[Bad 1LE]

Oil consumption is usually caused from the inverse. Excessive low engine speeds, sustained speeds with no load, etc prior to rings sealing. Many times the top ring will seat well, but the ones below end up not seeing enough cylinder pressure to seat them. I suspect much of the 1500 miles they recommend is not for things to break in, develop wear patterns etc. I personally think it's a buffer to minimize damage if something wasn't assembled or manufactured quite up to par.

I've physically watched engines break in on a dyno with everything including crankcase pressure being monitored. If those rings arent seated in a handfull of pulls, those engines never seal like they should. Roller cams don't "wear in" like old flat tappet cams either. If a twin disk clutch isn't seated in a few hundred miles, it's a pile of junk or defective. The mechanical side of these cars should be worked in by 500-750 miles plenty good enough to take whatever it was built for. Do as you wish though, it's your ass on the line if it breaks, lol.

As someone who has torn apart, assembled, and criticaly inspected piles of engines, transmissions, and rear ends I've never seen any mechanical vehicle part that needed 1500 miles before it was broken in. We must be driving automotive unicorns here, lol.

I'd change engine and gear oils much sooner than recommended. You'll be just be regurgitating the fine metallic particals after the first few hundred miles. The oil filter will catch most of it, but clean fresh oil is a good thing any way you shake it

[Bearded_Seamonkey]

I also have a 2022 ZL1 and I just went back and looked at the 2018 ZL1 owners manual and it is written the same way as the 2022. On pg 209 it only mentions the 1500 mi break in procedure for under 4k rpm etc. There is no mention of the 500 miles. Since majority have been doing the 500 mile under 4k rpm and then drive it like they stole it after that…seems like they aren’t having problems. That’s my plan…500 mile oil change, then drive it like it’s meant to be driven…then change oil and rear diff at 1500 and then sign up for my first track event.

[arpad_m]

Originally Posted by KaMaRow

Yes i have seen the track pdf. but the most current is 2019 I cant find one newer. That is why im curious if the info has changed and why no newer track document is available. The manual for the 2022 and the track supplement for the 2022 go on for page after page about track prep but make zero mention of a 500 mile oil change.

I am now curious about the diff oil. I can for answers now I have more questions

The track prep guide used to be available from one's owner account at my.chevrolet.com, but now I can't even see my 2018 one online, the site has taken a dumpster dive overall after the recent redesign(s). This was such a useful document, describing proper break-in, brake burnishing, even some detailed suspension adjustment scenarios for the ZL1 1LE etc.

The most likely explanation is that gm simply doesn't care enough anymore to spend resources on keeping things up to date. The peak for the Camaro was the 2018 ZL1 1LE Nürburgring run, their level of attention been downhill since then.

[KaMaRow]

Thanks everyone for all the info. I guess the general consensus is there is not current documentation on this and everyone is just going of the older documentation that is for the same car. I feel at the end of the day the engine is pretty bullet proof and you would almost have to try to mess it up. I think from the feedback here Ill wait till 1000 miles and then also have them do the diff oil as well. see my stupid questions let me find out new info I otherwise wouldn't have known thanks guys.

[Gunkk]

Originally Posted by arpad_m

The track prep guide used to be available from one's owner account at my.chevrolet.com, but now I can't even see my 2018 one online, the site has taken a dumpster dive overall after the recent redesign(s). This was such a useful document, describing proper break-in, brake burnishing, even some detailed suspension adjustment scenarios for the ZL1 1LE etc.

Here ya go. PDF at the bottom



And yes it also refers to the 500 mi oil change. So yeah that's why the OP is getting recommendations for the 500mi change from us old-timers.

[arpad_m]

[QUOTE=Gunkk;11151380]

Originally Posted by arpad_m

The track prep guide used to be available from one's owner account at my.chevrolet.com, but now I can't even see my 2018 one online, the site has taken a dumpster dive overall after the recent redesign(s). This was such a useful document, describing proper break-in, brake burnishing, even some detailed suspension adjustment scenarios for the ZL1 1LE etc./QUOTE]

Here ya go. PDF at the bottom



And yes it also refers to the 500 mi oil change.

Thanks Gunkk, I download and save and back up everything of value at least 2x (can you spell trust problems, haha), so I already had it locally.

That said, I'm sure it's valuable to everyone in the thread, and almost sure there's no reason for these recommendations to have changed for 2019+, the essentials of the car remained the same.

[Mark R]

Originally Posted by Bad 1LE

Oil consumption is usually caused from the inverse. Excessive low engine speeds, sustained speeds with no load, etc prior to rings sealing. Many times the top ring will seat well, but the ones below end up not seeing enough cylinder pressure to seat them. I suspect much of the 1500 miles they recommend is not for things to break in, develop wear patterns etc. I personally think it's a buffer to minimize damage if something wasn't assembled or manufactured quite up to par.

