I haven't gotten my car yet, but I thought on break-in periods you tried not to drive at the same speed for a long period. My commute to work is 40 miles one way, all highway driving. What do you guys suggest I do? Drive part of it in 4th? Shift to 5th and then vary my speed?

I want to break it in properly, but at the same time I want to drive it to work the first day!

 

From what ive been hearing since im somewhat of a new person to breaking in an engine as well. Vary your speed as much as possible, and try to not go over 65/70ish (at least till 500+ miles) after 1000 miles you can do whatever because its fully broken in then.
maybe take a frontage road or something part of the way? that'd get lower gears/speeds... well hopefully lol.


(this is just what Ive heard so please dont flame the hell out of me if im wrong )

 

speed has nothing to do with it at all , its all about the rpm's . you can do 150mph as long as your at about 3-3.5k rpm

 

well, duh.. but they're kind of relative to each other. it's not like he didn't understand that. but.. yeah.... i had similar concerns, but i mean, you CAN vary your speed on the highway. just leave earlier than normal for a little while and drive from 50-70 MPH if you really want to be all definite about that break-in strategy.

i know a lot of people insist on just driving their car crazy right off the lot and saying that's how you're supposed to. i didn't know who to believe, so i just tried a little of everything.

 

well yeah but not on a tC you cant, ok so it goes off of your rpm, dont overrev. got it. Thanks.

(this is actually really helpful since im going to pick up my tC in about an hour :D )

 

this is also a good site about engine. don't know how well it applies to our engine, but a good FYI kind of thing. also the break-in process they have seems kind of general. i mean, i'm sure the process for an S2000 would be different than a Ford Ranger... yeah..

http://www.overboost.com/story.asp?id=1250

 

There are a bunch of schools of thought for breaking in a car. Some say you should drive the ____ out of it for the first 20 miles or so, change the oil, and you'll be fine.

Others say take it slow and easy (owner's manual).

Either way, I think it is pretty hard with modern engines to screw them up during the break in period so I never worry too much about driving slow, I just drive normally.

 

i'm sure as long as you don't over rev your engine, it'll be fine. my car only has 1500 miles on it after 2 months, and that includes 200 mile road trips, and 3 of them. i took my 1st 200 miler when i had like 200-300 miles i think, going 80 or so. the engine will be fine.

 

i think if the dealership was that worried about engine break in they would treat you like a little kid about it.... constantly reminding you how to drive it for the first 1000 miles.... or you would think they would even make you sign a waiver or something if they were that concerned about how people drive their car... just my opinion

 

From what I've heard from our techs is with the level of precision and technology in the most modern engines, a break-in period is not even neccessary anymore.

I always heard that for the first 500-1000 miles, you were not supposed to rev the engine hard or keep the engine @ high RPM's for an extended period of time(highway driving).

But supposedly, any engine designed or updated in the last few years no longer needs a break-in period.

I still changed my oil after the first 1,000 miles just in case, even if it didn't need it, it couldn't have hurt, better to be safe than sorry

 

why would the dealership care if your broke in your engine? youre on your own after the purchase. if you did breakin your car improperly, you probably wont notice the effects until later down the line after the warrantee is over.

i have heard too that nowadays you really dont have to worry about breaking in the engines. but personally when i get my car, i am just going to vary the rpms (not staying at a constant speed for a extended period of time) and make sure i dont rev above 4000 rpm within each gear. if i drive on the highway, i will probably vary the speed in 5th gear (occasionally downshifting to 4th, but probably not necessary).

also, try not to jam on your brakes for the first 200 miles or so. that can hurt your rotors.

 

here is the thread about it
https://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1574