Is there a run in period for a 90 Puma ?

[simonfish]

Hi All, I have just picked up an FY14 Defender 90 and wondered if there was a run in period, or period before you can start towing with it.
I have tried searching and looked in the owners manual , but can't find any information.
cheers
Simon

[debruiser]

My dealer didn't mention one. Mine was pretty stiff for the first few thousand km.

[Summiitt]

My last three pumas I have towed from about 5000km, and driven them enthusiastically (hard)from the get go. I find they don't start to free up until about 30,000km. They rev more freely, fuel consumption drops and the gearbox has a better feel to it..I don't actually believe there is a running in period like there was on older cars, drive it with purpose, don't babysit it!

[Lagerfan]

Our first and found it pretty tight up to 12k, probably a combo of engine and driver! Since then it just gets better and better, coming up to 28k now and loving it more than ever.

[dullbird]

The only thing Dealer told us to do back in 07 was to not stay at a constant speed I think it was for first 1000k i.e dont just drive the car at 110 for hours on the motorway

he said make sure you vary the speed...which most people would do anyway.

[AndyG]

The fact that they are tight initially, would suggest they wear down a bit to "normal", which makes an initial 10,000 km oil change not a bad thing.

[debruiser]

The only thing Dealer told us to do back in 07 was to not stay at a constant speed I think it was for first 1000k i.e dont just drive the car at 110 for hours on the motorway

he said make sure you vary the speed...which most people would do anyway.

Isn't it odd that different dealers are saying different things... OR that maybe LR's ideas have changed from 2007 to 2013, because I bought my car and told the dealer that I was driving it home that afternoon (400kms) he didn't mention varying the speed. He just said that by the time I got home it'd be feeling a lot better to drive.

[tact]

I did a lot of research on running in small turbo diesels (generally) before taking delivery of our MY2013 110 dual cab last year.

The link here has a summary of what I decided was the best for my money:
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/members-rides/176542-new-110-dc-family-2.html#post2163092

The basic premis is that in the early stages there are two very bad things to avoid:
- sustained periods at same revs (long hwy drives)
- babying the engine, taking it easy

Some of the articles I read advocated driving it like you stole it from the get go. I modified that a little (enthusiastic throttle, not full throttle, in the very early stage).

[simonfish]

Thanks Guys, sounds like i am doing the right thing then (a bit of a mix of driving styles). I'm loving driving it too :)