well my rex is finally here. i picked it up today, fresh off the truck with 4 miles on the clock. 06 rally blue limited sedan with a short throw shifter. it rocks. its rainy here today so no pics, but i will post some as soon as i can. my question is regarding the break in period. a couple salesmen told me that you should wind it out during the 1st hundred miles or so then take it easy on it till 1000. what do you all think. i drove it home and kept it under 4k rpms and have 40 miles on it now. its so hard driving this car and not dropping the hammer.

 

This is my personal opinion, and not necessarily the perfect solution... But it makes sense to me to take it easy for the first 1500 miles... However, during that period it is logical enough to run the rpm up to near redline... why? To seat the rings properly and avoid problems due to abnormal wear. This DOESNT mean, free revving the motor, or downshifting in a nature that would shoot the RPM up... What I mean is... Once in a while, during say, first gear... run it all the way through the rpm band, slowly. shift gently, and do the same through second, shift gently, same in third, etc... it allows your engine to run through its rpm range, properly breaking it in...

Also, there are myths about, if you drive it like a grandma, after break-in, your dyno numbers will be lower than it should... and if you drive aggressively, you will put out more horsepower. Because some people confuse the break-in period, as a training period. Don't trust in that logic, for it's not logical at all... At any given time your ECU can be reset, and re-learn your driving style. So don't kick the crap out of your car just to have its computer thinking it should run under stronger load.

Anyway, just my 2 cents... And personally, I'd take it easy until the first oil change with the occasional full rpm run-through.

Goodluck!

 

^^^That's pretty good.

Take it EASY for the first 1k to 1.5k at least. Go on a long road trip or something to get that first 1k.

If you do go to red line take it gently don't drive it like you stole it.

I say change your oil at the end of your break in around 1-1.5K just to be on the safe side since that's when most of the shavings/debris/spooge gets out. Hell, since you're gonna be putting in dino oil it's only gonna cost you less than $30 to do it and it's a nice little insurance.

 

Happy to here about your new rex. How do you like the car so far? What were you driving before? Does the shifting feel smooth? Must be hard when you feel that push before the 4K zone and you have to ease the gas^^. Anyway, congrats.

 

I agree with boost's opinion, but also think that boost is very important during the break in period. I think you can let the engine hit higher RPMs for a short time as long as you're not boosting it very high.

Just some random guy's opinion

 

thanks for the input guys. i couldnt resist winding it out a little yesterday i took a friend for a ride and went up to about 5k rpms. i have 150 miles now and am going to baltimore on sunday to see my sister and get closer to 1k miles. i love the car so far. ever since i drove one, an 04 premium model i think it was, back when i sold subarus i wanted one but i used to weigh a little over 300lbs and was not very comfortable inside the suby. well its been a year since i stopped eating carbs and am down to 220 so i decided to get one. now i fit great in the car. i traded in my 04 honda accord coupe 5spd. the suby is so much more car than the honda. i miss a few things that the accord had like the power seat, a larger center console, the windows that go down with the remote, a trunk release on the remote and the integrated key and remote were nice but ill sacrifice the small things for 80 more horses, awd, better styling and a car that feels like its superglued to the road even in the rain taking an offramp at 45 that i used to take at 25. i got the short throw shifter and it shifts great, why they build this car with anything but a manual trans i dont know. it is extremely difficult to drive it lightly. you can totally feel it winding up wanting to take off and backing off the gas is very tough, kind of like trying to stop taking a leak after you are half way through it hurts.

 

Congrats on your purchase.

As far as a brek in, here's what I have done. I have broken in a few different built motors.
I follow the advice of http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

First off I would change the oil immediately to non synthetic. See why in above url. In a nut shell the synthetic doesn't allow for enough wear for a proper break-in.

Next I would put normal loads on the car. Progessively going higher rpms, not stabbing it and downshifting to put a load on the motor.

Do not drive long distances with it if you can avoid it.

City driving is best or twisty roads with alot of up/downshifting.

As per Moto Man change the oil at 20 miles to non-synthetic and run that oil for 1,500 miles. After 1.5k, switch to synthetic.

I did this brek-in process with a brand new intergra type-r motor. That motor had 1% leakdown in all cylinders, the best you can possibly get. It was probably the most powerful all motor integra motor I have driven.

Good luck!

 

a friend on mine said he broke his prelude in like such...


first 500 miles, nothing over 3k

second 500 miles, nothing over 5k

third 500 miles he mashed the crap out of it.

always varying the rpm's within the said ammount and all city driving under different loads (hills, etc).

he was the only bone stock 5th gen lude i saw go 14.5 ( yes it helps he can drive like a champ), but damn was that car strong.

would that be good for a boosted vehicle as well? or would it not be recomended to keep it that low of RPM and to just vary it on short drives?

TIA!

-Doug