New Car Running in tips

[Victa]

"Run it in the way you intend to drive it"

Guys racing 2-stroke bikes will put a new set of barrells, Pistons and rings on, flog them to redline for a lap or two, then remove that set and stick it on the shelf as "Run in, ready to race"...

Chris.

[Artemis]

I've had 4 brand new cars and I've never run them in. Have driven them as I normally would and never had any problems.

Although I've never spun the tyres out of the showroom.

[Grajy]

Engines need up to 10,000kms.
Honda teaches us to advise customers (when they complain) that fuel economy and oil usage can't be measured until after 10,000kms.

[Mps2011]

My MPS is coming up 3 weeks old & that was 1 of the 1st things i asked Mazda was how long should i nurse it before really getting into it? He told me atleast 2,000 KM's. Not sure where he plucked that figure from but im sorry i cant wait that long. Im now up to 580 KM's & im driving it the way i want to. How can you nurse an MPS at 190kw's? Impossible!!

[Jeev]

My MPS is coming up 3 weeks old & that was 1 of the 1st things i asked Mazda was how long should i nurse it before really getting into it? He told me atleast 2,000 KM's. Not sure where he plucked that figure from but im sorry i cant wait that long. Im now up to 580 KM's & im driving it the way i want to. How can you nurse an MPS at 190kw's? Impossible!!

The person you asked had no idea. Most of the running-in is already done by the 500km mark.... I actually suspect the run-in method for each car is directly related to the turbo seal issue.

[Logan]

My running in for my car included a 780km cruise the 4th day I had it and I was driving it like I stole it.

Never had any problems from my car.

Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk

[bloodyidiot39]

i ran my gen 2 in with a 6hr trip from Melb to country NSW (Balranald for those that know it). Was at easter time last year and it went through a plague of locusts within 18hrs of me picking it up from head office. Was fun though, plenty of long empty stretches to test her out, and it can't have hurt, because at the end she had a big cheeky yellow grin!

[Dices]

Interesting read for sure, i followed manufacturer instructions (wherever they came from i cant recall).

Varied speed and revs without increased periods of high load, if i recall correctly.

I wonder if theres any disadvantage to not driving it hard??

[Jeev]

I wonder if theres any disadvantage to not driving it hard??

Components will not work-harden as much and any reciprocating part does not reach the extent of it's travel. The hard run-in method will also out any part that has a manufacturing fault and destined for failure. If something fails while you're running it in, it was not correct to begin with.

[wyvernone]

Thanks for that Popular Mechanics article. I still do believe in breaking in brake discs and pads though. Last time I didn't do them all my front brake rotors went warpish.

Each's got their own belief as to how to best break-in an engine. Here's my collection. I used bits and pieces from each. Take from them what you need. :-)

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