How strict did you adhere to the 1,200 mile break in period??
 

how strict did you adhere to the 1,200 mile break in period??



I just took delivery of my new Z, has 71 miles on it now, and I'm anxious to really drive it to see how she will perform. I'm curious as to how strict fellow owners, adhered to the 1,200 mile break in period??

Opinions???

By the time I read the manual, I'd already bounced it off redline a couple of times, and had taken it to 6K+ a few more times...

And I didn't change it a whole lot after that, just by that time I figured out that pushing forward on the stick, makes it change up a gear, and down makes it change down a gear...I just couldn't get it through my head for some reason for the first couple weeks, and that, having come from driving a manual for years. Then there's a couple times where I had it in manual mode and forgot, only to bounce it off the revlimiter after leaving a stoplight...

Overall, I could have been a LOT "worse" to it, according to the guidelines in the manual...but given my other vehicles, I was a bit harder on it from the getgo than my other vehicles, but, not terribly so.


IMO, drive it like you're going to drive it from day 1.

There are probably dozens different threads on the break in period.

http://www.the370z.com/nissan-370z-g...ak-period.html

Meticulously.
What really angers me though is many salesmens' encouragement to the customer during the demo drive to "Go ahead, see what she'll do!" What's he care! He's not paying big bucks to buy that car. I just hope the 71 miles on my car when I bought it were put on by considerate potential customers who said, as I did, "I'll drive it but not abuse it. Someone is going to be buying this car, you know."

I kept it below 5K for about 1100 miles. Then all heII broke loose!

As frost pointed out, there are tons of break in threads. This topic has been beaten to death. Some says you should leave the showroom floor redlining the car while some follow the owners manual. I am just went by the Nissan Engineers and followed the break in procedure.

Great question. I'm at 985 miles and I've only been over 4000rpm about three times (and only to 4500-5000), and that was over-exuberance getting the best of me.

What would be interesting would be to compare fuel/oil consumption and dyno numbers between those of us who listened to the advice of the car's designers and those of us who ignored the advice of the company that designed, built and tested the vehicle. It would have to be a large sample of folks, all dynos throwing different numbers and all.

LMAO, I see a similar scenario here in about 2 weeks if the weather gets warm enough, AK! Not many straight roads around these parts, and I'm wearing summer tires. :icon14: Bring on the January Thaw.

Drive it like you stole it...

ME TOO!! I baby them for about a day then i'm seeing what she's got. Engines are mostly broken in at the factory anyhow.

give this a read.

Break In Secrets--How To Break In New Motorcycle and Car Engines For More Power

Well If I test drive a car, Im going to see what it can do. As long as you dont over do it, drive it like you would after the break in period. There is no proof one way or the other that being gentle or being hard on the car is good or bad.

It really doesn’t matter how you drive it, it’s just a car. When it’s sold or traded in, which you will in time, the used car market will dictate the selling price based on the public demand.

Well I agree and disagree, but you are right on the used car market when is time to trade or sell.

I want to keep my Z for a long time so I'm trying to follow the break in period, however you never know.

Is good to read and get knowlegde from other people, it will help in the future. ;)

I agree. Drive it like you know it’s going to be sold/traded in for a better car in several years! It’s just a thirty something thousand dollar sports car!

If something fails, you would want failure during the warranty period or you could drive it like a 16 year old girl going for a driving license if that is what makes you feel more comfortably!

I agreee but we were talking about the breaking period NOT the warranty period.

Believe me that I will drive it like I stoled it after the break in period. ;)

What break in period? Is there anything in the manual that says how to drive it for so many miles for a break in? If not then.....:wtf2: drive it like normal.

says nothing about breaking warrenty. Says recommended, kinda like the ester oil thing which doesnt break warrenty if you do or dont use. And they use the word "may", hmmm.

I agree

I disagree. The whole "drive it like you stole it" line is so overused and reeks of teenage hormonal imbalance and misplaced macho nonsense.

But hey, it's your vehicle, so enjoy. Me, I have a sneaky feeling that the guys who designed, built, and tested their creation know "just a little bit" more than we do. So I keep it under 4k for a couple of weeks, big deal. And their line about decreased engine performance should be a smack upside the head to the drive it like you stole it crowd.

Now that really depends on what kind of thief you are. I would think a professional car thief would not want to seek attention, but I could be wrong. If someone stated they should drive it like a rental car, that’s another story!

Good point.

Congrats on the new ride.

I can tell you this. While you research this topic, you'll find people saying that you have to strictly adhere to the break-in guidelines while there will be other extremes that say the engine is already broken-in and you can drive like you stole it immediately. Some even say your engine will develop more power in the long run if you drive it harder initially.

I myself was somewhere in-between these extremes. I couldn't resist some spirited driving but I didn't really go over 6k RPM until a 1000mi on the odometer.

****The only evidence I have that more conservative driving MAY be beneficial is engine oil temps. I was breaking in my car around the same time the oil overheating issues were consuming everyone's attention. I can honestly say my car started running cooler oil temperatures after about 1500mi. Whether this is related to decreased engine friction after 'break-in' is hard to say, but it suggests that the engine settled down after those initial 1500mi. I know AK and a few other guys noticed the same thing with their temps and mileage.

