Break-In a New Car

joeyz10

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

import111

This is exactly how I broke in my 370Z.

AK370Z

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.

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nicknick

Why do people have to drive it "hard". Are they not able to experience all the other pleasurable sensations from just driving and enjoying the car. There is noo need to kill the car.

lovethe370z

The mentality of most who would buy a car like this is to drive it hard. That is why they find it difficult to restrain. Its like a 30 day countdown until Christmas for a child.

And no, I'm not poking fun at anyone here. I'm in the same boat. I can't wait to take the beast to work to show it off, and take people for rides. But not being able to floor it with them in the car? That would be aweful! I think I'm going to have to wait until after break-in before taking people with me. The pressure would be too intense. I would feel as though I have to take it to red line at every shift to show them how powerful the car is.

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2010 370z Coupe
Touring, Sport, Nav
6MT Red/Black

NewYorkJon34

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

Silhouette

While breaking-in, do you guys turn off your synchro-rev match?

370Z Purist

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!

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-Phil

"Since one of my brake light bulbs just went out, the forum told me that my piston rings are about to blow."

Trips

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

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av370

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.

AH370Z

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.

j.arnaldo

To be on the safe side, and to keep your warranty, go by the book, dude.

lovethe370z

Oh, I know that I will. I was merely explaining the mentality.

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2010 370z Coupe
Touring, Sport, Nav
6MT Red/Black

Goolsbymd

on the drive home after the engine was all warmed up I gunned it to 110mph, played with the paddle shifters to throw around RPM at different speeds. and continue to drive it hard on hilly roads. I changed the oil first at 300Miles, installed a magnetic drain plug and a magnetic oil filter (FilterMag), ran it hard again and will do another oil change at 1k. I use regular oil and will switch to synthetic at a later time. My personal pref. do as you wish.

alvinmathew88

I dont know if this is comparable, but i have a 97 civic, that was properly broken in for the first 1,000 miles. And now it still running strong, no burning oil of any sort, and now has 218,000 miles. So take it for what its worth...