imyy4u

There are two different viewpoints on break-in method: 1) be very gentle for the first 1000 miles, or 2) be very hard on the car for the first 1000 miles. They say a gentle break-in is not good for the car as it doesn't put enough pressure on the piston rings, causing loss in HP and a slow car. Whereas, with a hard break-in, you put a lot of heat/pressure on the piston rings right away, creating a solid seal and creating maximum horsepower.

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

Read that article, and you'll see scientific proof that hard break-in is best. If that's not good enough for you, how about my example:

I bought my 2003 Acura RSX-S brand new with 4 miles. Drove the **** out of it for the first 2000 miles. When it came time to dyno, I dyno'ed higher stock hp than anyone else I have ever heard of. Then when I put my s/c on, I had more whp at 7psi on the Jackson Racing supercharger than anyone has ever had, and I had 100% stock header/exhaust which is very restrictive on that car. I had 265whp @7psi with that kit, which is unheard of. Even the best K-Pro tuners out there have never achieved that much whp with my setup. That's gotta say something right there.

Point is, I think the hard break-in is best, but I'm curious to know others' opinions on the matter.

Derf00

Notice this is on motorcycles...2 stroke.. (I did read the article) He says it's 4 stroke compatible also.

The one main thing I notice that is true across the board for BOTH lines of thinking is..

LET THE ENGINE WARM UP before you go. Startup for any car is the worst. That's when all the oil is in the pan


as for the rest of it... I've owned a number of new vehicles, haven't dynoed any of them but I know the engines are all still running strong into the 100's and even 200's with proper warm up and a mix of hard/soft driving when new.

I know that racing engines usually do a soft break in for 100-200 miles before using them.

BeeStang

I vote for the hard break-in. I've been driving mine like I stole it right from the dealer lot... Still smiling!!

GT06GT

Its a mix, I think everyone agree's on letting it warm up. You do need to keep the rpms moving constantly, and I like to do some hard runs on the car but not all out all the time for the first 1K. Also if your going to drive it hard to seal your rings remember your breaks are still new and your not suppose to do any hard breaking no matter which way you choose to break it in. My point being you have to be gentle in some areas and you can be a little harder in others.