Something has come up and my wife and I have to make a 400 mile (one-way) drive to the bay area to visit family.

I've only got about 500 miles on the xA (5-speed) and am a little worried about not completing the "full" 1000 mile break-in period before subjecting the car to 5 hours at 70+ MPH.

Should i be worried?
Any precautions I should take?
OR is it damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead?

I guess the upside is after the weekend the xA will be fully broken-in for better or worse...

 

I took my brand new xA down to my brother's wedding in SC a couple weeks after I bought my xA (had like 400 miles on it or something) and I did not have any problems...

I drove like I usually drive (70-80 mph, pretty aggressively) and didn't really do anything to 'baby' it....I thought it rode great, loved the gas mileage and had no problems at all...

Just get a Sway Bar before you go (I did) and you'll love the handling when trying to pass people and off ramps etc.

 

Can someone tell me about sway bars while we're on the subject? From a total newbs perspective?

BTW, Cuppajack,

I didn't BABY my xA per se, but I didn't totally gun it under 1000miles. Then I met XcelsiA and Team Sushi in West Covina... we gunned it lol. From what I've heard (total mechanical newb here btw) you can go freeway speeds during break in just not pedal to the floor redline stylie. You should be fine! :D

 

Hey sakko, I'll send you a PM about them so we don't hi-jack Cuppajack's thread

 

To my understanding, you are supposed to vary the engine RPM's while breaking in an engine. Don't go the same RPM for any length of time. However, I was told that these engines are built so that no break in is necessary. Many people have babied their engines for the first thousand miles and others have beat on the car from day one. I have not heard of any differences between the two. I am sure you will be fine going on your road trip with your new car.

 

ditto. most of what i read is that most cars do NOT need a "break-in" anymore. but if you are a bit paranoid as i was in the beginning, the biggest factor to keep in mind, like THansenite said, is to vary the RPMs. going over 60mph or whatever they say is ok. so since you have a 5 speed, what i would do every 5 min or so, is go from 5th, back to 4th, vary it a bit there, and go back to 5th. kinda sucks for a 4 hour trip where cruising it would be SO much easier. but yea, the idea is you want to work the engine thru all the rpm ranges in all the gears, becuase the parts heat up. and when they heat up, they expand, and you want to make a good seal between the cyclinders and the cylinder walls. hope this helps.

 

hey,

I was in the same situation when I got my car over 2 years ago. I've always been under the impression that the real critcal break-in period is the first 200 miles. The dealer told me to try to stay on local roads as much as you can. When I took my roadtrip up to NH which is about 6 hours away, I already had 350 miles or so. I'd just drive at different speeds every so often with the occassional downshift. However, I'd try to keep it under 4k RPM as much as possible. So, that means averaging 60-70 mph. If anything, just make more "rest" stops. I agree with the Locondcoco that break-ins aren't as big a deal as it used to be. Now, 42k miles later, I still easily get 30+ mpg on a combined city and highway driving.

 

Just be sure to change the oil once you get back from the trip. That would also be the ideal time to switch it over to Mobil 1

 

no break in needed. you're good to go!