Buzzardz_vette

When I did the plant tour during my museum delivery, they said the initial "dyno" is at low speed (didn't say what low was, but it wasn't very aggressive at all). After that they go into a booth where they take it up to 80mph to check out the systems. At least that's what our guide told us. We didn't get to see a car in the booth.

Corgidog1

The break in period to me is not an all or nothing time frame-i.e.Keep it easy for 500 miles and let her rip at mile 501. There is no difference between mile 499 and mile 501 on a car as it is a gradual process. So I do the same-very careful on the first 100 or so, a little less careful on the next couple hundred and beginning to drive her a little harder on the next couple hundred and then all is good to go. I am also careful on the brakes in the beginning.

C6RaceCar

That mototune break in technique is for race engines that will be torn down promptly after the next race.

For street cars, dont ***** it and dont abuse it for atleast 500 miles. But DO drive it like you plan to drive it long term. Its that simple.

W88fixer

The break in article reads like an infomercial selling a product than engineering wisdom. Don

Rad22

They must've changed their procedure at the plant. When I picked mine up there September 30, 2013 and went on the plant tour, the cars were only run up to a steady 65 mph on the chassis dyno and nowhere near redline. While at 65 mph for about 30 seconds, multiple computer tests and measurements were performed without drama and the car was quietly driven to the water test booth.

Jimbob26

Just returned from a BG plant tour and watched them test a car in the 'booth'. We could watch what the big screen was instructing the driver to do, and basically it was accelerate to 65 (the indicated speed on the monitor at that point was 72), test the shifting, the brakes, and the cruise control. From what I have read, the engine is not the limiting factor for the initial break-in period, but rather the differential.

Once the car completed all the tests the monitor light indicated green, which was 'pass'; there were a couple of cars in an adjacent area being worked on, which we were told had failed one or more of the tests.

Same thing goes for when to do the initial oil change. I remember the days when it was changed after 1000-1500 miles, but now it seems the manufacturers don't want t change until 10k-20k miles depending on time and usage. I say to each his own.

Rad22

It never ceases to amaze me that some new owner's don't have the self control to follow the recommended break in procedure and thus argue vociferously that it has no merit. For crying out loud, it's only 500 miles (1500 before you can take it to the track). I did that on the way home from Bowling Green...not difficult.

I seriously doubt the recommended procedure is lawyer-related. These recommendations are almost certainly sourced by engineers and likely come from testing and fault analysis over many years of new drivetrain delivery.

Daekwan06

As others have said that article is not secret.. its been around millions of years. And I've seen 100's of people argue both sides of it.

My two cents: GM built the car. GM warranties the car. GM wrote the owners manual. I'll listen to the people who made it and are responsible for fixing it for the next 5 years before I will anyone else. Including some anonymous source from the internetz.

Do I even need mention that I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between 460hp or 465hp. Is is really worth the risk for an extra 5hp? Or mentioning the break-in period is only 500 miles. Really? You cant drive the speed limit for 500 miles?

cpages2

I have a large number of friends who buy new cars and baby the hell out of them for the first 1-5K miles. Some will even never use the car for more than 100 Miles of driving until they get past what they think is a break in period.

Then I have another group of friends who will do a burn-out out of the dealer's lot. Day one they are at the drag strip.

I can say first hand that all of my friends who baby the hell out of the car end up having more issues down the line for some odd reason. A close friend of mine in the Race Engineering field once told me that when an engine is babied and never get strain it has a tendency to adapt to that so when the owner finnaly decides to have fun parts are already at wear point with no pressure ever and things will break and crack more easily.

Where as someone who has put more strain on the car will have parts better adapted to being used harder.


Cant say without a doubt its true or not but I have seen enough people who swear by Break-In with car issues down the line to think that is a huge waste of time. ENJOY YOUR CAR!!!

Walt White Coupe

rstrait

I remember back over 40 years ago when my best friend and I bought identical brand new motorcycles. I broke mine in according to manufacturers recommendations and he ran the crap out of his from the get go due to a drag racers recommendation. After my break in period we raced each other. He left me in the dust. We switched bikes and I left him in the dust. Never did find out anything regarding the reliability or longevity of either, we didn't keep them long enough.

LIStingray

I am mostly following the recommended break-in procedures, except the speed limit thing - I have had mine up to about 100 mph and have run it on the highway at 70-80 pretty regularly after the first 200 miles but before I reached 500 miles.
I believe in a gradual break in, running it harder as the miles accumulate until at 1,000 miles I will change the oil to Mobil 1 5W-30 and then let her rip with full throttle runs to redline on occasion (after the engine, transmission and rear is fully up to temp).

thedofuss

you are correct, let me clarify. by "we" i mean the human race. that would exclude the higgs boson, obviously, since that is not humanoid.

sly1

Over the last 40 years I have broken-in several sports cars. In each one I exceeded the RPM limits set by the factory, but I never went to redline. I never pushed the car hard until the car reached normal operating temperatures.

Using this method I had a problem with oil usage on only one of my cars, a Porsche 964, and even that car only burnt a quart of oil about every 3K miles. The only warning I have is to avoid prolonged driving at the same RPM as could occur if someone purchased a car from out of state, and then engaged cruise control. Other than that I don't think there is too much that the average driver can do wrong during break-in.

Rad22

The problem with each reply to this thread is that each is an individual anecdote. In other words, there is no pervasive evidence, plus or minus, gained by individuals as to what break-in method is best.

In my opinion, the engineers at General Motors have the advantage of being able to look at a large number of vehicles broken in over many, many years to compile their statistics.

Individual, anecdotal sources mean nothing statistically.

Sin City

They don't dyno the engines at Tonawanda or at BG. The engine is moved mechanically without gasoline and they look for problems-- but it is not fired up and run in the engine factory. It's just checked for defects.

The first time it is fired and runs on gas is when it reaches the end of the production line in Bowling Green.

They do put the car on a test jig to see if everything works but that's not a dyno to break in the engine. They want you to avoid Eco mode and long drives a the same speed for the first 500 miles to break in the engine properly.

v26278

I don't buy the "lawyer" argument. If GM wanted to avoid liability they would be blunt about it, like the warnings about side effects you see in prescription drug adds, and not use a bogus break-in procedure.

Personally, I've never been able to fully restrain myself and follow the manufacturers break-in rules, but I do try for the most part.

LimeRock7

Little faeries trailing gowns of hot sparks is what goes on in there.

Walt White Coupe

Exactly!

Higgs Boson

How do the GM engineers know how all of the engines were broken in when they are not anywhere near them? they just assume the ones with warranty issues are the ones that were improperly broken in?

or do they have two of each car, one broken in hard and one broken in soft and then the results of each apply to all other cars? how do these long term tests work? i am asking because you seem to know what happens inside GM, so don't tease us, give us details.

Is an aggregate opinion of individuals more or less important than an individual expert opinion?

If an individual engineer in a lab sees certain results that differ from 1000 individual non-experts does that make 1000 people wrong?