Please delete this account

 

This is one of those classic "Black Science" kind of things. There is no doubt that it is best to take it easy on your engine for the first several hundred if not thousand miles. This used to be much, much more important than it is today, as newer engine components are much more tolerant of heavy use conditions than they used to be.
If you really pushed your engine hard in the first few miles, you may have "slightly" affected the engine but unless you were trying to emulate Speedracer or a Rally Racer, you should be just fine. Just for the record, I will baby mine for the first thousand miles and then 99.9% of the time after that. That 0.1% is the fun part though....

 

Many years of building race ,modified and stock engines for Euro bikes (Ducati MV Agusta etc) more so in the last 12 years have taught me quite a bit of proper running in. Break in how you want the engine to perform for the rest of its life. This being said the first few hundred miles are crucial. You shouldn't flat out drop the hammer from a dead stop or bounce it off the rev limiter but at the same time babying the engine is just as bad. Ive seen guys/ gals baby engines for thousands of miles and then start using synthetic oils (some vehicles come with syn from the factory) and the engine never got a chance to properly break in. Your absolute best bet for a street vehicle you want to be reliable still fun and responsive is to find open roads but with alot of speed/gear changes. Find mountain roads or roads with alot of corners (twisties) and drive all through the rev range within reason no banging off the redline a million times but opening up a little can be good. The worst things to do is lug an engine around (high gear/low revs) especially up hills and drive long distances at one maintained speed. Varying speed for all the people who drive 99% of the time on the freeway can be hard so try and find a backway to take for a while and do not set the cruise control at 70 for a long drive.

 

The B8 A4 comes with a "gear change" graphic on the DIS. It shows your current gear and then an arrow pointing up or down will appear depending on your driving condition,speed and revs etc. Its aimed at the best engine and fuel performance, follow this for the recommended 1500Kms as suggested in the manual and I think youll do the engine a world of good for years to come.

Its aimed at fuel performance not speed performance but I think following it and not switching it off via the MMI would be a good thing to do.

 

am surprised you didn't know it was 1000, what did the dealer tell you on delivery? I believe the manual says it as well but dealer instructed to avoid redline and no greater than 80mph up to 1000 if you want better gas efficiency in the long run. you may degrade you head gaskets and cylinders faster resulting in less power which translates into lower fuel economy. I'm conservative as well, sort of old school and plan not to be too agressive until after the 1st oil change (5000). all you can do now is wait and see how it performs in the >100K range but you'll likely be fine. Oh, and I was instructed to try and break it in on highway miles, not city stop and go. Go on a long 300 mile drive on the 1st 300 miles is the best thing for it keeping in under 65mph...

 

Please delete this account

 

Have you all seen this article? Fairly controversial:

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

 

All I'm saying is do what the dealer/manual recommends. Whether or not it makes a difference in the long run is debatable but better be safe then sorry.

From the sounds of it GDuran144 has a manual tran? With my auto I can tell you when the car is driven "gently", it never reaches 4000 rpm, typically upshifting in the 3000-3500 range. I would keep it below there until above 1000 or even 5000 if possible. Check with the dealership, not that dealer "always knows best" but they are there for a reason and provide instructions based on what the factory recommends.

 

Please delete this account

 

I would just do what the manual and the dealer recommend to be honest. Dont drive it hard at the moment. If you do what it says in the manual and anything breaks at least the dealer and Audi will be on your side. They can get a whole load of information from the cars OBC when it goes in for a service.