nova123

Lol I agree!

I don't believe in burn in period either, but engine has definitely changed compared to the day I picked the car up. First thing I did was drag my friends C300 and 328 and there was definitely more than a delay than there is now.

You need to have S+, hold traction control and go manual. It will auto shift once you redline in first gear then afterwards DIY

But yeah, in gear acceleration you might have an advantage if you're on like 4k+RPM but otherwise, don't bother trying to take on a turbo'd german =p

drbazing

Weird, mine doesn't auto shift at all.

nova123

I'm sure it did last time, cause I went S+ in manual.. went WOT and didn't totally forgot I was in manual, didn't notice until I was at redline in 2nd gear cause it didn't shift then =/ silly moment

Swacer

Ok, so lets take a minute and straighten out some information here.

This is coming from an mechanical engineer, with a large amount of race car engine building background.

Very few cars on the market are "broken in" when you purchase it. Those include the Nissan GT-R (in which the motor is put on a tester and run hard for 20 minutes at redline) before it is signed off and then placed into the car. This is done because Nissan wishes for the first owner to enjoy the car right off the bat. The first generation 2012 Camaro ZL1, many were broken in (and it stated it in the manual) in order to assure that no leaks occurred and that there was no additional oil blowby into the supercharger.

For the mass produced car, your car was NOT broken in. The 4-10 miles you see on your car, is the car being driven once its off the assembly line (as it works its way around to the suspension testing machines and other facility checks), and eventually off to the lot, and then to the truck or ship that will bring your car to you.

While I certainly agree that the DURATION of break-in may be subjective, it is certainly necessary. When you purchase your car new, your piston rings, valves, and cam(s) are entirely not broken in. Heck, they probably have under a half million duration by the time you take possession. The purpose of the break in procedure is to allow for proper wear in of the vehicle during the initial stages of driving. It takes time for these to break in.

For example, for your engine to seat the rings (and also shave off any engineering tolerances on the cylinder walls), you vary your RPM. By doing this (which your manual tells you to do) you are wearing the rings in so that you get proper compression at low and high RPMs. If you start beating on the car right away, there is a good chance you will warp the rings (even a couple mills can lose you a psi), and become a chronic oil burner. I won't go into the rest, but you get the general idea of where I'm going with this.

Now, some people may say, I BEAT ON MY CAR AND ITS FINE. Thats great, congrats to you, your car was built on a great day. But that will not be the case for everyone. Because you will have people that listened to you talk about how you beat on the car, and then they are crying to Lexus because they don't understand why the car keeps burning a qt of oil every 1,000 miles.

Another thing to keep in mind is that your ECU needs time to learn you fuel trim and timing tables. As your engine becomes looser, and more free flowing, your ECU will adjust to this. As this happens, your car will begin to open up. This is the same reason you car feels like a dog (and a gas hog) in the beginning, and opens up after several hundred miles. Your fuel tables are now finally calibrated correctly, and now you have a motor that is running within range.

The break-in exists.

Ok, I will get off my soap box now...

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

Same experience here. When I followed Toyota's recommended "break-in" my Celica burned a quart every 1000 miles. Ignored it ever since then and never had the issue.

I've built plenty of championship winning motorcycle engines, and the fastest privateer engine through the traps at Daytona way back in the day. Take it easy, build an oil burner every time.

salvadorik

iTrader: (1)

When I see two experts (Swacer and lobuxracer) having completely two different opinions on the same subject I tend to think the best thing to do is to follow the owner's manual. Lexus builds this car and as such one can be reasonably assured that the manufacturer would know it best as how to approach the "brake-in" period. I am neither an engineer nor a mechanic so I wont have any idea as how the engine breaks in but I am inclined to follow owner's manual simply because I believe it is the best authority that one can use to insure that the car is properly being taken care of.

Swacer

Did you have a stick? If so, high revving 4 cylinders sticks like the celica and Acura RSX were meant to drink oil. Even the owners manual would tell you to check the oil every few thousand miles.

Spagolli94

I know what you mean. There's enough info to make your head spin. I tend to split the difference. I don't drive it like I stole it, but I don't baby it either. I try to avoid consistent speeds and maybe hit redline a few times here and there.

