930miles where? kids and dog

FerretBoy · 13 Mar 2017 at 14:00

Next month I should get a new Golf R Estate (facelift) and as per the handbook they recommend taking it easy for the first 1500km. I don't really want to get in to a debate with regards to the necessity of this, I am aware of multiple different schools of thought with regards to if a car should be run in hard or gentle. It is a large amount of money and I will just follow the handbook.

So with a bit of luck I will have it in time for the Easter holidays and will be looking to get these miles out of the way asap.

My current thinking is to check out some nice driving roads in the UK, all be it in Comfort/Economy mode. This is something I have never done and a chance perhaps to have a decent look at Scotland.

My concern though is that I will be doing this with the Wife, two children (youngest is two) and a dog (spaniel). Not really the best companions for hours in the car!

My other constraint is that it would have to be complete within a 5 day time frame, starting from west of London.

Anyhow I thought I should post here in case anyone has a good solution!

sovietspybob · 13 Mar 2017 at 14:10

Just come to North Wales instead, a lot closer and less time in the car if the child dog start kicking off.

Stay somewhere in Snowdonia and you'll be falling over good driving roads.

acemastr · 13 Mar 2017 at 14:12

Can't comment where to go but just make sure not to sit at a constant RPM, sitting at motorway speeds at a constant RPM during break in won't do it any favours.

paradigm · 13 Mar 2017 at 14:14

Devon and Cornwall would be my choice, in fact it's where I'm taking my S3 come Easter weekend.

Mines still only done 1600 miles since October!

TS7 · 13 Mar 2017 at 14:17

London to Scotland with two young kids and a dog doesn't seem fun.

I'd +1 the Wales suggestion above.

FerretBoy · 13 Mar 2017 at 14:31

Liking the concept of staying somewhere for the duration with days trips out and about. Wales does seem a lot more sensible too!

All sounds a like more manageable than trying to do a big loop.

hyperseven · 13 Mar 2017 at 14:39

Can't beat a trip to sunny Rhyl. Well worth the jaunt from London.

mattyg · 13 Mar 2017 at 14:39

acemastr said:
Can't comment where to go but just make sure not to sit at a constant RPM, sitting at motorway speeds at a constant RPM during break in won't do it any favours.

Not a mechanic but why not constant RPM.

hyperseven said:
Can't beat a trip to sunny Rhyl. Well worth the jaunt from London.

Pulling your own teeth out with a pair of pliers beats going to Rhyl......lol

acemastr · 13 Mar 2017 at 14:52

mattyg said:
Not a mechanic but why not constant RPM.

Every manual I've had has said to never keep constant RPM, basically you're bedding the engine in, piston rings, cylinders etc and if you keep it at a single rpm for a period of time then the rings and cylinders get bedded in to that rpm/load. My truck said not to use cruise control for this reason, bikes all say it too. So you may be going on a long journey but it'll make alternating RPM pretty difficult.

FerretBoy · 13 Mar 2017 at 14:58

I'll be sure to use a variety of roads. There goes the M25 for x amount of hours plan. Although that will be stop start ofc

kaiowas · 13 Mar 2017 at 15:09

mattyg said:
Not a mechanic but why not constant RPM.

The constant RPM itself isn't a direct issue. It's more a case that if you're plodding along at constant speed you're mostly using very light load. Piston rings will bed in better (The better the piston rings bed in, the better they'll seal against the bore and the better power/economy the engine will deliver during it's lifetime) when the engine is running under high load (although constant high load isn't good either as you're working the engine harder which defeats the point of running in in the first place). As such "varied driving over a range of speeds and loads" is the simple advice that's usually given out in order to avoid over complicating thigns for people who may not be particularly mechanically minded.

acemastr · 13 Mar 2017 at 15:33

I ran all 4 of my new vehicles in hard (2015 Subaru WRX and the ones in my sig), using the rev range, not really lugging the engine but some full throttle pulls to reasonable RPM. At highway speed you're using probably <10% throttle to keep it there. I think you may be putting a bit too much thought into this, just drive it as you normally would but be conscious of keeping the same RPM for miles, change down a few times, give it some throttle, vary speed etc

paradigm · 13 Mar 2017 at 16:06

Also, for what it's worth, my car ran three dyno runs two days after picking it up, with around 30 miles on it by the time it got to the dyno.

