Hey. New guy here. I am picking up a 2011 IS350 tomorrow. Is there any kind of recommended break in??

 

yes, 5k miles of NON-aggressive driving. after that, you can drive like the rest of us maniacs =)

ok i lied.. its more like 1k mile for break in?

 

Congrats......start looking for mods to fix that bad boy up!

 

There is no break in. Drive it hard from day one so everything seats properly.

 

^^^ What he said, break-in is a myth.........You need to piston rings to set properly, so drive it like you stole it.

 

I waited about 1K before going over 100mph..just to be cautious.

 

So everyone is going to give you opinions and anecdotal evidence, but I would recommend following Lexus guidelines, which hires some pretty good engineers. ;-)

Per Lexus Owners Manual (Section: 2-1)
To extend the life of the vehicle, the following precautions are recommended to observe:

For the first 186 miles (300 km):
Avoid sudden stops

For the first 621 miles (1000 km):
Do not drive at extremely high speeds.
Avoid sudden acceleration
Do not drive continuously in the low gears
Do not drive at a constant speed for extended periods.

 

lol I went over 100 mph when I test drove my car with 30 miles on it.

 

my uncle, a mechanic, said I should have changed the oil after 1k to get rid of particles left from the 'breaking in' process. I'm not sure how true is this since I never heard of such thing.

 

It's not required and not something Lexus suggests, however it will do no harm, so if you want to give it an extra change, go for it.

I drove my car relatively normally during break-in period. I just basically stayed away from keeping it at a constant RPM.

Jeff

 

Lexus doesn't put 'break-in oil' in our cars, the engines are built now days to such high tolerances that they just use 'normal' (whatever comes from the factory) oil.

BUT~ yea 1k oil change is not needed but it isn't a wrong thing either.

as for pushing the car or poodling it, a combination of both is best, keep the revs under 4k for the first 300mi then gradually increase it... trust me 4k revs in a 350 at a stop light will still have you out in front ... i dunno everyone has different ideas, im sure if luboxracer chimes in~ just listen to what he says.

 

Hmm that's interesting. I just bought my IS a week and a half ago and the salesman told me not to go above 70 for the first 500 miles and to change the speed up and down regularly. He definitely did not mention anything about driving like you stole it

I don't know if this has to do with the breaking in process but every time I park the car in my garage, the engine smells funky like its smoldering or doused in chemicals.

 

Thanks guys. I had a feeling I would get a "mixed bag" of responses. Everyone seems to have a different theory with other cars I have had also. My first mod will be an exhaust. I want something fairly quiet with a deep tone. Is Tanabe a good option when considering what I want?

 

breaking cars in easy is useless
breaking cars in hard is useless

Just drive it however you'd drive it after 20k miles. It's broken in from the factory. I agree with varying the rpm's and not staying constant on motorcycles (which rev to 14k+) but these cars come as is. Nothing you do is going to make a difference honestly.

 

I would go by the manual like someone above posted.... if they didn't want you to break the car in then I dont think they would of put it in the manual. Won't hurt to break it in. I properly broke in my first IS... the next one I totally forgot lol ooops. I'm sure it wontt hurt if you dont