When is your car actually properly run in???

[Corosith]

Anyone have any info from Mitsubishi RE how to run in the ralliart colt and for how how many kms?? Some people openly advertise to push the car early in it's life whist others won't go over 4000rpm until 5000kms is up- any ideas or theories out there? :confused:

Am just itching to revv the ring off my car and get that MIVEC working!

[27AME]

Mate I thrashed mine off the showroom floor - had it serviced at 7,500km and had it dynoed that night and pulled 113.9kW at the wheels. You want to ring it? ring it? It'll love you for it! I noticed that my car pulls a lot harder now than it did when i first got it and pulls a lot harder than my mates who had his and only occasionally gave it a squirt!

[lovecolt]

Because of the varies theories around, my run in tend to be mixed as well. Hence, mixes of high (max 5000rpm) and low revs.

[Steve-B]

yeah, "run in" to 5000, but use all the rev range and still baby it. if that makes sense.

[radiostar69]

The dealer at ralliart told me to drive as i would normally drive it...however i did baby it for the first 1500km (kept under 4000rpm) as soon as it hit 2500km (up to 5000rpm) and then finally gave it redline around the 3000km mark. Ill have to say the car runs exceddingly well when its continually pushed. Last W'end whilst tackling the Great Ocean Road (yep, all of it...)i found that when i left it in 2nd or 3rd and flogged it round the bends, the more i pushed it, the more the engine opened up...after 3.5hrs of tight bends (not to mention half my tyres) i was surprised to not even have a bad smell coming from the engine. But in the end, its your car...if you want to redline it straight outta the box, go for it...but ultimately if you flog it hard, all the time...then somethings gonna need replacing...

[Macca]

well i got a new one 2 weeks ago, i didnt take it above 5k rpm for 1500 kms

gave it some stick around the corners and was shy on the brakes either, i gave the clutch an easy time.

now after 1500 the first chance i could i took it to 6500 in 2nd :D (whens the limiter cut in?)

remember its not just the engine that needs bedding in, you got a new clutch and brakes fitted too.

[27AME]

Yeah the dealer also told me to drive it how I normally would, so mine has seen 6500rpm from day one :)

[brendans225]

Yeah the dealer also told me to drive it how I normally would, so mine has seen 6500rpm from day one :)

LOL, that sounds like how booga drives his car:D

[27AME]

LOL, that sounds like how booga drives his car:D

Our Family friends just got a new Megane F1 Edition - Number 16 of not many coming to Australia. My god she is a beauty - he also drives it the same way :p

[RLIRT COLT]

when i test drove mine it had 1km on the clock.. drove it bloody hard too:) i wanted to get one but didn have the cash. now that i have purchased that very car that i took out and flogged, ive keep thrashin it. i have never had a problem apart from not enough power for me... trying new things all the time...

[brendans225]

Our Family friends just got a new Megane F1 Edition - Number 16 of not many coming to Australia. My god she is a beauty - he also drives it the same way :p

wow, what colour? the yellow or black?:)

tell them to join ozrenaultsport.com LOL :D

[RLIRT COLT]

my colt is a black one. ill be posting pics of it shortly. ill be getting my new race exhaust soon too:)

[Turbo]

Mate I thrashed mine off the showroom floor - had it serviced at 7,500km and had it dynoed that night and pulled 113.9kW at the wheels. You want to ring it? ring it? It'll love you for it! I noticed that my car pulls a lot harder now than it did when i first got it and pulls a lot harder than my mates who had his and only occasionally gave it a squirt!


hi,i thought 113kw is at the crank,you got it at the wheels in stock form:confused:

[Raymond6]

Mine now has just on 12,500 Kms on the clock and it;s to my suprise still getting better:) Much Better!! but that does not really suprise me my 2000 Magna Sports and 2004 Magna VRX did not come to full life until around 42 to 45000 kms they just got better.

I would not recomend thrashing your Rcolt from the start it takes time for all the parts in the engine to bed in that's why F1 and even V8 supercar engines are bedded in this sometimes involves running the engine in a tank of oil for up to 12 to 24 hours at up to 1000rpm and every few hours it is pushed up to it's Max RPM for a few seconds so as not to get any steps in the cylinder where the top ring reaches it max height.

From long experiance with bedding in engines take care not to thrash it under 2000kms and you can take it to redline for a second or two sometimes but then from 2000 to 5000 you can be a bit more agressive 5000 to 10,000 kms work it a bit harder then from then on if you have looked after it you will reap the rewards.

[McCoy]

How To Break In Your Engine For ~ More Power & Less Wear !

One of the most critical parts of the engine building process is the break in !!
No matter how well an engine is assembled, it's final power output is all up to you !! Although the examples shown here are motorcycle engines, these principles apply to all 4 stroke engines:

Street or Race Motorcycles, Cars, Snowmobiles, Airplanes & yes ... even Lawn Mowers !! ( regardless of brand, cooling type, or number of cylinders. )
These same break in techniques apply to both steel cylinders and Nikasil, as well as the ceramic composite cylinders that Yamaha uses in it's motorcycles and snowmobiles.

What's The Best Way To Break-In A New Engine ??

The Short Answer: Run it Hard !

Why ??

Nowadays, the piston ring seal is really what the break in process is all about. Contrary to popular belief, piston rings don't seal the combustion pressure by spring tension. Ring tension is necessary only to "scrape" the oil to prevent it from entering the combustion chamber.

