How can I drive my car without damaging the engine?

[AK1210]

Hi guys,

I drive a 54 plate platinum silver mk1 Leon Cupra r 225 and I really dont want to mash my car up by driving stupidly everywhere like i used to in my golf. Basically can anyone advise me on how to drive my car without doing any damage to the engine (i told you it would sound silly) I dont rag my gearbox, and genrally change gears when i hit about 2 1/2 thousand revs. I have on the odd occasion opened her up but I felt almost guilty putting my foot down.

If anyone can help that would be great as I love my car and I want to be around for many moons.

Cheers

Adam

 

[DOLBY]

hey mate, you should get yourselfdown to the bucks meet, in milton keynes....first wed of every month....im sure you will get plenty of good advice there....

welcome btw..

 

[andycupra]

seems a shame to get a nice car then not enjoy it.
However you are right that there are some things you can do / not do to treat it well:

1, take it easy for first part of any journey, let the car warm up, when the coolant temp is at 90 remember that the oil hasnt warmed up as fast.

2, for the last few miles of a journey take it easy to avoid parking up with a red hot turbo or baked engine. (some people sit their letting the car run, but why rag it somewhere to get there 60 seconds quicker if you then have to sit there for 3mins).

3, use decent oil. you generally get what you pay for, synthetic oils are not all the same, legally brands can use mineral oil, carry out some sort of treatment to it and call these synthetic oils.

4, check / change oil regularly.

5, dont rag it to the red line all the time, in fact the 1.8T is often quicker changing up a gear well before the red line.

6, dont let the engine labour at very low revs. Its not a good idea to put your foot down or go up steep hills in a high gear at low revs. So dont be lazy drop down a gear.

7, (important this one for a number of reasons). Anticipate the road. You can significantly change how you use the engine, gears/clutch, brakes, suspension and most things on the car simply by changing driving habits. This also leads to better mpg. imagine each time you brake you are spending money.

 

[traumapat]

everything andy said but i find if your changing gears that early , your not really getting it going as such. you wont damage your car by using more of the rev range as long as you allow warm up and cool down.

when my car was standard i`d hit 5.5k at least once on every journey .... i think its healthy for the engine.

 

[AK1210]

Thanks guys I new someone could help out.

There are some great tips there, I have been letting the engine tick over when I reach my destination to allow the turbo to cool propaly. Ill go out and find some decent oil as I dont know what was in it when I bought it. I'm gonna keep an eye on that coolent temp before i take off down the road..

Thanks for all your help, and happy motoring to you all.

 

[traumapat]

in the colder months id avoid hard driving for a good 10mins, although the coolant hits temp oil takes a bit longer.

 

[AK1210]

Nice one traumapat, ill make sure to keep the revs down untill im halfway to work.. lol. Seriously tho much appreciated, i dont want to fork out big money if anything should go wrong.

Cheers

 

[andycupra]

Just to clarify, the coolant temp gets to 90 much faster than the oil will. So hold off giving it welly for a while after this.

 

[AK1210]

Cool, i didnt think about that. Thanks for the advice andycupra its all been noted.

 

[DOLBY]

ak1210 it takes exactly 12 minutes for the oil to be ful warmed....ok dude

 

[BCM]

how the hell do you know that?
fair play if its true!
just look after your car as said mate, drive it like its meant to be driven, the R is there for a reason!
Give it time to heat up and cool down but don't be scared to give it some! they take it well!

 

[DOLBY]

well they are designed to be thrashed to death (when fully warm obviously)......actually saying that, just to fully contradict myself, when you drive it normal for a few days...then you boot the living hell out of it...IT ABSOLUTELY SHIFTS....

also dont let the tyres get below 2 and a half mm ....cos the car dont like it, and you will be facing a hedge before you know it!

 

[DOLBY]

also dont stall the turbo.....you may look cool in front of your mates but the life of the car will suffer...

 

[6th.replicant]

As above + change oil every 6 months, & avoid short journeys that don't allow engine to warm properly - as discussed above - cos when ECU selects 'choke mode' the petrol/air mixture squirts in more petrol, which 'washes away' engine oil, thus causing more engine-wear.

 

[DOLBY]

avoid short journeys that don't allow engine to warm properly - as discussed above - cos when ECU selects 'choke mode' the petrol/air mixture squirts in more petrol, which 'washes away' engine oil, thus causing more engine-wear. quote**


blimey never knew that....

 

[DannyC87]

ak1210 it takes exactly 12 minutes for the oil to be ful warmed....ok dude

i'll second that. always keep an eye on my oil temp gauge, and it gets to just shy of 100* after 10-12mins with gentle driving.

 

[AK1210]

Blimey boys, you guys certainly now your stuff.. I new i had come to the right place.

My journey into work takes about 35 mins so hopefully everything should be heated up ready to give throttle a quick blast..

Thanks again

 

[DOLBY]

no probs mate, enjoy your motor...

 

[Ronin225]

I remember speaking to a mechanic a while ago and he was saying the turbo on the LCR is a variable vane turbo. The vanes move depending on the demand, but he said if driven very conservativerly all the time the vanes barely move. Then one day you have the urge and plant your right foot and the vanes move to 100% demand but not really moving much and being a bit tighter than normal will stick in this position. Then it will throw it into limp mode. This is supposedly not easy to diagnose or fix.
Anyway thats my reason for putting my right foot down hard a couple of times a week

 

[6th.replicant]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Erk ahlors! Didn't know that. Ta.