Audi told me that so long as it was up to water, and oil temp then

mattyg · 13 Mar 2017 at 16:13

kaiowas said:
The constant RPM itself isn't a direct issue. It's more a case that if you're plodding along at constant speed you're mostly using very light load. Piston rings will bed in better (The better the piston rings bed in, the better they'll seal against the bore and the better power/economy the engine will deliver during it's lifetime) when the engine is running under high load (although constant high load isn't good either as you're working the engine harder which defeats the point of running in in the first place). As such "varied driving over a range of speeds and loads" is the simple advice that's usually given out in order to avoid over complicating thigns for people who may not be particularly mechanically minded.

I thought a piston goes up and down at 1000 rpm exactly the same way it does at 4000 rpm. I thought its when it doesn't then you have problems.

I've seen a number of those super mega factory programs and they test their brand new off the production line cars. Balls out on a test circuit. Dont they do that with Nissan GTR's for instance to guarantee a min BHP figure

Not saying you don't have to run them in. Just wondering if there is more to it than the obvious

How many times does a piston ring have to go up and down in order for it to be run in.
This is a 700 RPM

acemastr · 13 Mar 2017 at 17:02

mattyg said:
I thought a piston goes up and down at 1000 rpm exactly the same way it does at 4000 rpm. I thought its when it doesn't then you have problems.

I've seen a number of those super mega factory programs and they test their brand new off the production line cars. Balls out on a test circuit. Dont they do that with Nissan GTR's for instance to guarantee a min BHP figure

Not saying you don't have to run them in. Just wondering if there is more to it than the obvious

How many times does a piston ring have to go up and down in order for it to be run in.
This is a 700 RPM

It's more load than RPM

roboffer · 14 Mar 2017 at 09:01

Trip up to the Lake District? Although I'd want to be out of the car enjoying it not just driving around.

joeyjojo · 14 Mar 2017 at 09:33

Obvious question is what is your regular driving OP? I'd do what acemastr suggests - if your regular usage is a mixture of speeds and loads just drive it normally (with a bit of extra mechanical sympathy if you must).

Taking it on a long motorway cruise to Wales/Scotland sounds like the opposite of the handbook advice.

Dis86 · 14 Mar 2017 at 11:27

How can you fit 2 kids and a dog in a golf? It's just not possible. You need at least a bus.

Frozennova · 14 Mar 2017 at 11:48

mattyg said:
I thought a piston goes up and down at 1000 rpm exactly the same way it does at 4000 rpm. I thought its when it doesn't then you have problems.

I've seen a number of those super mega factory programs and they test their brand new off the production line cars. Balls out on a test circuit. Dont they do that with Nissan GTR's for instance to guarantee a min BHP figure

Not saying you don't have to run them in. Just wondering if there is more to it than the obvious

How many times does a piston ring have to go up and down in order for it to be run in.
This is a 700 RPM

The sideloading on the piston is completely different at 4000rpm for example compared to 1000rpm. Then you've got the varying cylinder pressure depending whether you are causing at 70mph or say wide open in third overtaking something

FerretBoy · 14 Mar 2017 at 11:57

joeyjojo said:
Obvious question is what is your regular driving OP? I'd do what acemastr suggests - if your regular usage is a mixture of speeds and loads just drive it normally (with a bit of extra mechanical sympathy if you must).

Taking it on a long motorway cruise to Wales/Scotland sounds like the opposite of the handbook advice.

Unfortunately my regular driving means it will take me 4 months or so to do that many miles! I am not waiting 4 months to try launch control