I have four friends that are mechanics for Ford, Subaru, and Honda. They all agree that break-in is just a bunch of meaningless words in the manual. They recommend driving it that way you normally would.

Made it to 1140 or so and couldn't take it anymore.

That sweet cacophony of mechanical maelstrom was worth every second I waited.

\ exactly!

yeah but there's a conflict of interest in their opinion: they are mechanics who make money by fixing cars -- so maybe they tell people to disregard the break in recommendation for their own interest and not for the car owners' interest :)

Yeah thats it, LOL If they saw you coming they'd tell you that the break-in is the most tender moment in a cars life......then laugh when you walked away. I've know most of these guys for at least the last 10 years and one for the better part of the last 25, I can personally atest that the engines they have built for their personal cars haven't received any special 1200 mile "break-in" period. People should drive more and worry less.

And they are just that, mechanics, not engineers - there is a (big) difference. I'm sure the courses auto manufactuerers offer to their mechanics don't have the instructors telling them to tell their customers to ignore the owner's manual and just drive it the way you want to from the get go. Now really think hard about this, if it were true, then the owner's manual would state that a break-in period is not required, yes?

How do you know that a engineer wrote that and not a lawyer. Nissan might want you to get used to the car so you don't wreck it the first week you have it.

Now think really hard again..............

This is getting way the hell out of hand... there are a 1000 threads which say its ok to drive it like you want and another 1000 threads which say you have to follow it to the letter... and another 1000 that say you do a little of both. Well fact of the matter is- there are obviously enough people who do all variations of break ins and if their cars were breaking - we would know about it. Its safe to assume that these engines are run to get rid of the metal particles / seal the piston rings in the factory. Honestly - my cars drive just fine and I redlined it out of the dealer.

Here is what I did for my break in:

1. Got the car from dealer w/ 5-8 miles on it(dont remember which)
2. Did one redline right out the dealer lot (2nd gear pull to 60)
3. Drove it between 2k and 5k for the most part with the RPMs never sitting idle for more than a second - that means you are always gassing or engine braking
4. Never drove the car for more than 20 mins at a time... if i had to i pull over for 30 mins to let her cool off...
5. Took it to 6k two three times a drive (20 min session) and redlined it once...
6. Once I passed 300 miles - I stopped doing all this and drove it like i wanted to...

Also - whats almost more important when breaking in your car - is to be diligent about the oil changes... I changed my oil at the following intervals:

1. Came home from dealer had 40 miles on it - oil change # 1
2. hit 500 miles - done with my first set of oil - oil change # 2 (the oil here had soooo much metal crap in it - it was not even funny)
3. 2500 miles - change # 3 - almost no metal in oil - oil looked much blacker than when i added it lol
4. 5000 miles - change # 4 - oil looking a lot more normal
5. 7000 miles - change # 5 - normal
6. 9000 miles - change # 6 - normal
7. 10500 miles - about to do #7...

yes i use ester oil ... yes its expensive... yes i know i dont have to change my oil that often... but with that said- i flog my car almost always - its driven real hard all the time so i figure i can pay her back by making sure the oil in the engine is as good as it can be... new oil never hurt anything... its just the old oil that kills engines...

Please people - enjoy your cars... dont be spending so much time thinking about why nissan might have put that break in procedure in the manual lol..

I was refuring to a persons driving habits, not the engine, i kinda thought that was clear in the first 4 posts. By now.

But mechanics are the guys who always finished at the botom of the class.

Next time listen to the engineers who designed it. :tup:

Oh a big +1 rep :tiphat:

Dyno your car so I can compare it with my 1200-mile babied Z. And check with me in a couple of years so we can compare repair costs. :stirthepot:

You just said it all right there. :tup:

You quote about lawyers writing the owners manual said that? :icon14: