New RS5 - break-in period

[CARGUYROB]

I am enjoying my 2023 RS5 SB. It's a very nice upgrade from my 2019 S4...feels much more special than I thought it would. I have been trying to figure out what the appropriate break-in period is for the car. There is nothing in the owners manual and when I google it, about half the sites say 500 miles and the other half say 1,000. I'm at 450 miles and really anxious to get on it some. What do our experts here say? Thx

[JohnEnglish]

Page 115 in your owner's manual.

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[doughboy17]

Page 115 in your owner's manual.

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The owner's manual is your friend. Although I get laughed at by many of my friends, I am notorious for reading the owner's manual (of about everything ... within reason) before using it. It's amazing what you learn.

[DCB1951]

A word (or two) of advice for @carguyrob - even after the break-in period, lay off the accelerator until your engine and tires warm up. Wait until your oil temp reaches 140 deg F (60 deg C) before leaning on it - I keep my RPM below 3,000 until then. Also, watch your tire pressures and temperatures, which since you have an RS5, you can do. Wait until you've picked up a few PSI over cold pressure and 10-20 deg F over cold temperature.

I've had my 2019 B9 RS5 SB for more than four years and 41k miles. It has been mechanically perfect. I've put in a quart and a half of oil in total between 10k mile service intervals. I drive spiritedly a lot, but not until all is warmed up first. You'll improve your chances of a trouble-free car.

P.S. Look up "Sporty driving" in the index of your owner's manual.

[KOSTIC]

For those who don't know you can enter your VIN on this site to view your owners manual online.
http://ownersmanual.audiusa.com/

[VVG]

Break in periods are pretty much BS. What is the difference to your engine if you drive at 2000rpm for 1000 miles or 4000rpm for 500 miles? From your engine's perspective, it is the same number of revolutions. Go easy for the first 400-500 miles, but still allow some revs slowly up to about 5000 rpm. Vary the gears a lot, and allow for engine braking from higher rpm to properly seat the piston rings. After that, drive however you want. Always allow the engine to get warm before really hammering the car, irrespective of mileage.

[JohnEnglish]

The difference is the stress it puts on the engine. Driving 300 miles at 3,000 RPM and 100 miles at 9,000 RPM will produce the number of revolutions but they will be very different experiences for the engine.

[LYKUNO]

A word (or two) of advice for @carguyrob - even after the break-in period, lay off the accelerator until your engine and tires warm up. Wait until your oil temp reaches 140 deg F (60 deg C) before leaning on it - I keep my RPM below 3,000 until then. Also, watch your tire pressures and temperatures, which since you have an RS5, you can do. Wait until you've picked up a few PSI over cold pressure and 10-20 deg F over cold temperature.

I've had my 2019 B9 RS5 SB for more than four years and 41k miles. It has been mechanically perfect. I've put in a quart and a half of oil in total between 10k mile service intervals. I drive spiritedly a lot, but not until all is warmed up first. You'll improve your chances of a trouble-free car.

P.S. Look up "Sporty driving" in the index of your owner's manual.

Good advice about ensuring the engine is sufficiently warmed up before going heavy on the throttle. I've noticed that our '23 S5 has the redline range that starts at lower RPM when the engine is cold. I just went out into our 56 degree garage (the car has not been started today), and the tach's red rpm range starts at 5500 RPM and extends through 8000 RPM. See pic below.

As I recall, on the day when we first got to see our newly delivered S5 in the dealership's showroom, I noticed the tach's redline marking started at ~5800RPM. That was pretty upsetting to see because our old 2011 S4's redline is at 7000RPM. Now that I've put several hundred miles on the S5, it appears that the tach's redline varies, based on the engine (or ambient) temperature. Thus, the digital dash display may have the ability to shift the redline range to ensure the driver won't thrash on the engine until it's suitably warmed up. After a long drive, I recall seeing the redline up in the 6xxx RPM range or thereabouts. It may be higher.

After looking at the owner's manual (pg 14) section on the tachometer specifically states "The beginning of the red zone in the tachometer indicates the maximum permissible engine speed for all gears once the engine has been broken in." That would mean the engine has been programmed to specifically limit the engine speed until the break in period has been completed, and/or the engine is fully warmed up. Anyone else notice this "feature" on their cars?

Threads need pics, so here's a fresh one from a cold garage ...

[JohnEnglish]

Yes, when it's cold the redline is at 5,700 RPM. When the engine warms up it changes to 6,800 RPM.

[CARGUYROB]

Page 115 in your owner's manual.

