elliot

I've had a 2001 CL-S since August 2002.. And after getting married last March (18+ months ago), my wife and I decided it was time to get a second car.. We almost fell for the Subaru Legacy Premium.. But we ended up making a great deal on a new 2007 TSX and are going to pick it up tonight..

As such, I want to know how to best break the car in.. What are the recommended steps for the first few hundred miles to get the most out of the car..?

I appreciate your help..

Wohooo!!

-Elliot

club_euro2

Congrats,
Do not use the cruise control for the first 600 miles, follow the instructions in the Owners Manual.

davidspalding

The manual will get you started down the right path. Read the little spiral-bound "quick start guide" manual. Page 230 of your manual (I happen to have a copy) reads:

Other cars I've had recommended avoiding hard braking for the first 250-500 miles, and avoid driving at consistent speeds (like, setting cruise control for 55) for the first 500 miles. Usually, this is the first week or so of ownership, so not much of a big deal. Also, use only the recommended gas (91 or better octane).

Look around on the stickys for these forums, there's a post about online manuals. Unfortunately, you have to browse them online, as the 2007 and earlier TSX manuals are in bits interlinked, and won't link if you save one to your hard drive. The 2008 manual, last I looked, was an unlinked (i.e. one big huge complete PDF of the entire manual).

Lastly ... ENJOY!

jlukja

Congrats and welcome to the TSX side of the house.

This is my favorite engine break-in thread: https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1443
lots of good info and discussion there.

nj2pa2nc

too late for me but when I bought my 06 tsx almost a year ago I drove it 700+ miles from the dealer in PA to my home in NC. It had 138 miles on it as the delaer in Pa had to get the car from a dealer in NJ. I used the cruise control on the way home- but not all the time. The car has 30,000+ miles on it now, has more than enough power and averages 32-33 MPG. The best was 41.6. enjoy it. great cars.

LoveMyTL-S

Sweet! Welcome to the TSX forum. You made a great choice with the TSX! Congrats

elliot

Thanks.. wish just took it to work for the first time to show it off.. woohooo!! Arctic Blue.. we may pass 50 miles today =)

Elliot

nj2pa2nc

WOW 50 miles. your wife and you should take a nice ride somewhere this weekend so you can find out how terrific the car is. automatic or 6 spd. the only complaint i have is the paint chips easy-alot of other owners put clear bra's on their cars-too late 4 me. My foglights also cracked within a few months. The dealer replaced them as a one-time good will thing. I put rockblocker on them.

ATsxMan8305

If you have an AT like me, I would use the Sport Shift, so you can vary the RPM a lil bit. Try to keep it under 3K for the first 500 or so miles, then gradually work your way up in the RPM range. Congrats on a great purchase!

timd38

Enjoy!

davidspalding

Elliot, whatever you do, DON'T read the "what I hate about my TSX most" thread ... enjoy discovering your own pet peeves one day at a time. (I think it'll take a while. My honeymoon was several weeks.)

csun2004

TSX is a great car. Conggrads.

DemonPoofball

The "no hard breaking" thing always gets me-- driving mine home from the dealer a few months ago (picked it up w/ 18miles on it) on the outside of town at just under 200 miles there was a big accident on the freeway that some idiot decided to suddenly rubberneck causing quite a line of cars to slam on their brakes... After slamming mine down, all I could do was stare in the rear view mirror at the car behind me while silently screaming "DON'T HIT ME! DON'T HIT ME!" They pitched forward pretty good, but stopped in time. As we were all stopped for a few, I almost got out of the car to go hug them!!

We'll see how long my initial brakes last...

As has been mentioned-- read the manual. There's all sorts of stuff in there it would take you forever to find out. And congrats!!

CL9er

took me exactly one week to break in my car... it has over 600 miles now... now i'm gonna baby the car.... gonna change the oil at 1000 then every 3000 or 3 months... royal purple ftw

Simba91102

I think you'll find that the consensus here seems to be that the break-in oil (the oil that's in the engine when new) should be left in until the MID tells you it's time to change it (seems to run 4K to 6K miles). This is also what Honda recommends. You could change to full synthetic then.

davidspalding

If you change your oil less than 5000 miles, you're only wasting money. I've read this enough places to consider it credible info.

CL9er

i don't like leaving the oil in there after the break in period... there are small metal shavings in the oil.... that is not good for the engine at all.

CL9er

changing your oil really depends on how you drive the car.... 5000 is ok if you drive like a grandma.. but if you have a heavy foot... 3000 is much better..

davidspalding

I neglected to point out that I used to do mine every 3000-4000 miles, using relatively economical dino oil. I go longer now with synthetic.

Simba91102

May be be true (although this rings of urban myth somewhat), but that's what the oil filter is for.

CL9er

use a magnetic drain plug.... you'll see what i mean... its not an urban myth..

elliot

hah, alright man.. will do.. My wife is totally in love with the car so I'm going to enjoy this as long as I can.. And I expect this will last a LOOONG time.. I've had good luck with my 2001 Acura...

=)

psteng19

Keeping it under 3k is pretty hard to do.
I'd say you be safe under 3500 or even 4000. Remember, redline is 7300(?).

CL9er

its pretty easy.. just go through stop and go traffic... i broke mine in driving about 3 hours every day for 1 week...

Simba91102

Not to nitpick, but....................I will. It's 7100.