[WillisV8]

I was lucky enough to pick up my new 22 brz this past weekend and am loving it so far. I've gone thru the settings to modify the rev/shift lights & beeper so that It goes off at 4k RPM. When I was going thru the owners' manual it said the engine break-in period was 1k miles and to not go above 4k rpm unless in emergencies until past that 1k miles. How strict do y'all plan on adhering to this rule? I have only put 100 miles on the car so far and am planning to keep this thing forever so want to make sure I don't overtax the engine early on by revving it out. The car is plenty of fun at low revs so it's not like I can't enjoy the car yet but am looking forward to bouncing of the rev limiter on the racetrack as soon as I can. Do y'all think i need to wait until 1k miles on the odomoter before I can fully rev the engine out? furthermore I'm planning to track the car as soon as i hit 1k miles. Is this safe to start racing the car as soon as the engine break-in is over or is there anything else I'm missing out on to preserve the life of the engine?

I love cars but have no experience in mechanical engineering so have no idea what stress is caused by revving the engine before the break-in period is over.

my info-
car - Black BRZ limited, 6-spd Manual, no mods.... yet
loc- pacific northwest

 

[Jeonsa]

I was lucky enough to pick up my new 22 brz this past weekend and am loving it so far. I've gone thru the settings to modify the rev/shift lights & beeper so that It goes off at 4k RPM. When I was going thru the owners' manual it said the engine break-in period was 1k miles and to not go above 4k rpm unless in emergencies until past that 1k miles. How strict do y'all plan on adhering to this rule? I have only put 100 miles on the car so far and am planning to keep this thing forever so want to make sure I don't overtax the engine early on by revving it out. The car is plenty of fun at low revs so it's not like I can't enjoy the car yet but am looking forward to bouncing of the rev limiter on the racetrack as soon as I can. Do y'all think i need to wait until 1k miles on the odomoter before I can fully rev the engine out? furthermore I'm planning to track the car as soon as i hit 1k miles. Is this safe to start racing the car as soon as the engine break-in is over or is there anything else I'm missing out on to preserve the life of the engine?

I love cars but have no experience in mechanical engineering so have no idea what stress is caused by revving the engine before the break-in period is over.

my info-
car - Black BRZ limited, 6-spd Manual, no mods.... yet
loc- pacific northwest

What state? Whenever I get the 86 I would love to meet up with people in the PNW

 

[lostinmysenses]

I was lucky enough to pick up my new 22 brz this past weekend and am loving it so far. I've gone thru the settings to modify the rev/shift lights & beeper so that It goes off at 4k RPM. When I was going thru the owners' manual it said the engine break-in period was 1k miles and to not go above 4k rpm unless in emergencies until past that 1k miles. How strict do y'all plan on adhering to this rule? I have only put 100 miles on the car so far and am planning to keep this thing forever so want to make sure I don't overtax the engine early on by revving it out. The car is plenty of fun at low revs so it's not like I can't enjoy the car yet but am looking forward to bouncing of the rev limiter on the racetrack as soon as I can. Do y'all think i need to wait until 1k miles on the odomoter before I can fully rev the engine out? furthermore I'm planning to track the car as soon as i hit 1k miles. Is this safe to start racing the car as soon as the engine break-in is over or is there anything else I'm missing out on to preserve the life of the engine?

I love cars but have no experience in mechanical engineering so have no idea what stress is caused by revving the engine before the break-in period is over.

my info-
car - Black BRZ limited, 6-spd Manual, no mods.... yet
loc- pacific northwest

Without getting technical, the instructions are very black and white; no more than 4k rpms until after 1k miles. If you want to get the most out of your engine, I would definitely just follow the manufacturer’s recommendation. After your proper break-in though, you can go ahead and abuse the engine however much you want to, but you’ll at least have the peace of mind that the engine has been broken in properly before then.

With that said though, CSG Mike has more experience with this platform than the vast majority of people and has had no problems abusing the engine from the get-go. So I’d say, it’s ultimately your call. Just don’t start worrying about it later if you decide to abuse the engine before the break-in period.

Otherwise, hopefully someone with engineering experience can chime in on the topic but I’ve always understood it to be a pretty contentious subject.

 

[PhatFreshPrince]

I have watched many YouTube videos on this subject to prepare for my car's arrival. The general consensus is once the break-in period is over then you can drive it as hard as you like. Where opinions differ is how long should the break-in period last. I have heard after 100 miles you are 85% broke-in. I have also heard after 500 miles you are fully broken in. Of course, the manual states after 1000 miles it is broken in.
The video I agreed with the most, stated that engine technology has come so far in the past few decades making the tolerances so tight that the break-in period has shorted a lot. For example, Acura does a break-in at the factory on some of its engines, so it is ready to go once the customer gets it. Acura only does it for 150 miles.
I will probably go easy the first week and then each week after increasing the RPM and load on the engine until I get to 500 miles. Then I will allow the RPMs to go over 4000, but not redline it. Then the next week I will redline the engine for short periods of time allow the engine to cool between redlining.

