I am sure there was a topic on this before on the old forum but can’t find it here and I can’t remember the answer to the age old question of whether a new car needs to be ‘run in’ anymore??
Edit: Tried to save this and it said the Title has been used before! It was ‘Running In’ so not sure why search doesn’t bring it up?
Edit: Putting “Running In” in quotes thus finds the topic 
And the answer suggests - No you don’t need to
Looks like we found it at the same time…
I bought a new 1ltr Skoda Citigo in 2012 and the advice was drive the first 800 miles before you actually rev the whatsits off it. In other words don’t over rev it in any gears, gently does it during that time.
It did actually feel tight for around 1500k miles then began to free up, increased mpg also as the engine began to wear in.
In essence as with all new things, be gentle with it until you have confidence it has settled down and loves you.
With a car, be easy on the right foot for a few hundred miles, but DO NOT make the engine labour at low revs. Modern revvy engines love having a whizz, so one can be easy on the pedal pressure, and drop a cog rather than use more pedal.
There are all sorts of moving parts that benefit from such a settling in period, tyres, brakes, piston rings, gears, belts, chains, etc
With my Astra it took three tankfuls (1350 miles in three weeks) before the car loosened off and the fuel consumption had eased up to the eventual average of 45 mpg from the initial 38mpg - same commute, same traffic, same weather.
And watch the temperature gauge, if it has one! A tight new engine might need to lose more heat than normal, so the cooling system might be doing more.
Thanks for all the advice so far its appreciated
Edit: Its a shame the ‘Thanks’ option is no longer here
We just have to use the heart icon instead:woozy_face:
Barrie
I know but doesn’t necessarily mean the same thing
Although the MX5 is my ‘old’ car, my two previous cars were new Ford Fiesta 1.0 Titanium’s, and my wife has been fortunate to have consecutive new cars in the last 10 years, these being a BMW 520D, BMW 218D, and a Seat Arona FR. All five were driven gently, give or take the odd burst as recommended by fellow racers, and as other members have pointed out, generally keeping it steady for at least the first 1,000 miles or so, before then opening up the revs.
In all cases the engines loosened up, became smoother, and mpg improved by maybe 10% in all the cars, especially the diesels. As an example, an early morning run back from Gatwick to home up the M25/M40/M1 in the 520D, with cruise control for the most part at 70mph, gave 71.2mpg, although a decent run would normally deliver around 62mpg anyway.
When the new BMW’s were delivered to Brands Hatch for the race school, these were used on the road for the first 600/700 miles (mainly up and down the A1), before the school were ready to take delivery for them. The race school would not want a track car that had not been used at lesser speeds first.
I always believed such an approach extended engine life and provided the best way to achieving what an engine could offer. Some might disagree, which is fine, but after over 50 years of driving, better the devil you know.
Suggest:
No more than half throttle, up to half revs and don’t ‘labour’ the engine for the first 500 miles. Then up to 3/4 throttle and 3/4 revs for next 500 miles. Change the oil. All good from there on.
Also take it easy on brakes during first 500 miles, braking early and firmly (to avoid glazing the pads), coming off the brake pedal as speed reduces.
You also have 
as an option for thanks.
When we put our re-built 2.0 engine in our Mk3, we put mineral oil in for the first 1,500 miles, then put fully synthetic oil and filter in for the next 2,000 miles, then changed that for new fully synthetic and filter. First 1,500 miles no more than 3,000rpm, 2nd 2,000 miles up to 5,000, now we rev the nuts off it. It hasn’t used a drop of oil across the whole period, including a trackday at Cadwell, where it got some serious use…
This was on the advice of Scholar Engineering who rebuilt the engine for us, and was in line with my advice from a Mobil Oil technical guru.
Hope this helps.
The other advantage of running in a new car is that it gives the driver time to get used to it! I remember having to learn throttle control when changing from an MGB to a Daimler SP250.
Ah, no issue there this is my 3rd ND so I am pretty familiar 
Absolutely right. Just drive it normally for the first few thousand miles and make a point of getting it revving occasionally (at least 4000 revs, but don’t redline it) under light throttle right from the start and don’t labour the engine. You get one chance to run it in and if you don’t let it rev a bit under light throttle the rings in particular don’t bed in properly and you end up with an engine that uses oil. For the same reason DON’T change the oil early. Modern synthetic oils are so good that the new oil reduces the bedding in process. Early oil changes were recommended way back when the factory machining wasn’t to modern standards and therefore oil contamination from the running in process may have been a problem.
JS
Since 1988, over about 8 cars I have only used 1/2 pint of top up oil and even that was a little oil leak which cost £1,50 and 10 minutes to cure. I put that down to running the engine in not exceeding 3000 RPM and not letting the engine labour.for 1000 miles I always wait until the water temperature is up to normal before pushing an engine. My 5 series BMW (3 years old) had a running in programme of 1200 miles,. per hand book. No hardship as gearing per 1000 revs is about 42 mph in 8th.This has resulted in nil oil consumption and on long journeys over 60 MPG with one journey 3 up air con on the whole time and full boot 760 miles on one tank. The Mazda is a disappointment with a very lazy engine at low revs… little pull . Even at 60 MPH you need to drop 3 gears and run it to the limiter to get any vigour out of it ( 30TH Anniversary model ). The ride is very brittle and front tyres easily run out of grip if you push it.in corners.Fortunately I have had Caterhams for the past 21 years and still have one and they are in a completely different league. I have not used the Mazda during Lock down and now wonder why i bought it.
If in doubt… flat out
Remember engines are cold tested, hot tested and possibly put on a dyno
I’ve been lucky enough to have new cars, including JLRs and BMWs, for the last few years and they’ve all needed some sort of run in. I normally try and keep revs below 3k anyway until the engine is up to temp but it’s also worth looking after the brakes.
The only time I really noticed any change on handling was on a new 2014 BMW X5 which was tragic until the tyres had done a couple of hundred miles, which is something other users have complained about.
Having bought my MX-5 when it was 8 years old, I’m hoping someone ran it in properly and being a 3.5 I have to take it steady until the gear shift wakes up !
Like a couple of posters , took me a while to find this topic, but glad I did ! I’ve got an ND 1.5 with 600 miles on the clock and am taking it easy. Maxing out at just over 4k mostly. My reasoning is as it feels like it’s freeing up more and more each time I drive it - especially the gearbox - it is indeed running in. I’m sure the car will thank me for it in time ! Growing up in an era when it was absolutely necessary this all comes second nature. I’m sure cars need running in LESS than of old, and even if I’m wrong, it’s my car 
… now I need to get out in that sun again , any excuse 
Oh yes ! But where I grew up, it was normally written on a piece of cardboard stuffed in the back window 