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

You must not be familiar with the '93 Celica GTS. High revving is far from what this was. It had the Camry four cylinder in it, so it definitely was not made to drink oil. The 5S-FE was an economy engine, nothing like the 3S-GTE available in the All-Trac. Mine drank oil. I've never done what Toyota recommended since, and I've never had a problem with oil control in any new Toyota I've owned - this includes 3 Scion tCs, IS350, and IS-F, all brand new.

I've been doing the Motoman break-in for a whole lot longer than Motoman has been around because I grew up with dirt track racing in the Midwest - my dad was the engine builder. He and I discussed the whole break-in process many years ago, and I've followed his advice because it works.

But all of this is really moot. By the time we get the cars from Toyota, they've already been through 99% of the break-in process because the vast majority of the wear-in happens in the first 10 minutes of operation. If this part isn't done well, the rest is just lipstick on a pig.

Spagolli94

If that's the case, many of us have little or no control over it then. My car was delivered from another dealer and arrived with close to 100 miles on it. Even if your local dealer has the car you want in-stock, chances are it's been test driven a few times, so you have no idea how those other shoppers drove the car during their test drives.

My hunch would be that my car's delivery driver took it easy, as he was an old man and was likely in heavy traffic for most of the trip. In the case of other people test driving the car, I would guess the average test drive includes driving around at 30-50 MPH with a few full-throttle blasts here and there to test acceleration.

Swacer

No, I am not familar with the '93 Celica. My engine experience comes from building 350cu in SBCs for a NHRA Super Street Camaro and NHRA Super Gas Roadster, 572cu in BBC for a NHRA Super Comp Dragster, '91 Accord, '06 Scion tC, '10 Genesis Coupe 3.8, and the LS3 in my Camaro.

Everyone has their own experiences which build their beliefs, and theres nothing wrong with any of those. Yours have worked well for you, mine have worked very well for me.

I'll step out of this conversation now. I'll talk to you on the IS-F thread Lobu lol

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

lot of these cars are dynoed from the factory so any attempts to baby it is futile. Another example is the Nissan GTR they break it in for you on a test track, no new GTR has less than 40 miles on it. Nissan says every GTR is track ready when it leaves the plant.

DoomBuggy

iTrader: (1)

Do you guys routinely drive with TRAC OFF? I definitely like the way it allows each gear to rev up a bit more, but wasnt sure if driving in this mode on highway (75-85 MPH) would play a negative role. Driving at 2500-3000 RPMs doesnt seem horrendous, but im sure it burns fuel quicker.

I just hate how quick the transmission shifts when in Normal/Eco mode with Trac enabled. I'm always in 4th-5th gear in no time (i drive a 250), and it feels so restricted.

Loe

I don't^^ I find that the stability & traction controls are unobtrusive in my driving.

Regardless of break-in or not, as someone had mentioned, there is still an adaptation period of the ECU. Now that I have over 1000 miles on the odo, the car feels stronger at all engine speeds and no longer feels like there is a bottle neck at higher rpm. The peakier power delivery, dare I say, is more exciting than my N54 335i stock for stock.

Slust

I gots to agree with Swacer here! Anyone who thinks a machine performs the same way on Day 3000 as it did on Day 1 (variables like weather aside) immediately makes me question their points. There is always going to be natural wear and tear with moving parts but much of that is actually for the better. The gears, valves, piston rings, etc. will begin to get in a better rhythm and its not always a fast process especially with as many moving parts as there is in a car. The ECU also takes time to learn habits and calibrate timings.

I think many take the break in period thing too far but as Swacer put it, there is still something to it. The car will perform better as it gets used more. Now if your drive consists of short mileage and stuck in thick big city traffic than your most likely not getting the same effect as someone not in the same boat and you're most likely not going to notice it either as there is no room to open it up.


PS: The car DOES shift past 5th gear in Sport+ Auto mode, you just need to drive faster. The car doesn't reach 8th gear until like 87mph. Sport/+ doesn't block off gears it just assumes you want a lower gear at lower speeds.