Article about how to PROPERLY break in...
basically makes the motor run a lil rich and the trans not shift so early.
But the rest of his article, in my opinion, sounds like old-fashioned snake oil tactics. First of all, although, of course, a well-broken in engine will give more power and better mileage than one that is not because of better compression, the main purpose of breaking in an engine on a street car is NOT necessarily power but to get a good seal on the moving parts ( rings, bearings, valve stems and seals, etc....) and to prolong engine life and keep it from being an oil user. On a racing engine that is only going to be run a few hundred or thousand miles and then rebuilt or junked, that is a different matter, but the engine in a street car is going to have to last for years and run 150,000-200,000 miles.
Second, I think you can take the word of the people who actually design and build these engines at the factory more than someone who is just trying to sell an alternative technique on the Internet....like I said, snake oil people are a dime a dozen. The auto manufacturer, as long as the new-car owner does not abuse the car and breaks it in according to factory instructions, is going to have to stand behind that engine warranty for anywhere for 3 to 10 years and do an overhaul or replace it if it starts to use an excessive amount of oil ( usually around one quart every 1000 miles is the threshold ). If what Motoman says is correct, in my opinion his methods would be recommended by auto manufacturers, and of course, in many places with dense traffic and pedestrians it is not only unwise but dangerous to use full-throttle methods as well,
Third, as most of you know from my auto reviews, I test-drive a lot of new cars, and I'm not about to start slamming brand-new engines around just because Motoman thinks it is more efficient to do so....I strictly adhere to the 4000-RPM limit and no 100% full-throttle stuff...though I accelerate hard enough to get a good idea of what the engine is capable of. Even Gung-Ho auto enthusiast magazines like CAR and DRIVER and ROAD and TRACK take it easy for the first 1000 miles or so on their test cars....and these guys are professionals who do it for a living, as do the slightly milder-driving people at Consumer Reports as well.
Last edited by mmarshall; Sep 30, 2006 at 08:00 AM.
Try now!

might take a while as im only just about to graduate from highschool
btw-when a ferrari engine is built, it's tested to 7500rpm before going in the car
you can see at the end of this amazing vid...
http://www.autoblog.com/2006/09/12/a...a-ferrari-v12/
Celebrating Lexus & Toyota from Around the Globe
Changing the oil within 1000 is probably key too.
You should revisit this thread every 10,000 miles and let us know how you're car is doing. Good luck!












