Remember those days when you drove with a light right foot having just re-bored, new rings, shells, re-ground crank etc. What about your new MX5 do you still take easy for the first 500 or so miles?
Don’t really need to drive “ultra-cautiously”, just sensibly, i.e. don’t “floor it” in every gear at every opportunity!
Thank you for your reply, I try not to let the engine labour in any gear and run up and down rev range (within reason) untiI have wound a few hundred miles on. Bet you can’t for your special edition Countryboy!
You’re right there! The last time I phoned the dealer for an update their reply was a polite version of “don’t ring us, we’ll ring you”!
No idea if it is necessary, but why risk damaging a new engine for the sake of a couple of weeks of careful driving?
My policy is never thrash it during the first 1000 miles, and after that never thrash it unless it is fully warmed up.
I have heard that even tyres benefit from a gentle introduction to being driven as well as all the moving parts beyond the engine itself.
As far as running in goes… my MX-5 was hopefully run in 41,000 miles ago by its first owner in 1998. I can’t see me buying a brand new car ever again, the only one I ever bought was in 1982. I prefer to let others take the biggest hit on depreciation; as I do most work on my own vehicles myself (including building my own from the chassis upwards), a manufacturer’s warranty isn’t a big personal concern. I recently bought a car (not an MX-5) in as new condition with 7,000 miles on it for less than half the new price. I’ve driven it carefully then gradually increased the pace because it appears the previous owner (the archetypal little old lady) had probably never driven it above 30 mph on her weekly visit to the shops. Now it keeps up with motorway traffic a lot better than it first did.
Running in isn’t as critical as it used to be because of more accurate manufacture with regard to engineering tolerances and materials. But when I fit new parts or start a vehicle from cold I do run it relatively gently for the first few miles. After that I prefer to run engines in a way that warms them up properly and then blows out the cobwebs and moisture.
The advice on tyres I’ve always tried to adhere to is to take it easy for the first hundred miles or so. Reasons I can think of: Firstly you’re driving on tyres that possibly have a mould release agent on the treads and might be a bit less grippy than you might expect, especially in the wet. Secondly, it allows the possibly stiff tyre walls to “relax” so they don’t generate too much internal heat. Thirdly, you’re relying on someone else’s quality control. Having had a blow-out puncture at 70 mph on a motorbike going downhill into a corner with a passenger on the pillion, it’s no fun at all! No, I didn’t drop it but we explored the full width of the road and part of the grass verge. Thankfully there was no oncoming traffic.
Seems sensible to me…
https://blog.twwhiteandsons.co.uk/driving-tips/easy-running-new-car/
Agreed.
Essentially it simply means being gentle with exercising new things until they have proved themselves capable of what is required and reliable, especially tyres!
As an OCD mpg recorder I noticed on the last three new cars we bought (1994 Astra, 1996 VectraB, 2016 Mazda3) that the mpg improved steadily for the first few thousand miles as everything settled in and the car loosened up, thereafter it was steady and variations have been purely down to which of us was driving and the time of year (darkest winter being about 10% to 15% worse than high summer).