Break in period

[KonTheory]

Just wondering how some of you broke in your engines
Everyone seems to have their own way
Some people baby it
Some people rev it high

And the dealership told me when I picked up my FRS the other day
That these engine are pre broken in. And that I don't have to
Seems strange so I thought I'd share it
Let me know what you guys think

[Suberman]

Originally Posted by KonTheory

Just wondering how some of you broke in your engines
Everyone seems to have their own way
Some people baby it
Some people rev it high

And the dealership told me when I picked up my FRS the other day
That these engine are pre broken in. And that I don't have to
Seems strange so I thought I'd share it
Let me know what you guys think

Your dealer is incorrect. The running in instructions are in your owners manual.

1,000 miles (900 miles will work as in Canada we use 1,500 km).

Drive absurdly carefully for around 300 miles (check the manual ) short shifting and avoiding full throttle. Then progressively stretch the engine.

Basically you're avoiding heating up the piston rings too much before they bed in. Rings are pressed into the cylinder walls by combustion gas pressure leaking behind the top two compression rings, the grooves in the pistons and the L shape of the ring cross section ensures this happens. The third set of rings is the oil scraper set which is critical to developing an engine that burns no oil. These are two thin metal rings in one piston groove separated by a spring ring. These are the rings that benefit most from careful running in.

When new the rings are not quite as round as the cylinders. Run your engine in as Subaru/ Toyota recommends and your engine will develop more torque and power and will last longer.

Also, you should know that bedding in continues for a time after running in. So you need to drive your engine as hard as possible right after it is run in and not before. The rings take their final seating when you do this.

At 1,501 km I performed my usual Italian tune up: wide open throttle redline shifts.

My engine uses no oil and pulls very strongly at 3,000 miles. It's getting stronger and looser every day and I expect that to continue for at least 15,000 miles. Remember, once the running in is completed beat on your engine as hard as you like. This is a very high performance engine, just tiny and not very powerful. It benefits from working hard.

[Bonburner]

lol there is a break in guide thread stickied at the top of the page :P

[KonTheory]

yeah I wasnt following that...
Maybe Ill just slow down now and hope for the best

[AVodka14]

I agree with @ Suberman. Be easy on the motor for the first 1,000 miles or so. Not going past 4k RPMS, light on throttle, and shifting as early as possible. Now there are times when you got to use the motor more while out in traffic to avoid an accident or such. I pushed it into the high RPM range around 900-1000 mile range. And you could smell the newness of the hot motor after I did so. I also think that letting the car warm up until it is idling at 1k RPM before driving and letting the car idle for about 30 sec before shutting down is good for the motor as well.

[wparsons]

There are two schools of thought on breaking in engines. Some people follow the book, others say to break it in how you plan to drive it. So if you plan to drive it hard, break it in hard.

I personally mostly followed the book, but did start opening up the rpm limit tank by tank. First tank I stayed below 4000rpm, second tank I stayed under 4500rpm, third under 5000rpm, fourth tank I was over 1600km's. I didn't stay away from WOT after the first tank though, it got some short WOT blasts up to whatever the "redline" for that period was.

Over 50k km's now, not burning a drop of oil and still pulls plenty strong.

[BRZZZZZZZZZZ]

I started breaking mine in last week. My personal rules: no lugging the engine, no excessive idling, no more than 3500rpm, easy on the throttle and no more than 1/2 throttle, lots of rev variation (not sitting in one range constantly when driving around).

Hoping to have a trouble free car for many years.

[1086]

Oh what do you know, another car salesman that doesn't know shit about cars or reading. Is it just me? Why is it that when you talk to most of these cars salesman they just repeat the facts you read on scion.com or any other car website. - "It has 4 doors, its low, it has a boxer engine, its fun man a lot of fun." thanks dip****... LOL

[N1rve]

Originally Posted by 1086

Oh what do you know, another car salesman that doesn't know shit about cars or reading. Is it just me? Why is it that when you talk to most of these cars salesman they just repeat the facts you read on scion.com or any other car website. - "It has 4 doors, its low, it has a boxer engine, its fun man a lot of fun." thanks dip****... LOL

4 DOORS!?

[1086]

Dude I shit you not - a guy at the Subaru dealership said it but didn't realize he said it. I didn't correct him and I can understand he may have just let it slip and didn't think about it - but when they tell you about the car as if they are just regurgitating information it irritates me. I want a car review, I want some enthusiasm, I want some passion haha but that is too ideal I suppose.

[KonTheory]

Ha! Yeah
And of course I got the car before reading anything to do with break in
And lived 115km away
So I drove it home doing about 120km/hr on the highway
And def went up to or slightly over about 5000rpm a couple times
Hopefully it's all good lol