go blue 99

I know there are guidelines for how fast/much you should drive the car when you first get it.
For those who bought out-of-state and drove home: did you drive much slower than you normally would? Is it really going to be bad for the car if you do?

Ramon

The break-in topic has been beat to death about 10 times over on this forum. Just do a quick search on the subject and you will find the info you're looking for. Or you can simply look in the owners manual, I believe it has proper break-in procedures listed there as well.

r1lee

When picking up your car, drive it like you stole it. Go through the rev's without hitting the redline, 1st, 2nd, 3rd gear. That should seal your rings, take it to dealer/body shop and get your oil changed.

You have now roughly broken in your engine the proper way.

Technique

I say floor it out of the dealership and then vary the revs the entire drive home... Give it lots of different RPMs... But make sure to floor it a bunch...

kensteele

even though you are driving it home on a long distance trip, i would still try to follow whatever the manual says.

ff_

I wouldn't "floor it out of the dealership". I would take it easy, and just vary your revs as much as possible. When I bought my IS last spring, I took it on a short road trip of ~300 miles right away. I would shift from 6th to 5th every 10 minutes or so, and then back to 6th. Also made more stops than I normally would, just so I could exercize the car through all 6 gears.

Gernby

iTrader: (1)

If I were in your situation, I would drive it around town (stop lights) for about 30 miles, let the car cool down while you eat dinner, then get on the highway. Once on the highway, don't use cruise control, and vary the speed / gears as suggested above. Changing the oil early is not needed.

jezza

I bought mine in MA and drove it home to VA. 550 miles or so. I basically did some around town driving, maybe 100 miles worth, then drove it home on the highway.

As suggested, don't use cruise, and have fun with the paddle shifters to vary the rpms and speed. Your wife may get somewhat car sick as a result, but oh well... she wanted to go, right?

cvex

lol , you all should know Technique by now. His name should be "FLOOR IT."
If next time someone ask how they should drive once they back out the garage, well you know the answer.

Dont take it personally Technique your answers are always ,unique.

gyung

iTrader: (1)

I almost LOL at this at work =P

Anyway I agree you shouldn't floor it, but instead, have varying revs on the way home. I didn't bring it past 4k rpm before 1k miles. That's just me though.

Technique

ROFL

Thanks man I've actually never floored it out of the garage in reverse.... But there's always a first time for everything! hehe...

homer4598

I tend to lean towards Technique's method. Opinions vary though. I wouldn't floor it out of the dealership -- but I would as soon as the engine was up to operating temperature.

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

Exact same here. My brakes were bedded and my engine was fully broken in at the end of the first hour of ownership.

Technique

Let me just clarify something:

1) Yes, it's probably better to let the engine warm up before flooring it... That being said, I don't think it really makes a big difference unless the weather is very cold...

2) When I drove my car out the dealer's lot, the car had been idling for like 15-20 minutes at the dealership before I drove it off... (Which, btw, is the WORST thing to do to a cold engine) So anyway, the engine was warmed up already... I just turned off VDIM and hammered the gas to leave some rubber for them... I actually drove straight to the service department down the block to get my DRL's turned off... When I was in the service bay I heard two of the valets going "Man, what's that smell!?!?" (The smell they were referring to was probably that smell you get when you accelerate hard in a brand new car (less than 500 miles)... Maybe the cosmoline?) Anyway, I told them "That's the smell of a car being broken in properly"...

ES3

Technique, so I take you didn't worry much about the "no sudden acceleration until 620miles" break-in suggestion in your manual?