So, I read these recommendations for the break-in period: New Car Break-in period 1000 miles: Drive calmly for the first 1,000 miles and vary your driving with a normal mix of city and highway. Always note the blue 'cold engine' light on the dashboard- its a visual reminder that the engine is cold. Avoid hard starts and stops. Avoid over-revving the engine, try to keep RPMs under 4000. Vary your speeds over the full range of city and highway driving Don't use cruise control much, if at all. City and freeway driving is fine because that will vary the speeds They are pretty clear and self-explanatory. The problem is that I bought my impreza in Colorado and I HAVE to drive it back in 2 days. 400-500 miles/day. I would do in all in one shot, but my mom is gonna caravan with me, so we gotta drag it out. I figure that is best since it will put a little less time at the same speed for 12-13 hours. Any recommendations how I can do best for the engine given that I am going to be traveling totally on the freeway. Should I keep it under 75? Should I drive for 60 for an hour, then speed up to 75 for an hour, and vice/versa? Should I whip ****ties in the truckstop parking lot to mix it up? What are my options here given the fact I have to drive 900 miles in 2 days?
http://mnsubaru.com/threads/wrx-break-in.38925/#post-647864 ^Read through this! There are alot of opinions in there already. I think that the biggest thing that you should pay attention to is warming it up properly before driving. Let it get up to temp before going anywhere, then just drive normal. And congrats on the new ride!!
I would say the most important thing, vary the engine speed. Don't use Cruise control. That is the general consensus from Subaruforester.org
Yeah, I saw that forum before and thought I would put it out to the general impreza crew ... and I just happen to be extra anxious with my first new car. My 92 legacy is the favorite car that I have owned. I really don't see myself getting it over 3500 rpm the whole trip. I don't plan on using cruise control and maybe I will stop every 150-200 miles to drive around town and walk the dog.
Hey, I've reading a lot about this as well as I am picking up my new car in a couple months. When it comes to the varying RPMs, it seems to me that if you don't use cruise control, it's relatively difficult to actually keep the car at a single RPM anyways. I have been paying attention to how I drive on my morning commute (very light traffic) and I usually vary my speed several times in the 20 minutes it takes me to get to work. (basically all freeway.) Anyways, good luck and congrats!
Not only would I not use cruise, I would purposely vary speed while driving often. That is, I would coast back 10-15 mph, then accelerate back up. I'd do that a few times in a row, then drive normally for a while and repeat several times an hour (as much as you can stand). I'd also try to stop a little more often than normal for gas, snacks, whatever - and when stopped, I'd take er around the block a few times etc. I could be wrong, but the way I understood it is that the rings have to wear during the break-in period to create a good seal. The sides of the cylinder are finely scored so that they are abrasive, and this scrubs the ring to make the fit. The scoring will be gone after the break-in period no matter what, but if you don't actually build some pressure in the cylinder by driving that car and using that engine, then the ring won't get scrubbed nearly as much and you can get a sloppy fit for the rest of the life of the engine (which I think results in poor compression and burning oil). That's why you want to avoid cruising and vary the engine RPM's (but without revving too high as that is excessively hard on a new engine). Holding it at the same speed on the highway for hours is what you want to avoid, using cruise or not. Going one speed for an hour and another speed for the next hour is also what you want to avoid. I'd be putting as many around town miles on it before you hit the highway as possible. And don't be afraid to get on it after the first 100 miles. In fact, I would make a point of getting on it often during the break in period, it's much more likely to be bad for the engine to drive it too timidly - just don't over-rev it and don't drive it cold.
pretty much broke the car in on our drive to mn from ct, all in 2 days also. . just pass a lot of people and you'll get plenty of rev variety.
