NABS4

I used Audi's recommended "soft" break-in with my 2010 S4. This resulted in oil consumption of about 1L/10-12,000 km. Not bad, but a little more than I'd like to see.

With the 2013 Q5 3.0T, I used the modified Motoman, and haven't experienced any noticeable consumption in 5k km (MMI shows oil level at the top). No one who had professed to using this break-in technique has had any (or very little) consumption. I don't think it's necessary to go WOT when you bring the car to redline.

BobbyJim

Well, apart from higher oil-consumption being beneficial to dealerships (up to a certain extent, obviously), can you imagine a car manual actually telling you to step into a brand-new 333HP car and floor it to red line? They'd need at least two volumes of safety warnings and disclaimers before the lawyers would let it out of the door...

RickFLS4

I have never done a hard break in and haven't added oil to any car I have owned in more than 15 years. (4 Audi's and 4 Lexus counting my wife's cars). I drive 80% highway miles and would never be able to do a hard break in unless I had another car to use during the break in. I have no way of knowing how the break in affects oil consumption, but am quite certain there are other factors that lead to oil consumption other than break in style. If you drive in a city for short distances, use crappy oil or filters, or abuse your car on a regular basis, I expect you will use more oil than me regardless of how we broke in our cars.

Unless you are comfortable with your own research that tells you otherwise, my suggestion is to stick with the manual. I honestly don't think it will harm the car. If your own research leads you to believe a hard break in is better, then go for it. I just wouldn't make a decision to do the opposite of what the manual tells you to do based on Forum posts.

carstocks

I was thinking the same thing. You can't tell the general public to take it near redline, use engine braking,
etc. A lot of owners of this engine (some A6 owners for example) use the car for simply going from point A to point B. They are not car enthusiasts.

Disclaimer: I only used the "A6" owner as an example. A few of my friend's wives drive to A6 3.0 and they have no idea what is under the hood. I know that there are plenty of A6 owners that know what they have .

DrGP

I think it is humorous that you think that Audi or any other manufacturer cares if you consume oil . They all set their standards for excessive oil consumption so high(1 qt/1200 miles for Audi) that they will almost NEVER have too address an excess oil consumption warranty issue. What they do care about is that some new driver, inexperienced with the car or a manual trans, takes a COLD engine and bounces it off the rev limiter and the engine goes boom! That cost BIG money. And its ALWAYS about the money. You get only one opportunity to break in your engine and then you live with the consequences. There have been NIO reported oil consumption issues with these cars and others as well form those who used a more aggressive break in technique, That cannot be said of those who have followed the Audi ESY technique. So pick your technique wisely and then live with the results

StasisS4

I originally had the same thoughts. I figured why would Audi recommend something that doesn't work, but after reading countless threads on the topic I went against what I normally would and broke my car in hard. So far I haven't had any issues.

04_ultrasport

Its actually a good idea to run your car up to redline every couple drives and bring it down with engine braking especially if you have an FSI engine. It helps to keep your valves cleaner. FSI was designed and primarily used for racing and that's how Audi built there FSI motors for street cars to be run hard.

DrGP

No one else has had issues either. That cannot be said about those that did the easy technique. But really, there haven't been a lot of owners with B8 s4 with oil consumption problems, All cars consume oil. IMHO, I qt/5kmiles is acceptable. 1 qt/1200 miles is ludicrous

johnz

I have done Euro delivery twice and both times the factory delivery person recommended staying below 4000 RPM for the first 600 miles. 4000 RPM in a V8 S5 6 speed equaled about 100 MPH on the autobahn so no big deal. After that, go for it. I have had NO oil consumption problems on any of my Audi's breaking it in this way- and where do you get your information that Audi runs these engines to redline at the factory? During engine development and testing, yes, but not in the cars running down the line.

DrGP

Car is definitely not broken in at the factory. I do not know whether they run the engine to the redline at the factory, but it would surprise me if they didn't. As far as European delivery is concerned, I can understand why they might not want you to run a new car a high speeds on the autobahn for any length of time. I would expect that the cost of replacing an RS5 engine would not be cheap. Again, its all about the money. But actually, the engine braking after reaching redline is the most important factor in getting the piston rings to seat completely. That can occur below the redline BUT works most effectively at or near the redline since there will be more pressure asserted by the piston rings against the cylinder walls.