How important is break in ?

NRGz · 04-27-2017, 10:38 PM

Use it an excuse to take a road trip.
Just make sure youve hit the break in period before your way back home. Get an oil change, then smash it with all the built up excitement all the way home!

No, but really, in my opinion I would follow the protocol due to it being new. and I wouldnt want to put all that money down if something funky goes wrong and warranty doesnt cover.

Im that guy that gets a used car/bike w/ little prev owners that has babied it (from the looks, carfax etx) and smash it down the road as i drive away with a smile.

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Breadz · 04-27-2017, 11:01 PM

I personally believe in hard brake in's for my motorcycles
Just drive it hard(or how you normally would) without keeping it at the same rpm's for extended amounts of time (NO HIGHWAY)

Soft brake in's are also good. just not for me

Edit:Added

For example i'm pretty sure lamborghini or ferrari? Does a hard brake in for every car on a track.
They can't tell you to do that in a manual booklet or people would get injured and or die.

AestheticCM1 · 04-28-2017, 10:18 AM

I drove my winter beater like a rented mule from day one off the dealership's lot. Burnouts from every stop. It's been 7 years and 118,000 mi, and the thing doesn't lose a drop of oil, and has required zero expenditures outside of regular maintenance.

JARblue · 04-28-2017, 11:34 AM

Well, this seems like a good chance to pad my post count

The only thing you really need to do is avoid cruising at the same RPMs for continuous periods of time. This means no cruise control and constantly varying your speed and/or RPMs during highway cruising.

Ideally no WOT or redlining before ~500 miles or so. But it probably won't be catastrophic if you do. I routinely ran the RPMs up to 5500 RPMs in every gear I could during the break-in period. I ran them up gradually like on a dyno though - not full throttle like a drag strip. She still runs like a top 92K miles later

SouthArk370Z · 04-28-2017, 12:22 PM

Did some web searching and came up with zero hard data. Lots of opinions; no data.

Most people seem to agree that it's all about sealing the rings. Few agree on how to properly accomplish that.

Based on the stories I read, it doesn't make a whole lot of difference with a decent, modern engine. Found several stories of people that took their cars from the showroom to the drag strip with no apparent problems. I wouldn't recommend doing that but it doesn't seem to be a big no-no nowadays.

YMMV

At least with oil, one can find UOAs and such to back up claims.

Z1NONLY · 04-28-2017, 02:13 PM

Broke in my 350Z's VQ per the owner's manual.

I then raced the crap out of it for 100k miles with no issues. (no issues with the motor)

I was really big on maintenance, but that motor spent most of its life in the top half of the tach after break-in.

04-27-2017, 11:01 PM	#32 (permalink)
Breadz Base Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Clovis Cali Posts: 240 Drives: 12 370z sport 6mt GM Rep Power: 10	I personally believe in hard brake in's for my motorcycles Just drive it hard(or how you normally would) without keeping it at the same rpm's for extended amounts of time (NO HIGHWAY) Soft brake in's are also good. just not for me Edit:Added For example i'm pretty sure lamborghini or ferrari? Does a hard brake in for every car on a track. They can't tell you to do that in a manual booklet or people would get injured and or die. __________________ Fast Intentions Non res CF, CF Duckbill, Stillen G3, Fujimura Diffuser, Swift Springs, 180 Headlights, Forgestar F14Bronze Last edited by Breadz; 04-27-2017 at 11:10 PM.

04-28-2017, 11:34 AM	#34 (permalink)
JARblue A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Austin, TX Age: 43 Posts: 36,449 Drives: 11 Z34, 98 E36 M3 Rep Power: 2684440	Well, this seems like a good chance to pad my post count The only thing you really need to do is avoid cruising at the same RPMs for continuous periods of time. This means no cruise control and constantly varying your speed and/or RPMs during highway cruising. Ideally no WOT or redlining before ~500 miles or so. But it probably won't be catastrophic if you do. I routinely ran the RPMs up to 5500 RPMs in every gear I could during the break-in period. I ran them up gradually like on a dyno though - not full throttle like a drag strip. She still runs like a top 92K miles later __________________ 2011 370Z 6MT Sport Gun Metallic \| ARC \| CJM \| Ecutek \| FI \| Fujimura \| R2C \| SPL \| Stillen \| TWM \| Z1 \| ZSpeed \|

04-28-2017, 12:22 PM	#35 (permalink)
SouthArk370Z Premium Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: South Arkansas Posts: 8,435 Drives: 2014 Challenger Rep Power: 324197	Did some web searching and came up with zero hard data. Lots of opinions; no data. Most people seem to agree that it's all about sealing the rings. Few agree on how to properly accomplish that. Based on the stories I read, it doesn't make a whole lot of difference with a decent, modern engine. Found several stories of people that took their cars from the showroom to the drag strip with no apparent problems. I wouldn't recommend doing that but it doesn't seem to be a big no-no nowadays. YMMV At least with oil, one can find UOAs and such to back up claims. Raeshlavik likes this. __________________ Steering Lock Links - Search The370Z Bookmarklet - FSM @ NICOclub Mankind has progressed past the need for war but we haven't evolved that far. - NachoMahma

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04-27-2017, 10:38 PM	#31 (permalink)
NRGz Enthusiast Member Join Date: Jun 2016 Location: NorCal Posts: 259 Drives: 09 Z. 06 Zx636 Rep Power: 28	Use it an excuse to take a road trip. Just make sure youve hit the break in period before your way back home. Get an oil change, then smash it with all the built up excitement all the way home! No, but really, in my opinion I would follow the protocol due to it being new. and I wouldnt want to put all that money down if something funky goes wrong and warranty doesnt cover. Im that guy that gets a used car/bike w/ little prev owners that has babied it (from the looks, carfax etx) and smash it down the road as i drive away with a smile. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

04-28-2017, 10:18 AM	#33 (permalink)
AestheticCM1 Base Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: Gold Coast Posts: 219 Drives: 2010 370z MT/ST/Navi Rep Power: 2867	I drove my winter beater like a rented mule from day one off the dealership's lot. Burnouts from every stop. It's been 7 years and 118,000 mi, and the thing doesn't lose a drop of oil, and has required zero expenditures outside of regular maintenance.

04-28-2017, 02:13 PM	#36 (permalink)
Z1NONLY Enthusiast Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: SW Florida Posts: 355 Drives: 16 FR-S Rep Power: 39	Broke in my 350Z's VQ per the owner's manual. I then raced the crap out of it for 100k miles with no issues. (no issues with the motor) I was really big on maintenance, but that motor spent most of its life in the top half of the tach after break-in.