Dont race it early, as maxi says it needs time to smooth in the bits. l.

Just for the record, high stress breaking in is fine on a race or high performance engine on a dyno, but its completely pointless on a new car.

If regular driving was so hazardous to proper ring bedding, then wed be hearing complaints all over the place about oil burning.

Fact is, most new cars have about 100 miles on them when purchased, so youre never responsible for those critical miles anyway, some schlubb loading your car onto trailers and moving it around a dealership has.

AFAIK, its still a good idea to change that oil after the first 500 miles, but of course consult the manual before listening to a schmuck like me.

Quote from: Serious

Dont race it early, as maxi says it needs time to smooth in the bits.

Just for the record, high stress breaking in is fine on a race or high performance engine on a dyno, but its completely pointless on a new car.

I doubt if a race engine would be expected to last as long as a normal car one should, providing it has been cared for. Normally its test the thing on a dyno, then on the car and then you are racing. Its expected to be thrashed by the end of the season if not before.

No, no no no! brakes take time to bed in.

The surface of the brake pads arent smoothed and matched to the surface of the disks so that most of the surface wont be touching each other. A few safe moderate braking manovers should sort the problem out. AFAIK there is no precise method to bed them in although you should start with slower speeds and go up for safety.

Bullsh*t. Youre offering advice that may work for some racing engines, but not for the family sedan.

Yes clearances are tighter these days, so you dont have to baby the car, just drive normal.

My last three cars Ive broken in have gotten 10% better mpg than the official rating, which is about 25% better than most folks get in real life.

Anyhow, I wouldnt trust BS from a young whippersnapper who totals cars by playing Andretti in the city over manufacturer specs--especially when I have years of experience showing that following the normal and recommended process works fine.

All youre going to do by running it hard is to waste gas and possibly total another car.

Another thing to consider are bearings, which also need to be run in, transmission, and suspension components. Breaking them in hard can shorten their lifespan considerably or even break them.

Hard run in-is indeed used with some high revving motorcycles and cars, but its plain stupid racer-boy mythology for regular cars.

Its not racer boy mythology. Running in softly will result in the rings never properly wearing into the cylinders when the initial cross hatching wears off - this only takes 15-20 minutes

The first few miles are therefore the most important as the cross hatching is there to do this for you - whether you run in hard or soft. This is all by the by for family cars as this is probably already done at the factory or at the dealers, so what you do is pretty pointless.

15 years of stripping, preparing and building both racing and consumer units has shown me this - not heresay. A lot of manufacturers handbooks dont even mention a runin period nowadays anyway! We run everything in on a dyno - 3 or 4 flat out top gear runs over the course of 10-15 minutes and thats all that needs do ne - you dont need to do anything else - EXCEPT CHANGE THE OIL !!!!

You dont need to run any bearings in the engine will already have been run by computer at the factory for about 100 simulated miles by nearly every manufacturer nowadays. You only need to run components such as bearings and camshafts when you have replaced them.

Suspension components and gearboxes dont need run in either - this is already done at the factory as well - unless were talking some of the scrap that comes from detroit - still using 1950s technology.

Aye - the 1.3 enduro pushrod engine that ford still use is ANCIENT.

Its not racer boy mythology.

Yes it is. For a family car its complete BS. There is ZERO evidence that there is a ring seal problem on the majority of regular cars that havent been broken in your way, and even the claim that "transmissions are broken in at the factory" are also horsesh*te. Stuffs simply machined better these days. Turn the key and drive, dont be a maniac, and change the oil. Tada! Your car goes 100K w/o blinking.

Thats why you just follow the manufacturers recommendations and get on with life. Engines are pretty amazing these days. Its not 1957 and you need to drain the oil after 200 miles as its full of shavings.

All my cars have recommended an early oil change. Its one of those things that even if its totally bogus, at least it wont hurt.

All my cars have recommended an early oil change. Its one of those things that even if its totally bogus, at least it wont hurt.

Its not that costly either and usually if its mentioned then its part of the warrantee.