[Torquem]

Neutral drop off the rev limiter on the showroom floor. Highly recommended.

[Ryephile]

Originally Posted by protovack

Here is the consensus as far as I can tell. The ring seating is done at the factory and there's nothing you can do to change that. You can't make the rings seat better by doing acceleration/deceleration cycles. They already did that. The rings are seated. Beyond that, you are basically taking it easy while the parts break in. A few hundred miles, should be good. There are mechanics on here that have said the 1500 mile break in is too long, and from what I've seen, a 500 mile break in period is sufficient, but you do have to vary the RPMs. 500 highway miles in 8th gear at 1000rpm may not be an adequate break-in. Perhaps this is why Chevy recommends 1500?

This is quite accurate. By the time the car gets off the transport truck, the majority of the ring seating is complete. The balance of the break-in is mainly shake-down burnishing and bedding for clutches, brakes, rings, bearings, and seals.

A TL;DR metaphor is basically: you don't do a 24hr LeMans straight out of the paddock, you do some warm-up laps first.

[Childs Play]

I'd stick to what the manufacture recommends and not what some keyboard cowboys say. But that's just my .02

[wjones14]

Originally Posted by Childs Play

I'd stick to what the manufacture recommends and not what some keyboard cowboys say. But that's just my .02

I'm with you and do what the manufacturer recommends in the owner's manual. The break-in for my BMW was also 1500 miles.

This same thread exists in every car enthusiast forum, and in every one there's a camp who follows the recommended break-in procedure and an opposing camp who has their own idea of what the break-in procedure should be.

[ICTsccaCamaro]

I've got 230miles on mine and have only gotten it up to 130mph so defiantly taking it easy.

[JLSuperfly]

There is plenty of infinite wisdom in this thread.

[cooper1965]

This stuff is funny to read. What do you guys think happens on test drives? People TEST the car and its power. Unless you bought your car with 0 miles, someone already drove it. (the guy at the plant, the transport driver, the tech doing pdi, the porter doing clean up for the lot..ect..ect..

[ninetres]

Originally Posted by cooper1965

This stuff is funny to read. What do you guys think happens on test drives? People TEST the car and its power. Unless you bought your car with 0 miles, someone already drove it. (the guy at the plant, the transport driver, the tech doing pdi, the porter doing clean up for the lot..ect..ect..

I’m not following your point. Should we NOT follow some sort of easy break-in there-after? Let’s use my car for example. Bought it off the showroom floor with 9 miles on it.

What’s likely a better bet for break-in:
A: 9 possible harsh “testing miles” following me beating on it from day 1?
Or
B: 9 possible harsh testing miles with me following a mild break-in procedure as generally well accepted, as well as listed in owners manual?

[Childs Play]

Originally Posted by ninetres

I’m not following your point. Should we NOT follow some sort of easy break-in there-after? Let’s use my car for example. Bought it off the showroom floor with 9 miles on it.

What’s likely a better bet for break-in:
A: 9 possible harsh “testing miles” following me beating on it from day 1?
Or
B: 9 possible harsh testing miles with me following a mild break-in procedure as generally well accepted, as well as listed in owners manual?

Exactly. So... It was done incorrectly for the first 9 miles, so I should just keep abusing and beating on it for the next 1491?

I under-cooked some chicken one time, so I should continue under-cooking it in the future?

[SkipNWis]

I did first oil change at 500 then at 1500 I did everything oil rear diff trans and brakes all got changed. I went with DOT4 for brakes. No regrets so far

[whiteboyblues2001]

Originally Posted by protovack

Here is the consensus as far as I can tell.[BOLD] The ring seating is done at the factory and there's nothing you can do to change that.[/BOLD] You can't make the rings seat better by doing acceleration/deceleration cycles. They already did that. The rings are seated. Beyond that, you are basically taking it easy while the parts break in. A few hundred miles, should be good. There are mechanics on here that have said the 1500 mile break in is too long, and from what I've seen, a 500 mile break in period is sufficient,[BOLD] but you do have to vary the RPMs[/BOLD]. 500 highway miles in 8th gear at 1000rpm may not be an adequate break-in. Perhaps this is why Chevy recommends 1500?

Those are completely contradictory statements. IF the rings are fully seated, you don't need to vary RPM's and vice versa.

I have done a break-in procedure to help fully seat the rings in all my cars going way back (while still maintaining the manufacturer's recommendations). With the LT1, I performed the procedure, then changed the oil like I usually do, and it did NOT look like there was much break-in debris. So, I agree that the rings are pretty darn seated before we get the cars (I special ordered mine, and have single digit miles on it when I got it).

I did the same with my 2011 V6 camaro, and when I changed the oil, there was more glitter than a strip club.

BUT, more importantly than any of this crap, is CHANGE YOUR DIFFERENTIAL FLUID, and CHANGE YOUR A8 TRANS FLUID right after break-in. There are issues with both that a fluid change sometimes fixes. I did mine, and never had any rear end "groan" or A8 "shudders". Could be coincidence, but it certainly won't hurt to put fresh fluids in...

[torqueaddict]

My car had less than 5 miles on it. Even if it had 50, I'd still try to follow the break-in guide as closely as possible.

Wasn't 4 or 5k rpms the recommended limit during break-in? That's still a lot of leeway for having some fun.

Realistically though, driving off the lot like you stole it should not cause any long term issues (in my humble opinion).

As a side note: I'm not touching the fluid in the rear diff unless there's a problem or recommended by the dealer / GM. Same with the manual tranny. My last car had 165K hard miles (mazdaspeed 3) on the original clutch and tranny, and to this day it shifts just as smoothly as day 1. Same fluid.

[Mr. Wyndham]

Originally Posted by torqueaddict

As a side note: I'm not touching the fluid in the rear diff unless there's a problem or recommended by the dealer / GM. Same with the manual tranny. My last car had 165K hard miles (mazdaspeed 3) on the original clutch and tranny, and to this day it shifts just as smoothly as day 1. Same fluid.

If you race the car, or drive hard (canyon/twisty runs) you should change diff fluid periodically. They call for every 24 hours of track time - in my world that ends up being once a year or so.

All fluid breaks down over time, viscosity...your Mazda may shift well, I wonder if it would shift better with fresh fluid? We changed the fluid in my 2014 after about 40,000 miles (installed diff cooler, so we had to)...didn't make a lick of difference.

[Koldunic]

I follow the recommandation.

I did it with my GT and I will do it with the ZL1 (If I ever get one...).