Official break-in period?

[Crawdaddy79]

Sales guy says that the break-in period was just to "let the o-rings settle" and that all you really needed to do was stay away from was long trips where the RPMs stayed steady for long periods of time. But not because it would cause damage, but that would make it take longer for the o-rings to settle. :|

 

Somehow I'm not buying it - I think he got bits and pieces of info from several sources and put them together himself (in all honesty the confidence factor of his voice was about a 2 out of 10).

 

 

Is there an official break-in period for the '07s? Or is it just what everyone is used to seeing/doing so it's expected that you break it in (read the manual - found nothing about it)?

[pillboy]

Drive it like ya rented it. You're gonna trade it in a couple years anyway.

[Crawdaddy79]

Drive it like ya rented it. You're gonna trade it in a couple years anyway.

Only if it pisses me off.

 

I hold on to cars pretty much forever if they are running good.

 

 

So far, I'm 2 for 2.

[02BlkRex]

I've been driving mine like I stole it the whole 700 miles it has on it! I read somewhere (I think on this site after I did a SEARCH) and it linked to a website that said the first 20 miles you are SUPPOSED to drive it hard 'cause it seats the rings better or something. It gave a whole list of pros for driving hard. Either way you choose, I think you'll be fine since the engines are pretty stout anyway. Plus, if something was gonna break, it'd hopefully do it in the first couple thousand miles and be covered under warranty.

[Crawdaddy79]

I've been driving mine like I stole it the whole 700 miles it has on it! I read somewhere (I think on this site after I did a SEARCH) and it linked to a website that said the first 20 miles you are SUPPOSED to drive it hard 'cause it seats the rings better or something. It gave a whole list of pros for driving hard. Either way you choose, I think you'll be fine since the engines are pretty stout anyway. Plus, if something was gonna break, it'd hopefully do it in the first couple thousand miles and be covered under warranty.

 

A link to said site, or maybe even the words you used in the search string would be tres helpful.

[Hotrodder00]

Check the manual for "break in period". I remember seeing it in my '06 when I was looking for something else. I'd go get it but the cars ALL the way out in the garage!

[Hotrodder00]

Ugh, I hate it when people are vague AND lazy (refering to myself), so I broke down and went to get the manual....

It is under "New vehicle break-in driving the first 1,000 miles" in the index.

 

A close examination reveals:

"The performance and long life of your vehicle are dependent on how you handle and care for your vehicle while it is new. Follow these instructions during the first 1,000 miles (1,600 km):

• Do not race the engine. And do not allow engine speed to exceed 4,000 rpm except in an emergency.
  
• Do not drive at one constant engine or vehicle speed for a long time, either fast or slow.
  
• Avoid starting suddenly and rapid acceleration, except in an emergency.
  
• Avoid hard braking, except in an emergency.
  
• The same break-in procedures should be applied to newly installed or overhauled engine or when brake pads or brake linings are replaced with new ones."
  

 

 

My caviat to that is: an emergency can be described as any of the following:

-Test driving the car. Have to see how fast it is.

-Driving home down the highway, is 3rd really good for 90, or more?

-Racing any WRX at any time.

-Showing off the car to friends/family.

-Needing a hit of AWDadrenaline.

[zhabodav]

Well, my 06 leggy se I raped it. Not because i wanted to, but it was an MT and i havent been on an MT for 2 years before that. Plus it was my first car, AND I MEAN really raped it. It went through an inspection in amazing quality, my cluth was still great even and I put 14,000 miles in 6 months. yeah I like to drive. However I own a 07gt now and in the first 600miles, my engine just gave up on me, the pulley broke, the belt broke, the camshaft ******* evaporated, so I was told. ANd I was taking it easy, I guess it is all up to the was the car was made, and you cant gamble on that. Plus, the more you drive it like a grandma (which you cant cause its a subaru ) the longer it will last (I presume). Good luck and have fun. PS I notice its a dark color, go to stickercity.com and get some backlight tints if you want, it looks badass on my diamond gray.

[Crawdaddy79]

Ugh, I hate it when people are vague AND lazy (refering to myself), so I broke down and went to get the manual....

It is under "New vehicle break-in driving the first 1,000 miles" in the index.

 

A close examination reveals:

"The performance and long life of your vehicle are dependent on how you handle and care for your vehicle while it is new. Follow these instructions during the first 1,000 miles (1,600 km):

• Do not race the engine. And do not allow engine speed to exceed 4,000 rpm except in an emergency.
  
• Do not drive at one constant engine or vehicle speed for a long time, either fast or slow.
  
• Avoid starting suddenly and rapid acceleration, except in an emergency.
  
• Avoid hard braking, except in an emergency.
  
• The same break-in procedures should be applied to newly installed or overhauled engine or when brake pads or brake linings are replaced with new ones."
  

 

 

My caviat to that is: an emergency can be described as any of the following:

-Test driving the car. Have to see how fast it is.

-Driving home down the highway, is 3rd really good for 90, or more?

-Racing any WRX at any time.

-Showing off the car to friends/family.

-Needing a hit of AWDadrenaline.

 

Under "N" .. wow haha Who would have thought.

