If I Am Not Mistaken
Drivbiwire Specifically States To Take The Engine Up To A Maximum Of 3800 RPM For The First 1000 Miles. I was on wide-open highway when I broke mine in the first thousand miles, so I kept the car
primarily in 4th Gear and accelerated and decelerated back and forth from 2000 to 3800 RPM
Ad Infinitum to maximize applied load and ring seating. In between the above process and when traffic presented itself I did shift into 5th Gear.
In your situation since you state you are somewhat more speed adverse I would suggest hard acceleration starting at no less than 2000 RPM (about 50 mph) in 4th Gear up to where you are comfortable - firmly accelerating up
as close to 3800 RPM as possible but not over before decelerating:
"Frequent firm application of power is strongly recommended up to 3,800 rpm." You do want to accelerate up to 3800 RPM to fully seat the rings (against blow by gasses), so my suggestion in your situation might be some serious and concerted on-ramp (then off and back on) highway acceleration to speed up the your break-in process in order to apply load and get the engine up to but not over 3800 RPM's for proper ring seating during your first 1000 miles.
I now have 4300 miles on my car, drive like I'm on the Autobahn somewhat frequently
(
"Frequent Firm Applications of Power" per DW), and am getting better than forty two miles to the gallon while goosing it regularly with
"full throttle accelerations" as often as is possible and safe in both city and highway combined driving.
I have been told by experienced Veterans here that what I did in my initial break-in (first thousand miles) should dramatically speed up the desired break-in process, and I am getting ready to begin driving to acheive more maximized fuel mileage at five thousand miles on the odometer soon - keeping in the back of my mind that I still have about another five thousand miles (10,000 miles total) to basically break the engine in:
"Continue to use occasional full throttle accelerations to continue to seat the rings; " while fully knowing that much of the break-in process has hopefully already been acheived.
Go-Pac said:
Purchased my 06 Shadow Blue Jetta TDI, PKG#1 (Heated seats, very nice) on 2-28-06. I just started reading this thread today after seriously babying the car for the first 375 miles, cruise control and all. NO LONGER! I printed DBW's instructions and have them in my car.
One problem I have though, is that in 4th gear, 3K rpms = 70mph. Being a conscientious driver seldom going more than 5mph above posted speed limit (yeah, you want to make something of it
) how do I get to 3.8K rpms without acting like an Exocet Missile down I-5? Cruising at 2K rpms is easy but most of my commute, 35 miles one way, is highway. Should I just keep it in 4th for the first 5K miles on the car and drive at the 2.7K rpms at 65 mph?
A very informative forum. I will be making frequent visits.
Anyways, as I stated earlier READ and RE-READ
Drivbiwire's "Rules that apply for the life of the car" and follow them to the best of your ability, and you should be in pretty good shape. I am VERY, VERY glad I did !!! Happy Traveling...
Listen to it whine...