The infamous "break-in" period.

>135I

Actually no, I wouldn't have believed him if he did.

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I will miss my Z. I hope she goes to a good home.

mrrrkva

I think Black boxes record more than we think. I took European deliver of my Bmw and when I got back the salesman knew I did 135mph before 1000 miles and also knew that i averaged 18 miles at 110 mph. He made light of situation, but always left a thought in my mind about warranty issues. Im taking it easy in my Z for the first 1500 miles

mrrrkva

Also isnt Nissan VOIDING warranties in the GTR if the owner takes off the VDC during launches? Must be something in the black box

wstar

It's always possible that they're recording some small long-term critical data values, like time spent with VDC off, or time spent over XXX mph, but I don't think it's likely. They're definitely not recording every little detail over any long period. And if they are doing anything of this sort, it's probably only available to Nissan specialists with special equipment to check up on expensive warranty claims.

More likely than not, all we've got is the standard black-box functionality (which, given legal authority to do so in your state, insurance and law enforcement and everyone else can read). The norm is a rolling record of the most recent 30 seconds of all the vitals (speed, RPM, gearing, accel pedal, steering wheel angle, various VDC/brake info, brake pedal pressure, etc) which gets frozen on a critical event (like airbag deployment) for later analysis.

But of course, my post is entirely speculation, I could be wrong.

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7AT Track Car!
Journal thread / Car setup details

BigD

Sorry guys but there is only one way to break-in your new car.
***Drive it from the beginning the way you intend to drive it later***
Meaning: If you want a quick car, wring its neck out (within reason) from day one.
Over the last 20 years, my brother-in-law and I have owned a total of 38 cars.
17 of those have been brand new and they include Mercs, Porsches, BMWs, Jags etc.
ALL of them had been broken-in the hard way and guess what?
NONE of them have developed any problems as a result of our breaking-in process.
The way we look at it is that if you break-in your car driving like an old woman, the car will drive later like an old woman and vice versa.
My new 370z has seen the redline every day it has been driven.
This includes a redline in the first 3 gears on the way out of the dealer's yard.
I have done 130mph and on the 29th Aug, I'm tracking it with our local Porsche Club.
Stop worrying and drive your cars the way they were intended to be driven. The "Z" was intended as a sports car, so drive it like a sports car.
I am not saying to put it in first gear and sit on a redline for 10 minutes. That would be a stupidity, but there is nothing wrong in putting your pedal to the metal and changing gears as the needle touches the redline.
If you still have doubts, read the car magazines, watch Top Gear and Fifth Gear etc etc.
Do you think the cars they test are fully broken-in in accordance with the user manual?
No chance.
They've been driven by the journos from day one and they've been hammered from day one!
Have you noticed that somehow the cars they test do better 0-60 and 1/4 mile then the times the owners get?
By now you should know the answer.

rudi

Not saying your wrong. However, I've seen somewhere can't remember where, that Top Gear break a lot of cars making their shows.

Dark_Sub_Rosa

If you saw how cars were tested directly off the assembly line you wouldn't worry about break in. Like stated before about the guy who works or worked at Lexus, when they come off the line they have to put them through a quick short test track that usually includes some harsh testing to ensure the car is ok. I'm not saying every single car is put through this but some get the **** beat out of them for that first mile or two on the test track.

Here is the one in the quick test tracks in Smyrna where the Altima is built.

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fuct

i think some guys on here are more worried about their warranty being voided if nissan sees that our first 2k miles were as rough as BigD's. i dont have the money to own half of 38 cars, so a basic warranty is kinda important to poor people like myself.

BigD

I have discussed the warranty issues with my local dealer's service manager.
He told me that on the GTR, they can find out what the car was doing and it's GPS location at any given time they want.
He said that as far as he is aware, the 370z does NOT give them the same information.
Apparently, the 370z gives them only a log of any malfunctions that the ECU recorded and hitting the redline is not a malfunction.

Zsteve

so why the F*** sell a GTR that can do what it can?

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2010 LS3 C6 Silver coupe corvette

rolmo

when i got my Z it had 197 miles on it (on the lot for 10 months) ....... i then proceeded to drive it approx. 900 miles (over 2 days) without cruise control fluctuating between 50mph and 85-90mph. hope i didn't screw the engine (or my warranty) but seems to me a bit of rigorous treatment (no redlining/revs no higher than 2500-3000 etc) should seat everything nicely.
do me a favor.... if i ****** the car.... don't tell me
r

MightyBobo

Barring a badly built motor, you'll be just fine. Dont sweat it.

And FROM THE DEAD THREAD IS FROM THE DEAD!

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I don't own a car anymore.

OldGuy

I have one of those Smyrna-made Altima coupes. Two years old to the day w 16,000 miles and not even a hint of a single problem. Since it was only an Altima and my daily driver, I paid no attention to break-in. Just drove it reasonably as I normally use the car and it has been wonderful. Maybe a pass around that track at its birth was just the trick!

Vegitto-kun

Thank god my 370Z was a demo car.

I doubt the dealership was soft on the car.

the son of the owner is the guy that takes people on test rides.

he rode the test GT-R with my parents.

it had 500ish miles.

he started driving 120 and started sliding in corners. showed launch controll.

when he drove with me in the 350Z.

same. flooring it. then he simply went "oh yes it drifts good" and started drifting on turny roads

zenergy

I have had several mustang gt's and a z28. I have always broken in these cars without acceleration but by gradually taking the engine to red line in 1st 2nd 3rd . On the highway at different speeds at 10 minute intervals for the first 1000mi. After that I drove it like I stole it. I never had any issues or burned any oil. The cars ran strong until the day I sold them. I also had a jeep cherokee sport that i broke in this way. I sold it with 210k and i could still churp1,2 and third.

I will have My z on May 5th, and I plan to break it in the same way as my other cars. This method worked for me.

Hope this helps