ive heard that it's bad for new cars to be driven too hard (over 4k rpm). u should compile about 600miles before u do that. but then, ive also heard that nowadays, new cars have been "pre-broken in". so u can drive it however u want the moment u get it (w/ no mileage).

which is true? and what about the Z?
thanks.

 

I've had several new cars, and I've given each of them at least 1500 miles before I opened them up. Doesn't matter to me if it is or isn't "pre-broken in" I still do it myself to be safe. Only got 1200 on my Z, so I'm still waiting to see what it'll do. Until then, 4k RPM.

 

Do you have a owners manual? Did you read it?

 

^+1

 

hammer it from the start man... this way the car will open up and just get better... Get the full potential out of it

 

As per the owners manual, do not exceed 4000 rpms until you reach 1200 miles. Once you do reach that milestone, I would still not take it to redline yet. I slowly increased the rpms as I put more miles on it. For example,

MILES - RPMS
1200 - 4000
1300 - 5000
1400 - 6000
1500 - 7000

Granted, I do alot of "around town" driving, and not much highway driving, so most of my miles were of varying rpms, not a steady speed.

Off topic, I averaged 20.8 mpg for the first 1500 miles on the car...not too shabby.

 

M-A-N-U-A-L.

Read it
Know it
Follow it.

 

To have a peace of mind, just follow the instructions of the owners manual.

Or if your car came new with 78 miles on it like mine, it was already broken in with all the other test drivers.

 

I don't take mine past 4,500 rpm.

 

I hear mixed things, with these cars, I would baby it....you could follow the owner manual or not, but 4k rpms for 1500......ewww man i wish i had the patience..

 

OWNERS MANUAL???? SEARCH ENGINE????

Who would have thought?!?!

 

just drive at various speeds, don't floor it 24-7 and you will be good

 

Here how I did it :



Before you flame away, let it be known that my official Nissan dealer told me that I do not need to break the car in. Furthermore, the manual makes absolutely no mention of it. (Europe version, german language)

 

The pre-broken idea is a myth.
Engines are manufactured, assembled, and fired up. Then they are shipped out. That's about all the -prebroken in process you get.

Now, there are two break-in processes.

1) soft break-in
2) hard break-in

The soft break in process is exactly that. You drive your car like a british grandmother on her way to the morning meetup at the croquet club. Drive under 4K for 600-1000 miles and then you're freeto unleash the ponies thereafter.

The hard break in process entails a throttle exercise that is exerted over a 10-30 minute period.
Redline in 3d gear at half throttle.
Stop- rest 15 minutes
Redline in 3rd gear at 3/4 throttle
Stop- rest 15 minutes
REDLINE in 3rd gear at full wide open throttle (WOT)
-complete the last step 2-5 times (usually once is enough)


Basically though break in process is to allow the piston heads to seal properly around the crankcase so you get the maximum performance out of your engine. After the first 30 miles of driving your brand new 0 Mile car, there is no way to do a hard breakin ever again.

On motorcycles, which i own and have owned, I have done the hard break in processes every time. They seal the piston heads completely. There is no compression leak and as the motor runs in with time, it gets more and more powerful.

So for whatever its' worth, make your chocie

 

thanks for the responses!

 

The manual (US version anyway) states 1200 miles under 4000 RPM's, but do not keep the throttle at a constant RPM. Since I drove mine up from Florida to NJ, I did it a bit differently because it was all highway:

Up to 300 miles < 4000 RPMs
Up to 600 miles < 5000 RPMs
Up to 900 miles < 6000 RPMs

After 900 miles, I let her open up once or twice. And through the entire break in process, I was constantly shifting.I shifted when I passed people on the highway and such, keeping it below the noted RPM's just to keep the RPM's constantly moving. After 900 miles of that though, my legs were tired and I turned the CC on.

 

I got my car w/ 6k miles on it. No doubt the car was hammered on before I owned it but it drives like a champ nearing 20k miles now.

If I had my way I would have broken it in softly. But unless you receive the car with only 2 miles on the odometer...somebody has redlined that thing during a test drive prior to you. So although it might not be ideal to run hard early on, it's being done and Z's aren't blowing up or anything.