Consequences & experiences with bad break in periods?
 

The break in period topic is redundant, although I'm curious to see what kind of consequences you guys have attributed to bad break in periods? Some of us probably bought these cars with 2-4 miles but some with 15-20+ on them brand new, but it seems that if there was abuse prior to delivery, then there's been obvious signs to some of us by now?

Reason I ask this is I'm an internet salesperson at a dealer and know some ppl from Scion dealers that have posted vids of abusing a few FRS' in a private lot, even tho I could get a hookup there I obviously refused to buy there just in case. Of course, the BRZ I ended up getting was a dealer trade and you never know either. Especially since this car's characteristics are so different from a comfy commuter sedan with CVT.

Question is, if there was some sort of abuse that eventually affects your vehicle, is it likely that it will show up in the near future or in the 6 figure miles range? Not as mechanically inclined and have always wanted to know more regarding this topic.

Honestly, break in period Ive come to believe doesn't matter a whole lot unless you're really flogging the shit out of the car early on. Things like going to redline when the engine and oil are cold isn't a good idea either.

Other than that, I think the differences would be minuscule.

This is coming from someone who usually follows an OEM+ version of break in for what's it's worth.

Did a hard break in period on my new brz. I do it with all my bikes and cars, never had a problem and none of them eat oil. Just don't set the cruise control on the same rpm forever. Its my belief that you break in the car how it will be normally driven.

Not the same but my nitro RC motors would last way longer with the hard break in than everyone else that would baby the car for the first gallon. Those race motors don't live very long lives so it was easy to compare.

Break in periods are largely pointless with the precision that components are made to and assembled these days. The main point of the break in is to allow minor imperfections to gently wear away and for parts to "wear in" to each other. I would agree with @dirtymax that an engine should be broken in the way it will be used. Maybe the first few miles ever put on the car you should be careful just to make sure that nothing was wrong with the car.
Personally my car had 24 miles on it when I bought it and I regularly push it very hard, ever since the test drive. I am curious to see if there's anything that will come up that could be attributed to a hard break in. But it will probably be hard to determine since it could also just be a result of being daily driven by an overly enthusiastic driver.

Everybody always focuses on the wrong thing. It's not hard driving you have to worry about. It's using cruise control during the first 1000 miles.

During break-in, the zinc in the oil is being essentially cooked onto surfaces, bonding with the steel to make the surfaces harder and more resistant to wear. But since the surfaces are still somewhat malleable when you first get the car, there's still some wear. You get continuous overlapping cycles of wear, harden, wear, harden, etc.

The overall goal is for the engine to wear into a configuration that will provide the most power and longevity, then harden that way. The best way to do that is to provide the engine with a range of loads. In particular, under different loads the pistons will push against the walls of the cylinder differently and wear the cylinders into a tapered shape, where they're slightly wider in the middle than on the ends.

However, if you drive the first 1000 miles all on the highway on cruise control, you're not varying the load. You're basically breaking in the engine at one low power setting. The cylinders harden in a more cylindrical shape with no bulge in the middle or tapers on the ends. The engine then never develops the power it should. In extreme cases, you end up with the rings not sealing properly at each end of the stroke, resulting in blow-by.

I wouldn't worry too much about somebody doing donuts in this car before I got it. I would worry about buying one with 5000 miles on it that was broken in on the highway.

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My car got hammered in at least one test drive - me. I didn't know it would be the only SWP on the lot that day :).

I am a subscriber to hard break ins. My car is also boosted at 10-12 PSI and has been for 30K miles. It has zero issues. None. Doesn't burn oil. No weirdness in the oil. No loss in compression. Not a single itsy bitsy problem and I am at 62K 10 months in.

So - it's not a big deal. Now - doing drops and shenanigans like that CAN be an issue. But, just properly warming up the car and revving it high and driving it like you would normally? Not an issue IMO.

Great inputs guys! I have enjoyed reading everyones opinions on this topic.

holy crap dude why do you drive so much? that's over 200 miles per day every day.

Drove mine hard (when warm) since it had 4 miles on it. No issues.

I guess both major camps have some solid arguments.

- Start slow, ramp up over the first 1k miles or so.
This allows various car parts to "settle" properly.

- Break it in the way you expect to drive it later.
This way, parts get "used" to the way you're driving.

I believe the truth is somewhere in the middle. I did take it easy in the beginning, but I also visited some mountain roads for some spirited driving. I did not go all out, but I gave the car a taste of what to expect in the future.

first of all, cars don't get "used" to the way somebody drives. The argument for and major end-goal objective of a hard break-in is to properly seat the compression rings to prevent excessive blowby..

http://www.ntnoa.org/enginebreakin.htm

fortunately automotive engine manufacturers have realized the need for a PROPER break-in procedure for THEIR engines before they hit the consumer. This is indeed rocket science folks and not all systems are alike. Therefore, the engine manufacturing and assembly plant knows the best way to break in an engine and does so to save the company money in the long run by supplying engines that are uniformly and accurately broken in.

It's going to be nearly impossible to attribute an engine fault at any mileage to improper break in.

To throw some fuel on the fire, have you ever seen how most vehicles get driven off of trains and ships from the factory? -Those guys have some seriously tight deadlines to get them unloaded and a lot of new cars go from cold start to redline quite a few times before they ever reach a dealership. I've got a couple of friends that work that the various ports here and they pretty much have to flog all the vehicles to make unloading deadlines.

I just completed the first 1000 miles on the car. Dealer told me to go carefully during break in and avoid red-lining too much. Honestly I just drove it like I always do and always will. noticed a pretty major increase in performance as it neared the 1000 mile mark. Now I've just flashed over the OFT stage 1 so we'll see where things go from there.