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Thank you for the details. I searched and searched the owners manual. I do now see what you shared on page 111 of my owners manual (probably slightly different each year). BTW, the index lists break-in periods for brakes and tires, but not for the engine. :)

[Dan99]

A word (or two) of advice for @carguyrob - even after the break-in period, lay off the accelerator until your engine and tires warm up. Wait until your oil temp reaches 140 deg F (60 deg C) before leaning on it - I keep my RPM below 3,000 until then. Also, watch your tire pressures and temperatures, which since you have an RS5, you can do. Wait until you've picked up a few PSI over cold pressure and 10-20 deg F over cold temperature.

I've had my 2019 B9 RS5 SB for more than four years and 41k miles. It has been mechanically perfect. I've put in a quart and a half of oil in total between 10k mile service intervals. I drive spiritedly a lot, but not until all is warmed up first. You'll improve your chances of a trouble-free car.

P.S. Look up "Sporty driving" in the index of your owner's manual.

My manual says this as well, but page 21 also says that normal operating oil temperature is 176F (80C) to 248F (120C), so I wait until 176F before driving hard:

Manual-OilTemp.jpg

My 2019 RS5 Sportback has 50K miles, I broke it in exactly as described in the owners manual (as shown in other replies to this thread). I do change the oil at 5K miles, but I also track the car occasionally, so I use a shorter oil change interval. I have never had to add a drop of oil, and I have never seen the oil level drop to less than Full in any significant way.

[Dan99]

...After looking at the owner's manual (pg 14) section on the tachometer specifically states "The beginning of the red zone in the tachometer indicates the maximum permissible engine speed for all gears once the engine has been broken in." That would mean the engine has been programmed to specifically limit the engine speed until the break in period has been completed, and/or the engine is fully warmed up. Anyone else notice this "feature" on their cars?

I think you are misinterpreting this. The redline does move as the car warms up, but you can't rely on this during break-in. The phrase from the manual, "...once the engine has been broken in.", does not mean during break-in, it means after break-in.

[ywang98]

Also, watch your tire pressures and temperatures, which since you have an RS5, you can do.

Apologize for a side question, how do you show the tire temp?

[JohnEnglish]

On the left side of the virtual cockpit, go into Sport Displays, and then choose Tire Pressure. It’ll show you all your tire pressures and temperatures.

[Turbanator]

Yes, when it's cold the redline is at 5,700 RPM. When the engine warms up it changes to 6,800 RPM.

Is this also true of the break-in period? As in, will the vehicle's redline be say 4500rpm before the vehicle has 600 miles on the odo? Or will you just have to keep track of that yourself?

[Dan99]

Is this also true of the break-in period? As in, will the vehicle's redline be say 4500rpm before the vehicle has 600 miles on the odo? Or will you just have to keep track of that yourself?

No.

[LYKUNO]

Ok, I'm on board with abiding by the manual's break-in rules, and also, never exceeding the redline no matter where it may be during the warm-up period. That said, once the vehicle has passed the initial break in period, and assuming the engine is fully warmed up, is there a specific RPM at which the ECU's rev limiter kicks in?

[Dan99]

Ok, I'm on board with abiding by the manual's break-in rules, and also, never exceeding the redline no matter where it may be during the warm-up period. That said, once the vehicle has passed the initial break in period, and assuming the engine is fully warmed up, is there a specific RPM at which the ECU's rev limiter kicks in?

I don't know, as I rarely drive in manual mode. I think the transmission does really well on its own when you drive in Sport mode (pull the shift lever back to toggle Drive/Sport mode). However, I would like to comment on hitting the rev limiter.

First, taking the engine to the redline does not provide the best acceleration. Using a shift calculator (available for free), the optimum shift points for a stock RS5 Sportback are: 1-2 at 6846, 2-3 at 6811, 3-4 at 6604, 4-5 at 6668, 5-6 at 6665. 6th gear will take you to the vehicle's top speed. Gears 7 & 8 are just overdrive gears.

The shift calculator takes a number of factors into account including the torque curve of the engine, the transmission and rear end gear ratios, the weight of the car, frontal area and drag coefficient, tire size, etc. So, if you have something different than a RS5 Sportback, your numbers might vary. The shift calculator is available for free at:

https://www.yourdatadriven.com/the-b...-a-racing-car/

Second, bouncing off the rev limiter is hard on engine internals, such as rocker arms. It's a safety feature to avoid over-reving the engine, but it is not the healthiest thing for an engine.

Finally, the optimal shift points change with tunes, as does the behavior of the rev-limiter, so be aware if you ever tune your car. I prefer ECU tunes that have companion TCU tunes because the TCU tune will target the best shift points for the new power curve of the ECU tune.

