I did break in my 03 350Z as suggested by the manual. My 03 350Z has no issue with the oil burning what so ever... the rear bumper is always clean and the oil level is always full between the oil change.

I thinkl i agree with one of the posts... drive it slowly for a few hunfred and gradually drive it harder and harder and hard! after 500 miles

This is exactly how I broke in my 370Z.

Currently I have 548 miles on the Z. Pre 500 miles I have RELIGIOUSLY maintained 4K rpm and below. On highway, I have switched between 5th and 6th gear every 10 minutes (Nissan recommends you to NOT drive in the same RPM for long time during break in). Now that I'm past 500 miles, I am keeping it under 5000 rpm. I think after 800 miles, I'll keep it under 5500 rpm etc. Just increase 500 RPM every 200 miles you drive ... (btw, this is just me. Nissan recommends below 4K all the way to 1200 miles.)

It takes a lot of patience during break in period. Having a 332 HP VQ engine under the hood and not able to rev it above 4K rpm is probably one of the hardest thing you will ever do. But it'll pay off in the long run. :tup:

I'm still breaking mine in, I have 250 miles so far, and I'm dying to see if this thing "pulls" or has decent torque

Doesn't make a difference. When I downshift, I just make sure to be going sufficiently slow so as not to make the car rev itself above 6000. I break in my car a little different, I vary the RPMs and go different speeds, brake smooth, brake a little harder, etc. But I go to 5000, not 4000. I think that's just a bunch of crap to keep casting debris from going around too much. If I get to 1k miles this July, I'm doing an oil change. If August comes and I still haven't clocked that much, I'm doing an oil change.

Frankly, there's also a break in and bedding period for your tires, clutch, brakes (pad and rotor) and even your e-brake!

I ran in my car very carefully and now at approx 37G km's it runs beautifully. I have driven an mx5 that was driven with no sympathy and it showed it. so i guess break in your car gently.

Exactly, what's the difference between 4K and 7K to the engine?

Nothing...

I believe in breaking it in like I'm going to drive it...

I did take it easier in the turns...for me to get used the car, and also for the tires.

As someone who also has a motorcycle, new tires are SLICK. You have to put at least 25 miles on them before they get stickier. On a bike, you have to be careful on the corners until the wear area for how you ride gets worn in...

Anyhow...

One other thing - my MC has 13K on it now. From day 1 (with 8 on the odometer), I've ridden it like I stole it. It don't burn oil...

Nissan dyno'ing the engine is beating the crap out of it at it's most fragile state.

Drove it like I stole it after picking it up with 5 miles. 4xxx miles and it runs great. :ughdance:

Why would you break in (prep) an engine like grandma was driving before letting it rip? Makes no sense.

I agree with the above. break a car in slowly and the rings will fail to seal properly and you will have a slow car.

can we read the OWNERS MANUAL once again can we read the OWNERS MANUAL :tup:

I have seen american V8s torn apart with 1500 easy miles and ridden hard with 1500 miles, the rings seat lower in the easy break in and when you ring it's neck the rings smack the lower"slow break in" seats in the cylnder walls resulting in lower power. I do not know if this applys in these modern tite clearance engines.

I will be running in my 370 when i get it, just how I ran my old XR6 Turbo (Aussie Ford)

1) Make sure engine is warmed up before going over 3000rpm
2) Alternate loading the engine up (full throttle) in 1st, 2nd, 3rd upto about 5000rpm, then back off and let it coast down, then repeat back up to 5000rpm. E.g 1st gear a few times, 2nd gear a few times etc (yes its very tedious)
3) do the above on roads with hills, so you are really loading the engine up.

When I did this on my old car, when it was stock, it had more torque than all the other same model cars on a dyno day I attended.

The car then was modified to 540hp with 750nm torque and had no oil problems at all.