 

If I could give rep points I would right here. Extremely helpful post.

 

Well, my 06 leggy se I raped it. Not because i wanted to, but it was an MT and i havent been on an MT for 2 years before that. Plus it was my first car, AND I MEAN really raped it. It went through an inspection in amazing quality, my cluth was still great even and I put 14,000 miles in 6 months. yeah I like to drive. However I own a 07gt now and in the first 600miles, my engine just gave up on me, the pulley broke, the belt broke, the camshaft ******* evaporated, so I was told. ANd I was taking it easy, I guess it is all up to the was the car was made, and you cant gamble on that. Plus, the more you drive it like a grandma (which you cant cause its a subaru ) the longer it will last (I presume). Good luck and have fun. PS I notice its a dark color, go to stickercity.com and get some backlight tints if you want, it looks badass on my diamond gray.

 

I'll look at the site... I'm trying to hold off on spending unnecessary money... this is my first car payment in four years. I do want tinted windows and orange blinkers though... Definitely checking it out.

[AWD_Rules3830]

Another break in thread lol.

 

My advice ... that it easy for the first 1000 miles then switch to a good synthetic (you will seriously feel a difference if you are sensitive to it).

 

I started out with Mobil One and am switching to Redline synthetic.

 

I also suggest going for full synthetic throughout the car (transaxel, diff) after you break it in. Subaru doesnt really care what you put it in as long as you change it out when they want you to (30000 miles).

[ebpda9]

warm it up under load and redline it under load too a few times.

[AWD_Rules3830]

warm it up under load and redline it under load too a few times.

 

It would be logical to redline it a few times so the seals get used to that type of pressure.

[antny]

For my break in miles I drove the car like I normally would. I did change my speeds but I wasnt stupid and took it to the rev limiter every gear to the next stop light. I always say drive it normal to 1K and change the oil like someone said already. I did take my car through the gears when I drove it off the lot and she runs perfectly fine right now. I did the same thing with my wrx and drove the ever living dog crap out of that car until I traded it in and nothing failed on me.

[gt_ltd]

i rev mine (still under 1600KM - drive in a small city) whenever i feel like it...

[zhabodav]

i rev mine (still under 1600KM - drive in a small city) whenever i feel like it...

 

 

jesus christ you have an 07 leggy sti?!? HOW IS IT

[jigelow]

Seating rings is done by the time the car gets to the dealership. The 'break-in' period is when the computer is learning how to program and what not. As was said before, beat the s out of that thing.

[edkwon]

This thread is this long just to say '1000 miles?' *shakes head*

 

Ed

[Crawdaddy79]

You guys were talking about the ECU learning how I drive...

 

Well I noticed on my way home today that the idiot light (green arrow telling you when to shift) stopped coming on. I tried to get it to come on doing steady ~3500 RPMs in second gear and it didn't.

 

Is this part of the ECU learning or does it just stop popping in after a certain time?

[Scotty]

It's broken in when you put the first scratch on it.

[Euclid]

This thread is this long just to say '1000 miles?' *shakes head*

 

Ed

 

 

Hey, when should I change my oil?

[rony]

Let the endless debate CONTINUE!!!!

[AWD_Rules3830]

Let the endless debate CONTINUE!!!!

 

[imstillatwork]

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

 

The web site is not the best looking, but the guy knows what he's doing.

I've done it on 2 stroke motorcycles, and a car with great results.

 

af first read it sounds crazy - but really - how much research and testing have YOU done on break ins ?

[shiggins]

My possibly worthless anecdotal evidence.....

 

I've owned 3 new cars in my life....a '98 Jetta GLX, a '00 GTI, and a '06 LGT.

 

I pretty much followed the break in procedure on the Jetta short of changing the oil at about 300 miles. I was just skeptical that one should leave oil in a new engine for 3k miles. It ended up burning 1+ quart of oil between oil changes.

 

I broke in the GTI according to spec and changed the oil after about 1.5k on the odometer, although it was a demo for the first 200+ miles (so I'm sure it was beat on somewhat). That car needed about 1/2 quart between changes.

 

I followed the LGT break-in routine to the T and didn't change the oil until about 2.6k. After 19k miles, it doesn't burn any noticeable oil between changes.....and I've been using Mobil 1 5w30 after the 10k change. That's the same oil that seems to be falling into disfavor these days because of oil consumption issues on our cars.

 

So, the way I look at it, it surely doesn't hurt to follow the manufacturer's instruction s for the first 1k miles and first oil change versus somebody's website with unknown credibility. You can pass up 1k miles in a week or so of your new car if you really want too, so why not just follow the under 4k rpms, vary speed and load instructions, and initial oil change interval? It surely won't hurt the car, and at worst will delay your enjoyment a week or so.....

[Crawdaddy79]

So, the way I look at it, it surely doesn't hurt to follow the manufacturer's instruction s for the first 1k miles and first oil change versus somebody's website with unknown credibility.

 

I wrote up a response very similar to that but closed the window.

 

It was in response to the question "How much research have YOU done?" - the answer was "Well how much research has SUBARU done?" - but then we get into conspiracy theories, etc... so I left it alone.