down For About 15 Minutes"

Or for those oddballs who don't have a dyno: "The best method is to alternate between short bursts of hard acceleration and deceleration" which sounds to me a lot like "just drive the damned thing."

I'm thinking that it just doesn't matter all that much.

Back to the original question...

I've been wondering myself if Auto was a medium setting or if it cycled between Comfort and Dynamic. I'm still not sure, but on a recent 700 mile road trip I got to really pay attention to the feel between the three suspension settings (I have adaptive damping) and I found that Auto provided what I felt was the best road feel of the three. Comfort would let the car float up and down too much except on very rough road (almost washboard). Dynamic transmitted too much of the sharp peaky hits from irregularities in the pavement. Auto seemed to absorb the sharp high amplitude impacts yet subdue any wallowing from low amplitude road surface changes.

If Auto is a medium then it does a good job of covering a very wide range.

TTwdrl

thread I'll share what I know with a meager 11400 miles in 16 months...
I got my car with 613 miles from the dealer.
I am sure it was beat on...cold start to high RPM runs - no one cares, it's not their car, etc. hasn't burned a drop so far FWIW. I'll definitely let everyone know if something different happens, but so far so good with what most would consider a 'hard break-in'.
BTW - who uses auto mode anyway? I'm either in dynamic (80% of the time) or individual.

MichaelB_1969

FWIW I have my individual mode set for Dynamic everything except steering effort, which I have set to Auto. I'm not a fan of very heavy (or very light for that matter) steering effort unless you also get added "feel", which doesn't seem to be the case - at least I haven't noticed that to be case so far in the relatively few miles I've driven.