Running In?

[Dave61]

Forgive my ignorance but just purchased a new Yaris, should I be taking it easy, driving her hard, building up the revs?

I get conflicting advice when I ask but I am sure the good folk on here can advise.

Thanks in advance for any advice offered.

[Raistlin]

Gentle acceleration and breaking for the first 500 miles would be good, she's new be kind ;)

[FROSTYBALLS]

Taken from my Auris owners manual:

Breaking in your new Toyota

To extend the life of the vehicle, the following precautions are recommended to observe:

For the first 300km(186 miles) avoid sudden stops

For the first 800km(500 miles) do not tow a trailer

For the first 1000km(621 miles), do not drive at extremely high speeds, avoid sudden acceleration, do not drive continuously in the low gears, and do not drive at a constant speedfor extended periods

So when you reach 622 miles, you should be OK to do whatever.

[orangezorki]

I'm no mechanic, and also agree that every possible combination of driving technique has been advised as the perfect way to run in a car. Being extremely gentle not to stress anything is the starting point, but then there are others that say a good rev once in a while bed in the cylinders and pistons. I even once saw an article from Honest John who said that the best second hand car to buy was an ex-rental as it would have experienced a wide range of driving styles. (Cue John Cooper Clarke reciting: Hire car, hire car, why would you ever buy a car? Bang it, prang it, say ta ta...)

My take on it is that life is what happens when you are making other plans. I'm sure you wouldn't run over a kid or dog just because your manual says you shouldn't make a sudden stop before X miles. Hammering it hard all the time might be a bad idea, but then again it is at any milage.

David

[Wiz201]

Just drive normally with braking in good time (unless you come across idiots who like to surprise you). My manual emphasized driving at different revs with my Aygo so I drove her in manual mode (MMT auto gear box) just so I could control what gear she was in. Now I let her do whatever she wants and I would say she's run in now at 1500 miles in two months.

[Cyker]

Just drive 'normally' (Assuming your normal way of driving is 'normal' and not 'ricer' :P)

Basically it's good for the engine to experience a wide range of revs so while it's obvious you shouldn't thrash the valves off it, it's also bad to just run it at 1000rpm all the time... So... don't drive her hard but you don't have to take it too easy either :)

And just to be clear, when they say 'avoid extreme high speed', they don't mean drive at 50mph in 6th on a motorway for 2 hours - This does not help to run in the engine! I figure they mean 'don't drive 100+'; 60's and 70's are fine!

[Cowdenite]

I wondered about this question too when we got our Yaris in Feb and asked on the Toyota blog for clarification. See below for reply.

In the 2014 Yaris Hybrid Manual it says avoid extremely high speeds for the 1st 1000 miles. What do Toyota define “Extremely High Speed” as?

Reply

David Crouch says:

March 25, 2014 at 13:40

Hello Brian

Thanks for your post.

The best advice here is to stick within the speed limit and you will be perfectly fine. Although we quote no figure, this is essentially precautionary advice to raise the awareness of owners and help with the longevity of your Yaris hybrid.

Hope this helps but let us know if you have any other questions.

[Mooly]

I always used to believe that driving a brand new car gently was the best but the advice given by a trusted Toyota service manager and ex top Toyota mechanic changed my view. They said that a major problem arose with cars that were driven too gently, in that the oil that was trapped by the honing of the new cylinder walls could carbonise, and this led to the rings not bedding in properly... result... and engine that could burn oil and offer less than optimal performance. The advice I got was to treat it gently for the first 20 to 50 miles only at which point the "knocking bits off metal off" phase has turned into the "polishing and bedding in phase". By the time I've reached 100 miles the rev counter has already seen gentle acceleration (not foot to the floor) to the 4 to 5k region, the next 100 miles sees that extended to the rev limiter to "break" any carbon glaze.

I've never had any engine problems and never had any that burn oil either for following this regime.

Many many years ago I used to have company cars (field service engineer) and I always remember time and again that the cars that were "hammered" from the start always felt like they had the most responsive engines. Yes, clutches and gearboxes were awful in those cars (but that was caused by abuse), but the engines were fantastic.

So imo "running in" is a compromise and extending the engine gently toward the top of the rev range does no harm what so ever. Just remember there is a big difference between doing that correctly on a fully hot engine and "boy racer" tactics of foot to the floor at all times... that is not what I mean :)

[Dave61]

Some great advice given.

Thank you all for your time.