If you think about it, the ring exerts maybe 5-10 lbs of spring tension against the cylinder wall ... How can such a small amount of spring tension seal against thousands of PSI (Pounds Per Square Inch) of combustion pressure ?? Of course it can't.

How Do Rings Seal Against Tremendous Combustion Pressure ??

From the actual gas pressure itself !! It passes over the top of the ring, and gets behind it to force it outward against the cylinder wall. The problem is that new rings are far from perfect and they must be worn in quite a bit in order to completely seal all the way around the bore. If the gas pressure is strong enough during the engine's first miles of operation (open that throttle !!!), then the entire ring will wear into the cylinder surface, to seal the combustion pressure as well as possible.


The Problem With "Easy Break In" ...

The honed crosshatch pattern in the cylinder bore acts like a file to allow the rings to wear. The rings quickly wear down the "peaks" of this roughness, regardless of how hard the engine is run. There's a very small window of opportunity to get the rings to seal really well ... the first 20 miles !!

If the rings aren't forced against the walls soon enough, they'll use up the roughness before they fully seat. Once that happens there is no solution but to re hone the cylinders, install new rings and start over again.

Fortunately, most new sportbike owners can't resist the urge to "open it up" once or twice, which is why more engines don't have this problem !!

An additional factor that you may not have realized, is that the person at the dealership who set up your bike probably blasted your brand new bike pretty hard on the "test run". So, without realizing it, that adrenaline crazed set - up mechanic actually did you a huge favor !!

Here's How To Do It: There are 3 ways you can break in an engine:

1) on a dyno
2) on the street, or off road (Motocross or Snowmobile.)
3) on the racetrack

On a Dyno:
Warm the engine up completely !!

Then, using 4th gear:

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
Go For It !!

NOTE: If you use a dyno with a brake, it's critical during break - in that you allow the engine to decelerate fully on it's own. (Don't use the dyno brake.) The engine vacuum created during closed throttle deceleration sucks the excess oil and metal off the cylinder walls.

The point of this is to remove the very small (micro) particles of ring and cylinder material which are part of the normal wear during this process. During deceleration, the particles suspended in the oil blow out the exhaust, rather than accumulating in the ring grooves between the piston and rings. This keeps the rings from wearing too much.

You'll notice that at first the engine "smokes" on decel, this is normal, as the rings haven't sealed yet. When you're doing it right, you'll notice that the smoke goes away after about 7-8 runs.

On the Street: Warm the engine up completely:

Because of the wind resistance, you don't need to use higher gears like you would on a dyno machine. The main thing is to load the engine by opening the throttle hard in 2nd, 3rd and 4th gear.

Realistically, you won't be able to do full throttle runs even in 2nd gear on most bikes without exceeding 65 mph / 104 kph. The best method is to alternate between short bursts of hard acceleration and deceleration. You don't have to go over 65 mph / 104 kph to properly load the rings. Also, make sure that you're not being followed by another bike or car when you decelerate, most drivers won't expect that you'll suddenly slow down, and we don't want anyone to get hit from behind !!

The biggest problem with breaking your engine in on the street (besides police) is if you ride the bike on the freeway (too little throttle = not enough pressure on the rings) or if you get stuck in slow city traffic. For the first 200 miles or so, get out into the country where you can vary the speed more
and run it through the gears !

Be Safe On The Street !

Watch your speed ! When you're not used to the handling of a new vehicle, you should accelerate only on the straightaways, then slow down extra early for the turns. Remember that both hard acceleration and hard engine braking (deceleration) are equally important during the break in process.

On the Racetrack: Warm the engine up completely.

Do one easy lap to warm up your tires. Pit, turn off the bike & check for leaks or any safety problems. Take a normal 15 minute practice session
and check the water temperature occasionally. The racetrack is the perfect environment to break in an engine !! The combination of acceleration and deceleration is just the ticket for sealing the rings.

More words on break- in: NO SYNTHETIC OIL !!

Use Valvoline, Halvoline, or similar 10 w 40 Petroleum Car Oil for at least
2 full days of hard racing or 1,500 miles of street riding / driving.
After that use your favorite brand of oil.


If you want more information on run in secrets, then look here ->

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

[|2colt]

Damn...i babied my car until 10,000ks:(

[Macca]

the one thing ill have to add that they forgot is brakes and clutch and suspention.

brake and clutch
these are friction based devices and often have anti rust products on them, and the surfaces need to bed in different to and engine. If you go out hard at first remember the clutch and brakes arent going to be up to full service yet.

Suspention bushing also have a lil play in them after they are seated, so they wont be quite settled into place on a new car either.

just some other parts besides the engine that doo take some time to ware in.

[lovecolt]

the one thing ill have to add that they forgot is brakes and clutch and suspention.

brake and clutch
these are friction based devices and often have anti rust products on them, and the surfaces need to bed in different to and engine. If you go out hard at first remember the clutch and brakes arent going to be up to full service yet.

Suspention bushing also have a lil play in them after they are seated, so they wont be quite settled into place on a new car either.

just some other parts besides the engine that doo take some time to ware in.

Macca's correct. Been told the same when i put on new coilover / brake pads in my previous car. Have to be gentle with them initially. Hence, my half half approach.