If those rings aren't seated in a handful of pulls, those engines never seal like they should. Roller cams don't "wear in" like old flat tappet cams either. If a twin disk clutch isn't seated in a few hundred miles, it's a pile of junk or defective. The mechanical side of these cars should be worked in by 500-750 miles plenty good enough to take whatever it was built for. Do as you wish though, it's your ass on the line if it breaks, lol.


I'd change engine and gear oils much sooner than recommended. You'll be just be regurgitating the fine metallic particles after the first few hundred miles. The oil filter will catch most of it, but clean fresh oil is a good thing any way you shake it

This. ^ A firm break in results in an engine that does not burn oil. You want those rings to seat, and you only have a couple of hundred miles to do so, maybe less. You gotta give it the beans right away.

Early oil changes are important in this context, as well as the diff fluid.

It's a $70,000 car that will likely never see high mileage. Don't cheap out on oil changes.

[mariojas]

Is engine map different during break-in period? I think I read somewhere that fuel economy will change after that which would suggest it.
But my problem is that my car is super weak on low RPMs - I need to pump it to 1.5k to comfortably start going on 1st. I would expect to be able to move car around on parking lot without touching gas pedal but it's not possible. And it's not my first manual car. My first 650HP manual car. I learned stick while learning how to drive, and practiced this over 10 years driving only manuals... It died on me like 5 times within first 3 days. As I said anything under 1.5k seems weak - RPM dips almost to stall. Normal for break-in period?

[Idaho2018GTPremium]

Originally Posted by KaMaRow

Yes i have seen the track pdf. but the most current is 2019 I cant find one newer. That is why im curious if the info has changed and why no newer track document is available. The manual for the 2022 and the track supplement for the 2022 go on for page after page about track prep but make zero mention of a 500 mile oil change.

I am now curious about the diff oil. I can for answers now I have more questions

As others have said, it hasn’t been updated because the car is the same. It should still be relevant and accurate. I see from your latest post you’re going to do the 1000 mile oil change and rear differential fluid change, that’s good. Then just go off the computer and maintenance service intervals. And as others have said, don’t baby it during the break in, give it some good runs to 4000 RPM through a few gears, and don’t worry if you go a little bit past that.

[raptor5244]

Originally Posted by mariojas

Is engine map different during break-in period? I think I read somewhere that fuel economy will change after that which would suggest it.
But my problem is that my car is super weak on low RPMs - I need to pump it to 1.5k to comfortably start going on 1st. I would expect to be able to move car around on parking lot without touching gas pedal but it's not possible. And it's not my first manual car. My first 650HP manual car. I learned stick while learning how to drive, and practiced this over 10 years driving only manuals... It died on me like 5 times within first 3 days. As I said anything under 1.5k seems weak - RPM dips almost to stall. Normal for break-in period?

I think you are referring to a characteristic of the clutch on the ZL1. If you search you will see there are a number of threads discussing how the taller 1st gear in the ZL1 along with twin disc clutch requires a bit more finesse to get going from a stop vs. the SS. Maybe some other M6 owners can chime in?

[mariojas]

Originally Posted by raptor5244

I think you are referring to a characteristic of the clutch on the ZL1. If you search you will see there are a number of threads discussing how the taller 1st gear in the ZL1 along with twin disc clutch requires a bit more finesse to get going from a stop vs. the SS. Maybe some other M6 owners can chime in?

Maybe... I must say that today (4th day of ownership) is muuuch better. Maybe I got used to it? Or it is bad for the first 150miles? No clue.

[Kevin0311]

I have several manual cars, my zl1 manual did take me a few days to get used to, I slowed down my clutch release compared to other cars taking off normal from a stop and seemed to help me. In my driveway moving car around no throttle needed to get moving to full release of clutch slowing down release, torque of motor gets it going no bog.

[raptor5244]

Originally Posted by mariojas

Maybe... I must say that today (4th day of ownership) is muuuch better. Maybe I got used to it? Or it is bad for the first 150miles? No clue.

I think you are just getting used to it. Muscle memory kicks in and you get the clutch engagement point and throttle just right. That is part of the fun of driving a manual, a bit more challenging but rewarding when you get it just right.

[mariojas]

Originally Posted by raptor5244

I think you are just getting used to it. Muscle memory kicks in and you get the clutch engagement point and throttle just right. That is part of the fun of driving a manual, a bit more challenging but rewarding when you get it just right.

I agree. My left leg didn't do anything for the last 5 years...

My yesterday's joy ride was almost flawless