I see two problems with following this theory. First it says that the break-in occurs within the 1st 20 miles and then it doesn't matter....and I bet most new Z owners get their car with more than 20 miles on it. I ordered my from the factory and it already had 14 when it came off the truck.

Second weakness of theory is that he admits that he can't give a reason why the owner's manuals of most all new cars recommend a cautioned break-in period.

So this fast and furious method contradicts those who think that after the first 20 miles "driving it like you stole it" is the best way and contradicts the recommendations of the ower's manual. Did this guy build and warranty the car or did Nissan? I'm not saying he is wrong, just that trusting him doesn't come naturally.

 

Ah, the warranty is 3 yr's or 36,000 miles whichever comes first. In my case that is one and 1/2 years. I'm planning to keep mine longer than the warranty. Is it Skorch or Scorched. But, to each his own.

 

You're right, I might hit 36K before the 3 years is up, but I'm still not planning on keeping it longer than that. I'll most likely be trading up to the new '09 Z with the VQ37HR, Evo X, or something else entirely depending on what's available at the time and my income status.

 

I notice you live in Austin. If you need someone to break-in your Z, let me know. I live in SA . . .

 

Actually, the drive train warranty, which covers the engine is 5 yrs/60K miles.

bill

 

Cant really take it on a long road trip because as the manual says shouldn't drive at a constant speed for a long period of time. I suppose i can vary my speed though.

 

I've had mine for a month and I'm still at 700 miles. Doh!

 

I havent even had mine a month and only drive it on weekends and already have almost that on it.
When I cruise, I cruise. lol

Either way you break it in, you will have the same outcome.
I have broke in on the dyno, to the dyno, and long breakins. I always seem to have very healthy strong motors.
Ive literally done it all.

 

oh no not another 'break-un' debate. The same people that don't properly break in their cars as stated in the manufactureres manual are the same ones that will be posting 'problem's with their new ride down the road. at least thats the mentality I have. If I didn't adhere to the procedure, I would be kickin myself if anything went wrong down the line. but i have been called paranoid before so i'd rather have the piece of mine. I hit the breakin mark, changed the oil and spent a whole Sunday blastin around town. You do get used to the speed which kinda sucks.

 

If you ordered the car and received it with 14 miles on the odometer, than that means that people at the dealer drove you car around for a bit. Maybe even offered it for a test drive. Someone just may have broke it in for you.

 

I find that cars that have been pushed hard from near the beginning to be faster than similar model cars. That's just my experience though.

 

Agreed.

Again I have done both methods and I have had both come up with very strong results. Diff strokes for diff folks.

You dont have to break it in and you wont have problems if you wont. Just dont be stupid.

 

For all the people that choose to ignore the break-in reccomendations of the engineers at Nissan (per the owners manual), you might as well not follow the engineer's advice when it comes to motor oil grade, gas grade, and redline limits either. I mean, you guys must all know so much more about modern engine design than engineers with Master's degrees that work for the world's most prestigious car manufacturers, so why not go wild? You should just pour 20W-80 oil in you motor and pump aviation fuel into your tank, cause what does Nissan know? After all, redlining a brand new motor and bouncing off the rev-limiter with 20 miles on the ODO *MUST* be good for the cylinder walls and valvetrain. Trust me.

 

No it makes sense. See if you lay the smack down on your woman, and get her to bake you pie every night, she'll learn how to treat you like the king you are. But if you treat her real nice, spoil her... buy her things... she'll start acting like a biatch, and never bake you a fucking pie.

 

It is good to occasionally take the car close to the redline during the break-in process as it may help the rings seat better which will provide for better compression down the line as the car gets older.

 

Well you're open minded.

 

I guarantee you only an insane dealership would turn over a special ordered car that would take 3+ months to replace to someone wanting to test drive it. A sale in the hand is worth several in the bush. But we do know there are insane dealerships out there.

The point is that the cars come off the trucks at the dealerships with several miles already on them and I bet they have several miles on them when they are loaded on the ships in Japan. Maybe someone else can enlighten us about the first miles on the odometers.

 

obviously the naysayers against the hard break in know nothing about engines and have never built one. The owners manual is just trying to cover themselves with the break in period, just because the old break in is the way things use to be done doesn't mean it's the right way now.

 

Or they traded in their older Z's for an 07?

 

That makes no sense. If you are right, what is it they have to cover themselves for? That they haven't updated their owner's manual? Who is going to sue them for that. I'm trying to be openminded, but I'm not getting some logical answers that I need to believe that breaking in an engine should be done opposite of what the manual says.

You know, break-in period may not be just about the engine. The car has other moving parts and systems in it.