[a4 4snow]

Ok, I'm on board with abiding by the manual's break-in rules, and also, never exceeding the redline no matter where it may be during the warm-up period. That said, once the vehicle has passed the initial break in period, and assuming the engine is fully warmed up, is there a specific RPM at which the ECU's rev limiter kicks in?

I believe most B9.5 auto shift vs hitting redline unless you have a competition, as that’s specifically called out in the 2023 marketing.

Most production cars have soft limiters so you won’t “bounce” off the redline, and is relatively safe to do so; just don’t ride on the limiter.


Sent from my iPhone using Audizine Forum

[ywang98]

On the left side of the virtual cockpit, go into Sport Displays, and then choose Tire Pressure. It’ll show you all your tire pressures and temperatures.

Mine only shows tire pressure. Not sure what setting I need to set to see temp too.

[JohnEnglish]

Mine only shows tire pressure. Not sure what setting I need to set to see temp too.

This is from a RS3 but you should see the same thing since you have direct TPMS.

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[ywang98]

This is from a RS3 but you should see the same thing since you have direct TPMS.

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My bad... Sorry! I never realized the white color characters were temperatures. The green letters overwhelmed my senses... LOL Thank you!

[IamRacer X]

I drove it very easy until 500 miles and from 500 to 1000 moderately easy. Once I hit 1k miles I had the oil changed and let it rip. I always let the car warm up before any spirited driving though.

[sschwartz]

I've had my 2023 RS5 for a couple months now. I've driven about 800 miles so far. Is there an expectation for less than optimal gas mileage during the break in period? I'm talking like sub 200 per tank, roughly 13 mpg combined city and highway. I was expecting closer to 18-20 mpg.

[B6_Dolphin]

I've had my 2023 RS5 for a couple months now. I've driven about 800 miles so far. Is there an expectation for less than optimal gas mileage during the break in period? I'm talking like sub 200 per tank, roughly 13 mpg combined city and highway. I was expecting closer to 18-20 mpg.

I took delivery of my '23 RS5 Coupe w/Competition Package from an OR dealer this past weekend, and drove 200 miles to my home in WA state. I actively changed gears during the mostly highway drive on I-5, going down mostly to M6 (and occassionally M5 while going through the metro areas at lower speeds). RPMs would spike-up to 4.5K rpms on a few downshifts, where I'd then let off the throttle. Despite all that shifting and varying the throttle for break-in , I still averaged 25.3 mpg, according to the trip computer.

Incidentally, my RS5 had 36 miles on it when it was received at the dealership, which is considered normal pre-delivery mileage for RS & R8 cars, since they are apparently run-in as a QC step on the Autobahn before they are released from production.

And since we are on the subject of break-in, at the 1k miles mark, I plan to perform an oil & filter change, and grab an oil sample to send off for analysis (which I do at every OCI).

[Burrcold]

I took delivery of my '23 RS5 Coupe w/Competition Package from an OR dealer this past weekend, and drove 200 miles to my home in WA state. I actively changed gears during the mostly highway drive on I-5, going down mostly to M6 (and occassionally M5 while going through the metro areas at lower speeds). RPMs would spike-up to 4.5K rpms on a few downshifts, where I'd then let off the throttle. Despite all that shifting and varying the throttle for break-in , I still averaged 25.3 mpg, according to the trip computer.

Incidentally, my RS5 had 36 miles on it when it was received at the dealership, which is considered normal pre-delivery mileage for RS & R8 cars, since they are apparently run-in as a QC step on the Autobahn before they are released from production.

And since we are on the subject of break-in, at the 1k miles mark, I plan to perform an oil & filter change, and grab an oil sample to send off for analysis (which I do at every OCI).

That pre-delivery mileage story from your dealership is BS. Mine came with less than 10 kms on the clock, and several other people here had the same. Who knows what they were doing to rack up that many miles, but they aren't taking it to the Autobahn.

[Zombie5150]

I've had my 2023 RS5 for a couple months now. I've driven about 800 miles so far. Is there an expectation for less than optimal gas mileage during the break in period? I'm talking like sub 200 per tank, roughly 13 mpg combined city and highway. I was expecting closer to 18-20 mpg.

What’s your range displayed when you fill your tank? How aggressive is your driving? I find the gas mileage fine except when I’m putting my foot in it. Then it tends to become quite thirsty. I don’t really monitor my exact gas mileage but I’m guessing mine gets around 20-24 driving pretty normal with the occasional romp.

[B6_Dolphin]

That pre-delivery mileage story from your dealership is BS.

That's why I said "apparently"...

[itdoesitallroad]

When I broke mine in I changed oil at 6k miles than again at 10k miles. After the 1st oil change I cut open the oil filter and found quite a bit of metal shavings. After the oil change at 10k I found very few shavings. I would not wait 10K to do 1st oil change. Just seems way to long for a new engine.

