Italian Tune Up !!!

[Danny B 0]

Evening all,

 

I have been reading on another forum about the 'Italian Tune Up'......now I consider myself 'reasonably' knowledgeable when it comes to all things cars but I have never heard of this before.:scratch:

 

After doing a bit of googling I feel a little more enlightened.

 

Anyone else heard of it before, and probably more interestingly anyone do it to there own cars ? ......I would be a bit apprenhensive to say the least :eek: but I would be interested to hear other peoples opinions on it.

 

Also anyone know where the name comes from ?

[Timbo 0]

Ferrari owners who use their vehicles to go to the shops.

[odub 0]

interesting. wikipedia quotes:

History

 

The origin of the Italian tuneup comes from Ferrari. Owners would drive their cars infrequently and never run them hard, which causes the engine to build up enough carbon inside to affect performance. Mechanics would perform a "tuneup" by driving several laps around a race track to get the engine hot enough to burn out the built up carbon. Cars before the advent of modern engine lubricants and fuels, often had a 'de-coke' by hand, after removing the cylinder head, as a scheduled service operation.

[leeeeshad 0]

It's only putting your foot down, not bouncing of the limiter. My grandparents have an 02 civic 1.4 VTEC which was spluttery so they took it to the garage who gave it an Italian tune up for a mile or 2 and it sorted it, they've had it since new and I don't think it's ever been above 3000rpm :lol:

[aide 0]

:lol: i'd never heard of that, sounds like a normal drive for me.

 

wiki has views on the origin of the term.

[Critical_Mass 10]

had to google this to know what it even was :lol: Can this really benefit the car?

[davidwort 0]

Can't believe you've never heard of this, any car of our corrados era will benefit from a long hard run, in fact a large number of the cars that fail their emissions test on the mot at my dads place pass second time after a second gear run up the by-pass :lol: you can revive some cats to a certain extent by getting them really hot.As fuel metering, engine efficiency and emissions controls have improved it's less of an issue on more modern cars, but, of course systems that learn the drivers style will affect performance so you can make some cars feel more responsive by driving them harder.

[Critical_Mass 10]

No never heard the term. My car gets a good run regularly anyway so ive been doing it all along. :D

[Jim 2]

Yep... have certainly heard of the term before and heard about it being used to directly relate to a proper sports / supercar.

 

Went to look at a Porsche at a specialist a few years back with a friend. The guy was saying how one of his customers had bought a brand new 911 Turbo and proceeded to use it, literally, to pootle to the shops and back. It started to develop some running "issues". He sent his mechanic out for a look - no faults showing up, no sign of any obvious problems - so basically instructed the owner to take it out for a proper thrash.. half an hour later, problem cured! Car running perfectly again.

[tony_ack 0]

I've done this a couple of times..

 

Did this to my old MK2 GTI 8v. I got on the motorway, and the engine was already up to temp. I put it in 2nd and drove it just off the limiter. After a couple of minutes loads of smoke and black debris shot out of the back of the car - I thought I'd destroyed the engine and the car following me decided to drop right back as he thought the Golf was about to die! I drove it a little more cautiously after that and the smoke cleared after a couple of miles. It never smoked again after that, the engine revved freer and ran smoother.

 

I gave it an oil change soon after, and the new oil stayed yellow for about 8000 miles (it was run on Mobil 1 though to be fair)

 

On the missus MK2 16v, she also had running issues - the engine felt heavy and lethargic and knocked even under light loads. I needed to change the oil cooler and seal for her as well, which meant dropping the oil and water. After I'd done, I took the Golf for a good thrash to test the cooling system was working properly. The first couple of times I took it to the limiter, it was still pinking like mad, but after that the engine completely freed up. Running problems cured!

[Danny B 0]

Can't believe you've never heard of this, any car of our corrados era will benefit from a long hard run, in fact a large number of the cars that fail their emissions test on the mot at my dads place pass second time after a second gear run up the by-pass :lol: ............

 

I know I cannot believe I have never heard of this term either, but reading these posts made me remember that I did it to my old 306 TD to get it past its MOT once !! .......didnt realise it had a name though :roll:

 

I do sometimes drive the c like a pensioner and it does sometimes feel quite lethargic so might give it a 'wop tune up' soon.

[WigsVR6 0]

I never thrashed my VR and when I took it for a service my mechanic told me that the VR engine needs to be thrashed once in a while so "drive it like its been stolen" were his words of advice.

[dragon green 5]

I always thought an Italian tune meant going as fast as you can in reverse, like there tanks in WWII !

[Danny B 0]

I always thought an Italian tune meant going as fast as you can in reverse, like there tanks in WWII !

 

That made me chuckle :lol:

[Kevin Bacon 5]

As David says, this dates back to the good old days of carburettors getting stuck in certain positions due to fuel gumming and excessively rich fuel mixtures caking valves and piston crowns in thick carbon crusts, which can absorb some of the fuel out of the mixture. A hearty thrape could indeed get things moving again like a good dose of figs shifts a stubborn log.

 

As for modern cars 'fixing' themselves after a thrash; I've never heard of such rot :lol: At best it may burn off a little carbon but with modern fuels and oils, it'll be minimal. It's just pistons and valves moving. Slow and infrequent driving use does not change how they move :D

The only area that can show improvement is 'learning' automatic gearbox ECUs. Autos driven to the shops tend to run a conservative program that changes gear very early.

[Wullie 1]

Back in the dim and distant this used to be a common "cure" and did seem to work, especially on two stroke motor cycles. Another was to use Redex upper cylinder lubricant. Warm the engine and remove the spark plugs, Put about an eggcup full down the plug hole and replace the plugs and leave it for a couple of hours or overnight then remove the plugs again and turn the engine over to blow out any excess. Start it up and the smoke and crap that came out the exhaust was amazing, like a smokescreen. I had a Redex dispenser fitted to an old split screen Morris Minor which had a B series engine with twin 1 1/4" SU's in it. This was a drip fed into the manifold controlled by a vernier on the dash which allowed you to have a continuous adjustable supply. When the "New" M8 opened it was a routine every couple of months to thrash the car down it with the Redex turned up. Fair kept the engine clean.

[Danny B 0]

 

As for modern cars 'fixing' themselves after a thrash; I've never heard of such rot :lol: At best it may burn off a little carbon but with modern fuels and oils, it'll be minimal........

 

Mr.Bloody Haywire you party pooper ......I was really looking forward to ragging it and pretending it was good for the car :D

 

I think I might do it anyway !!

[Critical_Mass 10]

:lol: ^^

[lukeyy 10]

italian tune up!! this is religion to get all my cars through emissions on mot!! haha. works a treat! ;)

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Mr.Bloody Haywire you party pooper ......I was really looking forward to ragging it and pretending it was good for the car :D

 

I think I might do it anyway !!

 

Ha ha :lol:

 

Yeah go for it! Take your car out tonight and give it six of the best, trousers down :D

 

I forgot to mention that infrequent / slow drives can also clog up the spark plugs and a jolly old beating will clear them right up!

[Critical_Mass 10]

Kev, he doesnt need anymore convincing he'll be out ragging it down the road later. :lol:

[floppyman 0]

Newer cars can benefit from this aswell, specialy diesel ones with particulate filter.

[Danny B 0]

Kev, he doesnt need anymore convincing he'll be out ragging it down the road later. :lol:

 

done ......and it was great fun :dance:

[Critical_Mass 10]

Good man! Glad you enjoyed it! :D