Hey 6 MT's. How are you breaking in your cars. Manual says no heavy acceleration but nothing about high revs. It also says to vary the Rpm range. I always let it sufficiently warm up. Want to break it in right. I read that thread earlier about motorcycle break in that stated best way was to drive it like you stole it for the first several hundred miles. I want proper break in to give me best performance but don't want to screw up the engine. Any ideas?

 

When I broke in my 2000 Prelude I didn't know what VTEC was. I kept it under 4000 revs for the first 1500km's and then as soon as I hit it I let it hit that 5290rpm mark where VTEC engages. Needless to say I was smiling ear to ear. After that I kept it cool until the first scheduled oil change. I regulary changed my oil every 4000km's but the first oil change Honda says to wait till 6000km's because of some special stuff they put into the oil to help break it in.

Preludes are notorious for burning oil but mine didn't burn as much as others that I spoke with so I guess I did a good job breaking it in. I've had no problems with it ever since.

New brakes need to be broken in for 300km's. No crazy braking for that time. That's the rule of thumb I go by anyways and I've never had problems.

 

I always do a staged breakin on my cars. Same will be true for the TL when it arrives.

0 - 200 miles. Below 3500 RPM most of time with occasional bursts up to at most 4000 RPM. Never use cruise control. Never hold same speed for longer then 60 seconds.

200 - 500 miles. Below 4000 most of the time burst to 4500 sometimes. Still no cruise. Will hold a constant speed for a few minutes at a time.

500 - 1000. Below 4500 most of the time with occasional forays to about 5500. Very occasionally bursts to redline. Can start using cruise for short drives if so inclined. I don't hold constant speeds for over 5-7 minutes.

1000+ drive it like you want to. At around 1000 I do 5 - 7 60 - 0 full ABS stops to cleanse the pads and make sure the brakes are 100%.

That is how I will do the TL. I won't change the oil until told to do so because the cars use special break in oil in them. I expect that to be around 5000 to 7000 miles. At this point I will likely switch over to synthetic oil.