Today I visited my dealer to sort out an alarm for my soon to be delivered Twinair 500c.

In conversation with the salesperson I was told that the best way to run in a twinair is to drive it energetically for the first 1000 miles. In the dealers experience over the two years that the TA engine has been available the cars that return the worst fuel ecconomy are those that were treated with 'kid gloves' for the first 1000 miles. Those that were taken to the redline (or thrashed to use the salespersons exact words) every now and again tend to perform more ecconomically in the long term. This comes directly from the master tech and sales team at the dealership.

They also told me that if you want to achieve close to the 69ish mpg then you need to do a long run at 50MPH on a motorway with a properly run in vehicle.

Is the concensus on here agreeing with what I've been told?

Interesting. I've never believed in mollycoddling engines anyway. But what fuel consumptionm does it give at a steady 80, that would be better to know? Nobody drives at 50 on a motorway.

You'll get best oil consumption if you vary the load, and drive it very hard followed by periods of coasting in a high gear to draw oil onto the rings to cool them.

I did on my car - basically 50-100 miles of gentle running with no idling for more than a few seconds, then gradually push the engine more and more, not being afraid of revving it to the redline for brief periods (that get longer as more miles are covered). It runs really well, and doesn't use a drop of oil.

Don't sit slogging along on the motorway at constant high speed for those first few hundred to a thousand miles though, you need to vary the load and speed regularly to ensure the rings/bores bed in correctly.

If a fiat salesman said it was daylight outside I'd always check to make sure it wasn't dark, if it Thames Fiat I'd check the world had not ended

I have tended to run cars in with a modicum of sympathy and have always been good on oil, in reality the TA over 5,000rpm rather course so not a part of the rev range where I sit

It took 5,000 miles for mine to loosen up and perform, and someone on here did a great write up on TA economy at 50, 60 and 70mph and it does drop off considerably after 50mph

wigit said:

If a fiat salesman said it was daylight outside I'd always check to make sure it wasn't dark, if it Thames Fiat I'd check the world had not ended

I have tended to run cars in with a modicum of sympathy and have always been good on oil, in reality the TA over 5,000rpm rather course so not a part of the rev range where I sit

It took 5,000 miles for mine to loosen up and perform, and someone on here did a great write up on TA economy at 50, 60 and 70mph and it does drop off considerably after 50mph

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The TA dies above 5,500 rpm and it doesn't even let you go above 6,000! It is almost like a diesel.

Agreed I drive it like a derv and use the torque when on the move

'Sitting' at 5000+ rpm in a TA in fifth will equate to a speeding ticket in most nations. As I said (and many running-in 'guides' state), you don't want to be holding any fixed speed for a great length of time, fluid/flexible driving is the key to running a motor in well.

scout500 said:

They also told me that if you want to achieve close to the 69ish mpg then you need to do a long run at 50MPH on a motorway with a properly run in vehicle.

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I'd agree with that. A steady 50mph will give you about 70mpg in a TA. In fact I'd say that was maybe a little pessimistic.
You could probably stay up to pace with the trucks in lane one at 56mph and get 70mpg. Indeed, flashyphotos has
done that on her trips to London.

As for running in. There's loads of differing opinions on what's the best method.
I just drove mine in a normal way as if the car was used. Performance is fine and no oil used after 9k miles.
I would agree with bgunn above though that varying rpm is beneficial

deeyup said:

A steady 50mph will give you about 70mpg in a TA.

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The 1.2 will return similar or slightly better trip mpg when driven this way .

This was my best ever 100+ mile result (so far, anyway ).

bgunn said:

You'll get best oil consumption if you vary the load, and drive it very hard followed by periods of coasting in a high gear to draw oil onto the rings to cool them.

I did on my car - basically 50-100 miles of gentle running with no idling for more than a few seconds, then gradually push the engine more and more, not being afraid of revving it to the redline for brief periods (that get longer as more miles are covered). It runs really well, and doesn't use a drop of oil.

Don't sit slogging along on the motorway at constant high speed for those first few hundred to a thousand miles though, you need to vary the load and speed regularly to ensure the rings/bores bed in correctly.

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Exactly - important to avoid slogging in too high a gear. I'd also be careful to let the engine idle for a while to let the turbo cool down if stopping at a motorway service station, for instance.

Ulpian said:

Interesting. I've never believed in mollycoddling engines anyway. But what fuel consumptionm does it give at a steady 80, that would be better to know? Nobody drives at 50 on a motorway.

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My Ypsilon TA does 39mpg @ a steady 80mph (obviously on a private test track)

As mentioned in some posts above, best way to run-in is load the engine heavily and let it rev and keep varying rpm - this helps bed the piston rings in and thus provides a better compression. Running continuously at a constant rpm can lead to glazed bores which in turn leads to high oil consumption and poor performance.

When I build engines, I always use a running-in oil for the first 800 to 1000 miles - this is usually a mineral oil without any anti-wear additives, which helps the piston rings bed-in and reduces the risk of glazed bores.

jimbo118 said:

Running continuously at a constant rpm can lead to glazed bores....

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... who then post in the Winter Tyres thread.

RobinPJ said:

... who then post in the Winter Tyres thread.

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Ha!



I got the same advice when I picked up the Abarth. Checked with several people. Don't run it in, just don't bounce it off the rev limiter! Don't bother with an early oil change. Drive it hard and get it serviced in a year!

Being "older" it seems at odds to what I grew up doing, but if I must driver it hard it's a load I can bear....

:slayer:

OrangeSport said:

I got the same advice when I picked up the Abarth. Checked with several people. Don't run it in, just don't bounce it off the rev limiter! Don't bother with an early oil change. Drive it hard and get it serviced in a year!

Being "older" it seems at odds to what I grew up doing, but if I must driver it hard it's a load I can bear....

:slayer:

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I got my first new car in 1984 (1.2 Vauxhall Nova saloon £4024 OTR) and had to 'run' it in, not over reving it for the first 1500 miles then in for a service. I had the car for nine years (wife drove it for 6 of those) and did 97,000 and the car was still doing over 40mpg and would top 100mph when we traded it in (for £2000) on a new 1.4 Nova SR. Cheapest car I've ever run , so I agree it does go against the grain.

Ulpian said:

Nobody drives at 50 on a motorway.

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Yes they do

jrkitching said:

The 1.2 will return similar or slightly better trip mpg when driven this way .

This was my best ever 100+ mile result (so far, anyway ).

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wtf 100+ were you being carried by angels playing soft harp, how is that possible !! we are getting 37.5 on the TA, trip-a over a few 1000.

arorat said:

wtf 100+ were you being carried by angels playing soft harp, how is that possible !! we are getting 37.5 on the TA, trip-a over a few 1000.

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That's an mpg figure averaged over 100+ miles, not 100 mpg!

Ulpian said:

Nobody drives at 50 on a motorway.

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Even driving at 50 on an open and clear motorway, you will sometimes need to overtake other cars. Very occasionally, you might even need to overtake an HGV.

jrkitching said:

That's an mpg figure averaged over 100+ miles, not 100 mpg!

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Sorry, yes 76mpg over that instance, still angelic we need to step of the gas