(G) A brand new Palio MJD for a long drive!!!

Hi All, I have a brand new Palio 1.3 MJD (Multi Jet Diesel). I would like to drive the car out this weekend to a hill station which is about 300 kms one way. The hill climb is very steep. I would appreciate if you guys tell me

1) Is it safe to drive the car there as its a new one?

2) What safety measures do i have to keep in mind while travelling?

3) What speed should I have to maintain the car at?

I would look forward to all your advise thanks

It's all in the manual that comes with the car!!
If it's realy steep, I wouldn't use 5th gear.
Don't drive it under 2000 rpm's, and you will be fine.

Hi, The manual doesnt say anything much for long drives, it just says keep the RPM below 3k till the first service gets over. Thats exactly why I was wondering on what to do..

You will be fine just don't rev too high untill the first service is done. It is unusual for modern cars to require any running in at all.

JON

Great, thanks thats exactly what my mech advised here in bangalore, however he was not convincing enough or had his own doubts. Apparently he did say once why not take the other car which I have....Thats what made me post here and ask your advise

UNDER revving is much more harmfull to a new engine, compare to over revving.....

How is that, the manual says keep it below 3K RPM till the 1st service is over..Could you pls throw some light..

Basically to prepare it best for a long life you need to run the engine in. This means not thrashing it over the first couple thousand miles, but the same not letting it clog up with soot, so you can use the 3,000-4,000 rev range but don't use it with your foot nailed to the floor.

Accelerating hard from time to time with a new engine, let the piston rings "bed in" very well, and doesn't harm anything....
So DO nail your foot to the floor now and then with a new car.....

And the most stress to an engine, new or old, is by underrevving the engine, so don't drive in 5th gear in town, especially when the car is new....!

Got that, I just came back from a long drive.I did touch close to 120Km / Hr, on a highway, couldnt exceed more than that.

I did notice my car vibrating on the 5th gear @ speeds of arnd 55-65 kms/ hr. When I changed it to 4th and got it to arnd 70+ then it was smooth like a butter. Do you guys face the same problem or its just because its a new car and the vibrations would reduce once the first service is over?

Other than this I didnt notice anything in particular to be a turndown, the car managed the hill slopes quite excellently and the effort was too less compared to my suzuki.

Well, you did exactly what I warned you for:50-60 in 5 th gear is underreving the ( rather small) engine, specialy when it's new....
The vibration won't go away after the first service, in fact the engine will keep on doing that for the rest of it's life....
Keep in mind: it's a relative small displacement engine, with not that much power, so everytime you encounter vibration, you're in the wrong gear....as you noticed when you went from 5 to 4th gear, and the engine was smooth again...

Hmm...ok I think I understood what you meant, would this be a cause of concern?? I was under the assumption that the vibration would reduce or go after the service...anyways would keep that in mind.

In my Palio manual, I see that, its not necessary to change oil during the first service, its only for checking eveything. I did notice in other forums that people beg to differ and say it is always better to change oil during the first service also. Pls advise on this and whats the best engine oil i can use for my MultiJet Diesel 1.3 CC?

It's vibrating because it's nearly stalling. Takes a bit of time to learn how to drive a diesel properly but here's a clue... if it starts struggling, choose the next gear down.

Hellcat is right with his advice.
You won't harm the engine but don't underev it too often.
At what Km's or Mls is the first service due?

THE best oil....???
I don't know, I 've been using Castrol for almost 35 years now in all my engine's, never ever had any oil related problem so far....!!
In fact, right now, I'm changing the oil+ filter in our Palio....
www.castrol.com
When I have written this message, I will go on and finish the oil job...

I havent have single clue on what oil would they be using, Im going to check the manual and update asap, however I think the first service is due in 30 Days or 1000 Kms, whichever comes earlier.

Which oil did you use now?