EA 888 gen 3 possibly the most reliable engine?

[Ghawk]

I had and have a Mk5, Mk6, Mk7 GTI’s and Mk7 GLI all stage one tuned. NO MECHANICAL ISSUES AT ALL in any of these. All 5,000 mile oil changes. No short trips at all. If I need to go 2 miles, I drive 10-15. No full throttle until 180 oil temp but plenty after that. Lied about the No issue thing. Needed a new clutch in the Mk7 GTI (tuned) at 3,000 miles. The replacement SRE clutch is doing great at 50,000+. Always garaged. Did use lots of tires.

 

[tigeo]

detergents don't do anything for your pistons when they're working with shitty winter gas that's been sitting in the tank for weeks. bobistheoilguy is a hell of a drug

I'm with your brother.

 

[tigeo]

the ecu "handles all of this" by pulling timing. log a car running even mediocre 91 and you'll see constant timing retard. yes, it will keep the motor alive by doing this, but you'll foul out spark plugs quicker, kill your cat quicker, etc. over 100k i'm sure that's going to be noticeable. these things will pull some timing even on decent 93. all of that is just plain old driving reliability, not to mention the reduction in chance of detonation. yes, a stock car is pretty unlikely to blow a piston, but running better fuel will reduce that chance further.

I have logged my car many times as well as other vehicles and have never seen "constant timing retard" running 87. How then are all these vehicles running around just fine with 100K+ miles on turbo motors that ran nothing by 87? where are all the fouled plugs and killed cats? There aren't any b/c it doesn't matter when the car has been tuned for it. One of the guys around here has a wagon like mine and tracked the shit out of it with APR's 87 tune without issue. The OEM isn't telling you to do this if it would be highly inefficient - they have every incentive in the world to make their cars run well and efficiently. You just don't maximize power, that's really all and that is ONLY if you are getting that timing pull etc. to allow headroom for running 91/93 and reduce it. Folks want so bad for 87 to be the boogie man but it just isn't the case. Some stations here it's up to $1/gal more to run 93, no way I'm running it if I don't have to. My son's Lexus calls for 91, it's had 87/89 it's 15 year life now at 145K just cruising along.

 

[hans611]

91oct "RON" = 87oct "AKI", unless the Lexus was turbocharged... I doubt it requires our "91" ? its probably asking for RON 91..... which is what you are filling it up with....

 

[tigeo]

91oct "RON" = 87oct "AKI", unless the Lexus was turbocharged... I doubt it requires our "91" ? its probably asking for RON 91..... which is what you are filling it up with....

I'm aware of this difference. My 2008 Lexus calls for 91 AKI/(R+M)/2 "premium" fuel in the U.S. Except for a handful of times, this vehicle has been operated for ~15 years on primarly 87 or 89 now sitting at 145K and trouble-free. If I was towing or living in the mountains, sure, would run 93 (we don't even have 91 here in VA)..but to bee-bop around town? I'll save the $1/gallon.

 

[mrmatto]

SMH your son

 

[OLD MEN RULE]

Not a bit of trouble with by 2019 GTI only normal oil and oil filter changes plus a brake flush last year, always run Shell 93 octane from first fill up.
and at a whopping 8.5 K miles.

 

[kevinkar]

I have logged my car many times as well as other vehicles and have never seen "constant timing retard" running 87. How then are all these vehicles running around just fine with 100K+ miles on turbo motors that ran nothing by 87?

Because you understand that the world is not made up of absolutes and that .0001 does not mean success and .0002 means failure. So many forum members (not just here but all other cars) seem to think in concrete terms for everything (oil, gas, spark plugs, tire pressure, you name it) and that if you deviate just a tiny bit from the manufacturer's specifications your car will blow up. Clearly not true.

Someone above (or in another thread) mentioned "these are performance cars and need to be treated as such" but there's no rule that says a "performance" car needs to run at 10,000 RPM every time, every day forever. Some of us just use a car as a car. A fun car when you want it to be for sure but, generally, just a car. 87 octane, OEM plugs, regular steel rotors, non-ceramic pads, etc. Not gonna kill it.

I run 87 in general in my R because I'm cheap, I only go 6 miles a day, I don't floor it everywhere under load to produce lugging and pinging and I'm pretty sure my car will last a long time. If it doesn't then that's on VW for producing a modern car that can't cope with mundane driving.

 

[scrllock]

Because you understand that the world is not made up of absolutes and that .0001 does not mean success and .0002 means failure. So many forum members (not just here but all other cars) seem to think in concrete terms for everything (oil, gas, spark plugs, tire pressure, you name it) and that if you deviate just a tiny bit from the manufacturer's specifications your car will blow up. Clearly not true.

Someone above (or in another thread) mentioned "these are performance cars and need to be treated as such" but there's no rule that says a "performance" car needs to run at 10,000 RPM every time, every day forever. Some of us just use a car as a car. A fun car when you want it to be for sure but, generally, just a car. 87 octane, OEM plugs, regular steel rotors, non-ceramic pads, etc. Not gonna kill it.

I run 87 in general in my R because I'm cheap, I only go 6 miles a day, I don't floor it everywhere under load to produce lugging and pinging and I'm pretty sure my car will last a long time. If it doesn't then that's on VW for producing a modern car that can't cope with mundane driving.

some people don't know the difference between an absolute and increased probability over 100,000 miles

 

[amsr]

My 2017 engine has been pretty reliable. I had the thermostat replaced under warranty at about 30k miles. Other than that it’s been solid.

The suspension and steering has been pretty good also. So far only had to do a CV joint.

The body/sunroof/trim/switchgear are another story. I’ve never replaced/repaired so many non engine related parts in a relatively new car.

I had repeated issues with the adaptive xenon headlights, window regulators, sunroof plastic trim (cracked multiple times), washer fluid bottle (cracked), various interior switches either broken or peeling, interior LED failures, secondary air pump errors, trunk sealant issues (and leaks), etc

I just crossed 100k. I have followed the factory maintenance schedule. I am not modded and I don’t run a tune. Been running Costco 93 almost the entire time I’ve owned the car.

 

[Supermoto]

I always love threads like this cause then a few threads down you see stuff like "my engine spontaneously combusted today" like shit

 

[BudgetPhoenix]

Thankfully with most forums I've been on I haven't seen the regulars with too many catastrophic failures. I feel like its usually just some dude who just made an account to tell everyone his car is fucked lol.

 

[tigeo]

Thankfully with most forums I've been on I haven't seen the regulars with too many catastrophic failures. I feel like its usually just some dude who just made an account to tell everyone his car is fucked lol.

Literally every car forum or FB group.

 

[Ghawk]

Mk5, 6, 7 GTI’s and a Mk7 GLI all with NO failures at all, warranty or otherwise. All were tuned to APR Stage One. The two Mk7’s are in my garage now while I try to find a new Mk8.

 

[MSchott]

Mine has been nearly dead reliable. 7 years old and 133,000 miles. Other than the thermostat issue (replaced under warranty at about 50,000 miles) nothing but regular oil changes and scheduled maintenance. It does burn a quart every 4000 miles now but that’s no big deal.