Launch Control limits and 620Mile run in questoins

[shiloh]

Hi Everyone,

My first polo arrived a couple weeks ago. So far so good although not quite as fast as i had hoped (coming from a mk4 golf GTI mapped to 205 to 210BHP). Which leads me to my first question, is there a run in map on these cars? I have seen 620 miles banded about but has this been confirmed another forum suggested a power increase after this as the ECU switches maps. Is this true and have VW said anything about it?

Second question, is there a limit to the number of times you can use launch control on these cars? I know on previous VAG cars it was something like 3 between services. Is there a limit now? Cant see anything in the manual about it.

Cheers

[monkeyhanger]

Hi Everyone,

My first polo arrived a couple weeks ago. So far so good although not quite as fast as i had hoped (coming from a mk4 golf GTI mapped to 205 to 210BHP). Which leads me to my first question, is there a run in map on these cars? I have seen 620 miles banded about but has this been confirmed another forum suggested a power increase after this as the ECU switches maps. Is this true and have VW said anything about it?

Second question, is there a limit to the number of times you can use launch control on these cars? I know on previous VAG cars it was something like 3 between services. Is there a limit now? Cant see anything in the manual about it.

Cheers

I've had the 620mile opening up of the car for my last 3 VAG cars (Golf MK7 GTD, Golf MK7 R, Audi A1 1.6TDI), and it has been widely reported by other users on Golf GTI forum for post 2012 cars. I noticrd it on my Polo GTI+ too. Very noticeable but it's not going to double your output. Feels like maybe 15% increase.

BarryWi's dealer alluded to only 10 launches being allowed, someone on Audisport forum dug up in the car's system coding what is supposed to be a launch counter with a limit of 200 for the S3 (Same as Golf R under the skin).

VW will confirm none of this officially.

Haven't fully read the Polo's manual but in the Golf's it tells you how to do launch control and does not warn that in doing so you may invalidate your warranty, so unsure how they'd deny warranty if you did make use of it x amount of times.

[shiloh]

Thanks a lot for the info monkeyhager. Will get in touch with VW and see if they say there is a limit with launch control. Am yet to try it, only have another 70 miles before the 620 miles, cant wait to give it a good thrash afterwards and see what its really like. Very nice car to drive, maybe pop a new exhaust on it soon once some manufacturers start making them (havent seen any yet)

[RUM4MO]

Maybe if you want to be an exceedingly sporting driver, you need to check up to see if VCDS can reset the launch counter, my proper car has 6MT so I'm not tempted to try that out.

[Willni]

In the old 2002 days, the only cars that had launch control were Supercars and special edition BMW's etc which destroyed the clutch after 3 launches due to the power. In 2006-8 Golf's DSG golf's got the launch control after a hidden sequence again.

Baring that in mind and advances in engineering, these cars will happily launch. The amount...well that's up to an engineer or clutch expert but I wouldn't be going past 10 launches.

Also I wouldn't be launching it at all within the first 1,000 miles or doing fast B-road driving either! The engines is still breaking in until 2,000 miles, I'm not saying don't it full throttle as a Porsche Engineer said the best way to bed an engine in to make it perform better and last longer;

"When we do our engine test, the metals inside the engine never reach the temperatures they would when driven on the street since the test session is fairly short. In other words, the bearings, pistons and cylinders never get a chance to thermally expand to their maximum. Therefore, there is little wear on the moving components. But when you drive a car on the street, the engine parts expand considerably more because of the heat being generated from the engine running for an extended period of time. No matter how tight the tolerances are, there is always a slight amount of expansion in the material. The moving parts can wear quickly if exposed to excessive heat and not always in a uniform way. We also constantly vary the speed and allow the engine to run at both high and low RPM’s”.

“Porsche wants the engine to break-in slowly, which means it needs to maintain a lower operating temperature (below 4,000 RPM) and to allow all parts to adjust (wearin) within their own thermal expansion parameters. This is also the reason why Porsche wants the owner to vary the RPM throughout the break-in period; therefore the engine doesn’t get used to one operating temperature range”.

Regards
Billy