Running in and BHP

[Griff]

Can people who have had their std 172s rrd post their recorded bhp at the wheels and state whether they bothered running the car in.

I have heard too many stories about people with low bhp figures after carefully running the car in compared to those who didnt bother at all and now have healthier bhp figures.

 

[Ben H]

Beware that each RR will give different readings on different days. Its best to RR your car against a number of other 172s at the same place on the same day.

 

[paddymph]

152 BHP @ Wheels

that was caned from day 1, never ran in at all, not really had any major problems with it, just got looser and looser till about 7/8000 miles. Awesome.

 

[Griff]

Cheers Ben. I know every rr station will be different but Im trying to establish if there is a distinct difference between cars that have been run in correctly and those that havent.

 

[rt172]

Griff - dont know if you saw me mention it in another post, but I got 136 bhp @tw on the same day/rollers as Paddy when he got 152. He thrashed his from new, I ran it in by the book. Speaks for itself I think!

 

[Griff]

Hi Rhys it was that thread that got me thinking. I ran in my 172 to the book and now i have my cup I debating what to do.

 

[Nick Read]

Id say thrash it. At the end of the day, youve got a modern, nannying ECU that will call time if you start to really get lairy with it, eg. the variable rev limit when the engines cold etc. So just ave it everywhere I reckon.

 

[Rich-D]

Quote: Originally posted by Rhys on 24 March 2003

Griff - dont know if you saw me mention it in another post, but I got 136 bhp @tw on the same day/rollers as Paddy when he got 152. He thrashed his from new, I ran it in by the book. Speaks for itself I think!

That aint exactly conclusive evidence...

My mate also caned his 172 from day 1 and that is not as quick as it "should" be!



All engines are different and give different power outputs, its just the way it is. Not just 172s either, although there seems to be a lot of difference.

 

[rt172]

Yeah, not conclusive, but food for thought. Its a modern car, it has 3 year warrenty....will you have it after 3 years? Probably not.....thrash the little fecker and if it breaks get Renault to give you a new one.

Rhys

 

[Just Bob]

If you dont plan tp keep the car after the warranty has expired (1-3yrs) then thrash it at every given oportunity, but only once the engine and oil is up to temperature.

I read in Motorcycle news a few years ago that thay bought 2 identicle bikes. Both dynod from new and both more or less the same BHP, one was run in by the book, the other was thrashed from day one. There was about 10BHP difference between the 2 bikes after 6000 miles. Whilst i understand this relates to BIKES they still high performance engines so the same principal should apply to car engines, espcially the F4R!

Bob RTE

 

[paddymph]

bob, weve got that article at work!! (Carole Nash!). Bet yeah generally i agree, cane it, anything goes wrong, warranty it, engines are mostly bulletproof nowadays

 

[Frosty]

After so much discussion people still think that a rolling road is a reliable method to compare power.

You could run your car, make 150bhp at the wheels, deflate the tyres by 5 PSI, run again, then loose about 20bhp. Thats just 1 variable!

There are to many variables to conclude this test using rolling roads.

 

[paddymph]

what u sayin?? pump loadsa air in for a higher reading?

 

[BenR]

higher or more accurate

 

[paddymph]

high it is then!

 

[Frosty]

Im a big fan of the new Dynapack. Its like a combination between a rolling road and an engine dyno. The Dynapack bolts onto the wheel hubs of the car, thus eliminating the tyre pressure problem, and also things like wheel-spin.

 

[BenR]

yes, many people are a fan...onyl problem is it costs a small fortuena nd not many peoplem have one. Opel were one of the first teams to use it on the track to test and adj..........

 

[Griff]

Decided half way to ST Hornes last night not to bother running it in anymore (300 miles so far) and already it feels so much better than my 172 ever did!

 

[ST HORNE]

went out in griffs cup last night and was very impressed with its power delivery and throttle response.roll on when it has loosened up.produces a nice throaty induction noise.what a car for the money!!!!!!!will try and talk the G/F into selling her 172 to get a cup.