Oh, it's 1200 miles?

clutches do have to break in, esp aftermarket clutches.. i babied mine for 500 miles, but after that drove it hard. But didnt kill it until 1500 , well i dont kill it still but you know what i mean.

Don't listen to all the kids on this forum who's Daddy or mummy bought them a nice car. Let the engine, transmission etc gently get to know each other and the most important thing change the oil at 1000km, then again at 5000km. By this stage the parts should have married well together.
These kids who drive them like they stole them (what an attitude) are probably going to be traded in , in two years anyway so what do they care. Too many people nowadays think of themselves and to all the retards that post back against me...stuffya.

Thirty to forty thousand dollars represents a lot of hours of hard work to an old fashioned OldGuy like me. So I'm being careful with my new Z and I'll never "drive it like I stole it," even after break-in is over.
Please don't confuse my maturity with old age...I think its just good sense, unless you have money to burn. Not many folks I know do these days.

I take good care of my car, but I'm certainly not concerned about my car being pristine 10 years from now. The next guy can either choose to buy it or pass.

I doubt anyone can find legitimate evidence that following a break-in period versus driving aggressively from day 1 makes any difference. The web is full of heresay on this issue but lacks good research-based conclusions.

Yup that is pretty rare these days, especially teh "Common" variety...

:iagree:

Treat your car the way you'd like to be treated and it will return the favor for years to come.....(this works for women too....:-)

I totally agree with “this works for women too”

I was reading the brochure on the GTR, and it says that they do a engine break-in running the motor for 1 hour to include a continuous 10 minute run at redline before the customer gets the car. This contradicts what their manual says to do with the 370Z. I know they are different cars, but shouldnt all break-ins be done the same?
Ive heard of folks saying that the reason they dont want you to run the car too hard during the 1st 1000 miles or so, is because if anything were to go wrong with the car, it would be in those 1st 1000 miles. And if your running hard and fast, you could get into an accident if any part failed, this would mean a law suit against Nissan.
I do know that your supposed to vary your speed frequently in order to put a load on the cylinder walls so that it breaks-in properly. Holding at one speed for too long creates hot spots in one area and the cylinder wall dont get broken-in properly causing oil consumption and bad compression. I believe the owners manual states not to keep the car at a constant speed during break-in.

This is from the GT-R Owner's Manual. Once again, those who designed, built and tested the engine recommend a strict and conservative break-in period, though this one differs from the 370Z after 600 miles. Disagreeing with the engine designer is a rather fruitless exercise, imo.

BREAK-IN SCHEDULE

NOTICE
Follow these recommendations to obtain maximum engine performance and ensure the future reliability and economy of your new vehicle. Failure to follow these recommendations may result in shortened engine life and reduced engine performance.

Please observe the following types of driving until the mileage shown below has been reached.

Until 300 miles (500 km):
. Do not depress the accelerator pedal more
than halfway and avoid rapid acceleration.
. Drive with the engine speed kept at less
than 3,500 RPM.

300 to 600 miles (500 to 1,000 km)
. Avoid rapid acceleration in a low gear (1st to
3rd gears) with the accelerator pedal fully
depressed. Depress the pedal slowly.

600 to 1,200 miles (1,000 to 2,000 km)
. Drive with the engine speed kept relatively
high. Shifting is recommended between 1st
and 4th gears.

Urban myth...Where does this stuff come from?

Ah yes...The intraweb..:shakes head:

You're going to get different opinions on both sides of the fence. I wouldn't call anyone immature or an idiot for being on either side of that fence either. Some legitimately think that driving your car hard is the best way to break it in, others think that babying it is the best.

Your best bet would be to drive it somewhere in between. Drive responsibly like normal but if you do get into the gas don't panic and freak out about how your engine is going to fail.

LOL! As opposed to NOT shifting between 1st and 4th gears?

Engrish! :icon17:

The salesman I worked with told me Nissan runs the car around their track before it gets shipped off, then the dealerships are suppose to do a run to check the car before they put it up for sale. I doubt they adhear to the break in procedures.

Does that make sense??

I keep on getting passed on the freeway by toyota priuses, that's how strictly i adhere to the 1,200 mile break in period :icon14:

... people... drive your cars like you will drive them everyday... if you are buying a DD... then yes adhere to the manual... if you plan on tracking / racing / weekend cruising your car... then do some research and do what you think is right. Its enough to say that there are just as many people like me who believe the break in should be done with the RPMs all over the place in all gears and there's people who think staying off the gas is the best way to jostle all those iron filings out of their engine. This issue will be beaten to death a million times before you find one way is more correct than the other. there is a reason race cars are broken in on a dyno... I tried my best to copy what they do on the dyno on my local roads.... some people get peace of mind from following that little book...

wait are we talking about christianity or the Z? Lol anyhow - my belief is that both those books need to be taken w/ several grains of salt lol...

Dont you dare steal my line...I'm going to trademark it.