What if you go ahead and have fun with the car before 600 miles. Maybe not jack rabbit starts but fast acceleration, high RPMs and high speeds. Is the car going to REALLY suffer ????

Thoughts ????

 

I do it.

 

I think as long as you don't red line or keep it in 1st gear and almost redline etc. it is probably fine. I am not a motorhead, so I do not know, but that is just my opinion. I suspect the infamous 600 miles is very subjective.

 

every vehicle should have a break-in period.....now I duno how much damage if any will be done if you drive it hard but I have heard a better brake in = better power down the road

my 2 cents

 

What about the cars we all test drove. I know I redlined it. And doing this during a test drive, the car has hardly been run at all. The dealer never says, take it easy now the car hasn't been fully broken in. A lot of people buy a car that has been test drove once or twice, so when you think about it, driving it a little hard ain't so bad.

 

they wouldn't suggest a 600 miles breakin just for kicks right? there has to be some reason behind it. 600 miles is a very small amount of time anyways. why risk doing something stupid to your brand new car.

 

Check out this link. Although it is written about motorcycles, it holds true to automotive engines as well. It's also the same way that aircraft engines are broken in.

I've been using this method with my last several Hondas, and I've had good luck with all of them-excellent compression and power, no oil leakage or loss, and smooth running. While I've never had any reason to tear one down and check the pistons, I can say that they all ran better than other cars of the same year/model.

Controversial Engine Break-In procedure

I know many people won't agree with this method, and that's fine, but I like it so much that I make sure my car has a little miles as possible when I take delivery(like 3-5), because I want to make sure that the car hasn't been driven EASY....

 

I just have a problem with that guys theory because all manufacturers say to take it easy. I will probably stomp on it once or twice the 1st day, but not excessivley.

 

MotoMan Rules!!! I somewhat followed that philosophy on my 954 Honda sportbike, and it's been great (only 1,800 miles, though). I think what he says about compression and the seating of the rings makes sense. And the nice thing is, you don't have to wring the crap out of it to load the engine.

 

 

I couldn't agree more. Why do people continue to start these threads asking these questions. Whats the big deal to wait the damn 600 mile break in period. Its the same thing with the gas. People asking can you use cheaper gas? The damn manual says 91 octane or higher so why chance f**cking up your car. I'll never understand these people.

 

What he was asking wasn't exactly outside of what the manual says... He said he wasn't talking about "jackrabbit starts", but fast acceleration and high rpm's/speed. The manual doesn't limit rpm's at all, so I can't blame him for assuming it's ok. It's not like he tossed the manual out the window here...

 

Manufactuers tell you to take it easy because if there is anything thats going to fail, it's going to show within a 1000 miles. Not just the motor, but the entire car as well. And if your taking it easy, your less likely to have a catastrophic failure where someone gets hurt.

In any case, a motor is run at the motor factory for a period of time to ensure durability before it ever gets installed into a car. They are not going to install an untested motor in a car and send it on it's merry way.

The key is to not beat your engine early in it's life. A few short bursts up to redline isn't going to hurt it. making sure that it has the proper amount of oil and coolant during break in IMO is more important. Nothing kills a motor faster than inadequate oil levels and overheating.

 

I couldn't helped....by 30 miles I was already redlining my TL.

I currently have 110,000 miles on it with no problems and running great.

Is a 99 btw

 

My car had 2 miles on the odometer when I bought it. In fact, I told the dealership to make sure that no one drive the car unless they had to put gas and do the necessary prep work.

 

my car had 3 miles on it when i picked her up. it would bother me too much to see alot of miles on the car knowing someone else was driving it for a while.

 

But why? Is it really that difficult to wait 600 miles rather than take the chance?

 

I hear u but still if its something that you have to question then why even take the chance. Its only for 600 miles for godness sake.

 

As long as you don't mind lower fuel economy throughout the life of the car, go for it.

 

If they are worried about catastrophic failure, then they should post a warning not to exceed a given mph. I don't buy that reason at all. How is castrophic failure at 50mph any worse if my foot has the throttle pinned? If you have failure at 50mph, does it really matter if you are flooring it or not?

I also don't buy the claim that every engine is run at the factory for a period of time. I know they test engines for durability, but isn't that in the design phase? I can't imagine them prepping (don't they ship dry?) and starting and running every engine and then inspecting them for problems at the factory. Anyone have any concrete info on this one?

 

THe dealership/service department went out of there way to tell me that there was NO break in period on this car. Only one person in the service department told me that he prefers not to keep the care at 1 speed for too long on the highway for the first thousand miles. For example...continuously switch from 60 to 80mph throughout long trips.

 

NO break in period... Could we know who's your dealer? (Paragon??)

 

Whoops. Guess I shouldn't have turned VSA off and floored it doing donuts in a parking lot @ 400 miles.

Only did it for like 5 mins though :p

 

I think you're OK. You need to vary the rpms per owner's manual and donuts allows you to bring it "up a notch" :smokin: . I actually read somewhere years ago that they rev each engine to redline at the factory so I think that we should all be OK as long as we don't go too nutty for 600 miles.

dsc888

 

It is interesting that everyone has their own opinion of what to do. There are 17 year olds posting, actually bragging, on here of how they beat the p*ss out of their car at 200 miles or so like they are experts. They have their license for a month or two and mommy or daddy buys them a car and they become an expert. They will be the first to complain and badmouth Honda/Acura over oil consumption or gas mileage. Acura has their recommendatiions for reason. Certainly not everyone who redlines early is going to blow their engine. But the book is written for the masses and the odds of never having a problem by following the book are great. If waiting the 6oo miles is too much for you to handle, then I think you have to learn more patience. It will be a valuable lesson that you will put to good use in your lifetime over and over again. Just my two cents.

 

Well I'll have to take it easy the rest of my 100-200 miles. I have been driving pretty hard. Not redlining it of course, but I accelerate hard sometimes and do downshift into L to pass people if I need to get by quickly. Most of the time though is spent cruising and not accelerating hard and doing donuts.

Have to admit though, I couldn't resist the chance to bring it to an empty parking lot with VSA off.