Breaking in an Elise - believe the dealer?

[onedsla]

Hi,
Just picked up an S2 111S yesterday which I'm enjoying very much. I've driven 160 miles carefully, below 3000rpm & very light throttle.

My question is, do I believe the dealer who says I should start streching it a little more after 300 miles (he said 4000rpm), or obey the advise in the handbook about waiting until 600 miles before increasing the revs / throttle?

any thoughts, comments or advice welcome.
Cheers,
Dave

[Bonce]

I would ALWAYS believe what the handbook says over what a dealer tells you. You don't want to invalidate your warranty.

[glugcom]

Hi,
Just picked up an S2 111S yesterday which I'm enjoying very much. I've driven 160 miles carefully, below 3000rpm & very light throttle.

My question is, do I believe the dealer who says I should start streching it a little more after 300 miles (he said 4000rpm), or obey the advise in the handbook about waiting until 600 miles before increasing the revs / throttle?

any thoughts, comments or advice welcome.
Cheers,
Dave

Hi Dave
I stuck to 3000 up to 500 miles then 4500 up to the present which is 900 miles. The dealer said this should be the max until service #1. Going strong and looking forward to opening her up.
regards
Glug

[onedsla]

Do MG ask the same when running in the TF 160 etc?

Oh, and why do they have to put so much salt on the roads?? I've only had it 3 days and washed it twice already!!

[fergusd]

You should know that the S2 ECU logs how you drive the car, max speeds, max accelerations, max engine revs, etc, and this log is examinied at the 1K service.

If you don't comply with the running in instructions Lotus may refuse to honour the warantee if you have subsequent engine problems . . .

Live with it

Fd

[joust]

onedsla said:Oh, and why do they have to put so much salt on the roads?? I've only had it 3 days and washed it twice already!!

With rear wheel drive, <800kgs and >120bhp I would be worried if they didn't put that much down!

J

[loserkid]

joust said:

onedsla said:Oh, and why do they have to put so much salt on the roads?? I've only had it 3 days and washed it twice already!!

With rear wheel drive, <800kgs and >120bhp I would be worried if they didn't put that much down!

I had to drive a "fun" B road in the snow the other day with no grit on it.

Lets just say I have very exact definitions of Oversteer and Understeer imprinted in my head now

[milesforrest]

Hi Dave,

Stick to the limits in the manual. The ECU records lots of information which is printed out by the dealer at the 1000 mile service and sent to Lotus HQ. I had a look at it before it was sent off. It records time spent (HH:MM:SS)in RPM bands of 1000-1500, 1500-2000 etc to 7000. Time spent within speed bands. Top 5 0-60 times, Top 5 0-100 times. Top 5 temperatures reached and a few other emission tests.

I read a plausible explanation of why the engine needs to be run in. Basically when the engine is new the piston and cylinder are not perfectly smooth. The smoother the two surfaces run together the more heat is transferred by conduction. High revs and wide throttle opens generate more heat which cannot be dissipated until the surfaces are smooth. Too high piston temperature results in damage.

Miles

[lavaman]

Do what it says in the instructions when running your car in. I reckon some dealers mislead you by advising you wrongly as to how to run the car in so they can save money by not honouring your warrenty. Think how much cash they can make out of you in the long run?