[Dan99]

I've had my 2023 RS5 for a couple months now. I've driven about 800 miles so far. Is there an expectation for less than optimal gas mileage during the break in period? I'm talking like sub 200 per tank, roughly 13 mpg combined city and highway. I was expecting closer to 18-20 mpg.

I have a 2019 RS5 Sportback, which has the same drive train as yours. During break-in, I got about 220 miles on a tank of gas in combined city/highway driving. I followed the break-in instructions to the letter. Some people like to break-in a new car using the "drive it like you stole it" philosophy. I don't. I change the oil every 5000 miles and have yet to add oil in-between oil changes on any of the 3 Audis I have owned.

After the first 1000 miles or so the mileage improved. Now, I typically get about 240-250 miles on a tank, around town, before the red fuel warning light comes on. This is with normal driving, occasionally running through the gears, playful at times, but mostly just driving with traffic. I get slightly better mileage in the summer, but this is offset with more aggressive driving as the weather warms up. On the highway I get as high as 28 mpg in 8th gear and 31.7 mpg in 7th gear:

31mpg30pct.jpg

In contrast, I get about 8 mpg on a race track. So, it certainly depends on how you drive, and what gear you drive in. If you are driving in manual you might try keeping it in automatic. I recommend Sport mode over Drive. It keeps you in a gear that puts the engine in a more efficient rpm range, and it makes it less necessary for the transmission to downshift multiple gears just to accelerate modestly in traffic.

One thing that is somewhat misleading about the engine is that the torque curve is flat from about 1900 - 5000 rpm. This is true, but only if the engine is in boost, and it won't be in boost with normal driving. This is, of course, the nature of all turbo engines, so there is not much you can do about turbo lag itself. The solution for me is to drive in Sport mode, which keeps the transmission in a lower gear and the engine in an rpm range where is it more responsive, even without boost. This requires less stomping on the gas to just keep up with traffic. And, when you want boost, it comes on much quicker when the engine rms are higher to begin with.

[B6_Dolphin]

I followed the break-in instructions to the letter. Some people like to break-in a new car using the "drive it like you stole it" philosophy. I don't. I change the oil every 5000 miles and have yet to add oil in-between oil changes on any of the 3 Audis I have owned.

Looking over the '23 owner's manual, I don't see any break-in instructions for the engine. Could you elaborate? Without any official guidance, I would assume no full throttle "jack-rabbit" starts, keep the rpms below 4.5k for the 1st 1k miles, don't drone at the same rpm on the highway for the 1st 1k miles, etc.

In comparison, for my '17 Infiniti Q60 w/3.0L twin-turbo, Infiniti recommends to not exceed 4k rpms for the1st 1,200 miles, not heavy acceleration, blah, blah, blah... but at least it was mentioned in the owner's manual.

[Dan99]

Looking over the '23 owner's manual, I don't see any break-in instructions for the engine. Could you elaborate? Without any official guidance, I would assume no full throttle "jack-rabbit" starts, keep the rpms below 4.5k for the 1st 1k miles, don't drone at the same rpm on the highway for the 1st 1k miles, etc.

In comparison, for my '17 Infiniti Q60 w/3.0L twin-turbo, Infiniti recommends to not exceed 4k rpms for the1st 1,200 miles, not heavy acceleration, blah, blah, blah... but at least it was mentioned in the owner's manual.

Copies of the break-in instructions appear earlier in this thread (post#2), plus additional comments along the way.

[B6_Dolphin]

Copies of the break-in instructions appear earlier in this thread (post#2), plus additional comments along the way.

Thanks! I overlooked it in the manual and this thread... 2/3rds of redline. Glad I can do math.

Must be "2/3rds" because it's a A5/S5/RS5 owner's manual, with 2.0L, 3.0L & 2.9L all-inclusive.

[DarkSideGTI]

Break in periods are pretty much BS. What is the difference to your engine if you drive at 2000rpm for 1000 miles or 4000rpm for 500 miles? From your engine's perspective, it is the same number of revolutions. Go easy for the first 400-500 miles, but still allow some revs slowly up to about 5000 rpm. Vary the gears a lot, and allow for engine braking from higher rpm to properly seat the piston rings. After that, drive however you want. Always allow the engine to get warm before really hammering the car, irrespective of mileage.

Engine break in periods are a very real thing. You want to make sure the rings are fitted to the cylinder walls via the crosshatching in the walls themselves. With that being said, it happens relatively quickly and can be done within the first 1-2 drives. You want to get the piston speed up and then decelerate the car to pull a vacuum on the engine. This will pull the rings out against the piston wall and help hone them in. Once the rings are fully seated the engine is good to go.