bknezevic

Just to chime in. I was planning on adhering to the 1200 mile no 4k rule but broke it 4 or 5 times within the first 600 miles. between 600 and 1500, which I'm at now, I've gone WOT almost every time I drive the car. I haven't noticed any problems at all with the engine or transmission. When I'm not driving spirited I baby the car very much. Take off from a stop very slow so you break in your clutch/tranny, those two are the most important imo. Shift gears very slow as well, at least I do. I recommend occasionally WOTing and shifting hard every once in a while and gradually start doing it more and more and the car should then be good to drive any way you want it when you want it.

B

Alonjar

For the record, when you guys say "I drove it hard right off the lot and it seems fine!", I'm pretty sure the break in thing helps more in terms of longevity. You may not notice a difference at 15k miles, but when your car gets to 60, or 100k miles.. thats when you're really going to start feeling the abuse the engine and transmission took in the beginning.

But hey, I'm no expert

10secapsttz

There is a 20 mile window in which to properly seat the rings and get great compression..The theory is to drive it pretty hard for the first 20 miles so that the cylinder compression forces the rings against the cylinder walls wearing inot one another causing a great seal..Dont drive it like you stole it but i would say do several 60% 80% and 100% throttle runs within the first 20 miles then drive it spirited. As far as going by the manual that is the traditional method most choose.
One of my friends chose the 20 mile method and was a 13.5/13.6 consistant automatic with minimal mods...

ohw

How many of us have less than 20 miles on the clock when we get our new Z?

Armitage

iTrader: (15)

I will. Mine's ordered.

Kolia

iTrader: (2)

26 miles here...

10secapsttz

Im obviously reffering to a newly built motor..Also how does a brand new car get 26 miles on it???There not that much moving it on and off shipping trailers..

Kolia

iTrader: (2)

It wasn't a special order. So the car had probably been test driven by others.

King56

I think some of you have the wrong idea behind the break in, It's mainly there to seat the pistons, won't affect anything in the tranny long term.
Couple posts said it best though (IMO) going 400-500 miles then raise it a lil, and so on until 1k-1.2k. 1k should be plenty, hell 600-800 should be fine.

Kolia

iTrader: (2)

My tranny feels a lot different now than when the car was new...

mikz350

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm
this is the way all people whit new engine should go trust me
do you think that race car run 2000milles easy trotle breaking before each race?
i did that method 3 time whit ownsome result in ring sealling

engiNERD350Z

iTrader: (2)

It seems as though there is still debate on how to drive those first 20 miles. Well, I got my car at 15 miles. Let's hope then that those first miles were driven hard by the people who test drove the car which they more than likely were. Problem solved. Thanks all.

BTW, let this be a lesson to us all to apply to our lives. GO TO THE DEALERSHIP AND TEST DRIVE A 350Z HARD, for those poor fellows who won't know better when they buy the car.

Armitage

iTrader: (15)

Someone already posted that info. It sparked a rather large debate in another thread.

And please try and be more competent w/ your spelling.