 

[SheperdX]

I posted the answer to this in another thread, so ill cross-post here.

I often see this discussion come up multiple times, but I don't often hear a discussion as to why it should be done. For me, it is easier to follow a rule when knowing the underlying reasons for why it exists.

Prime reason is You want your piston rings to seat properly on your cylinder wall

Engineering explained goes much more in depth in a video here that i highly recommend:

Most people are correct that tolerances in todays manufacturing have come a long way, but driving hard from the get-go increases the potential risk for problems in the future. I would strongly suggest to stick to manufacturer guidelines.

 

[Rich Diesel]

Engineering explained goes much more in depth in a video here that i highly recommend:

At 5:48 the video shows the crankshaft of a (nearly) horizontal engine in motion and there's a kind of "peg leg" on the connecting rod cap. Is that for throwing oil on the cylinder bores?

 

[Blighty]

It depends.

If you have not generated enough internal piston pressure, then the process may still be ongoing. But 100 miles should have done the majority (90%) of the sealing process so long as you didn't idle the car for long periods, and so long as you DID take the car up to the 4k limit regularly.

The load (so cylinder pressure) is certainly enough under 4k to do the seal correctly, you don't want really high friction because it generates heat so keeping in manufacturing advice is actually correct.

There is a process used for the FA20 here. I've skipped about about 30 mins of background info in this video to get to his process, but I highly recommend watching it all. He describes a dyno break in, but in the background before this process he talks that its the same for driving the car.

 

[Surfer Bugs]

Good stuff. Thanks for the post!

 

[Jaxon_Aevox]

I'm a mechanical engineer and it's interesting to see that manufacturers tell you to do a break in period of around 1k miles. Whereas here in Europe they say 1k Kilometers so 600 miles.
As Blightly already stated, the majority of running in is already done on the first miles. After that you still do run the engine in, but it's much less likely that something affects the engine badly if you rev it over the recommended 4k.
I for my part will do it like this:

• 50-150 miles: Just move the car, don't go over 3k, no hard accelerating, no hard braking, no hard cornering
• 150-250 miles: Do the first pulls (upto half gas) up until 4k, do the first harder and longer brakes
• 250-500 miles: Give it more and regular gas periods (3/4 gas), maybe the first times over 4k revs, brakes and tires should be fine right now
• 600 miles: Oil change maybe, and go for it.

What many people don't realize is that not only the engine needs the break in period but also tires, brakes, bearings, gearings, connection points etc. Especially tires and brakes are dangerous on the first miles as they cannot operate with full strength.
But they are all also designed to be used at the limit so also that usage at the limit is part of the break in period. If you know what I mean? A typical example of as early as possible but as late as necessary.
I know that Lexus for example is self-confident enough to tell you that you don't need to run in their engines.
I also know that most manufacturer test each engine before rollout at maximum rev and power. On top the workers that move your car onboard and offboard the ships and trailers usually treat them like sh*t and they still cope.
So what I told you might already be too careful.
Disclaimer:
Please take all my advice with a grain of salt as I am a mechanical engineer and have seen engine manufacturers work live but I'm not working and have no work experience in the development of engines.
This is no financial advice. A security’s or a firm’s past investment performance is not a guarantee or predictor of future investment performance.

 

[phyz1ks]

Please take all my advice with a grain of salt as I am a mechanical engineer and have seen engine manufacturers work live but I'm not working and have no work experience in the development of engines.
This is no financial advice. A security’s or a firm’s past investment performance is not a guarantee or predictor of future investment performance.

LOOOOOOOLOL my guy wrote a novel and then put a “historical performance not indicative of future performance” disclaimer like the SEC or FINRA is monitoring him on an entry level sports car forum. I’m dead.

 

[Jaxon_Aevox]

LOOOOOOOLOL my guy wrote a novel and then put a “historical performance not indicative of future performance” disclaimer like the SEC or FINRA is monitoring him on an entry level sports car forum. I’m dead.

Sometimes my genius is almost frightening. - Clarkson

 

[quikag]

I agree with Jaxon, but of course, everyone has their own method. I'm not waiting 1,000 miles on my FA24 when it shows up. I'll basically do what Jaxon recommends. Lots of varied rpm, moderate loads and gradual closer to redline and at around 500 miles, it's go time whenever engine is warmed up. It's worked for me with an LS9 (ZR1) 4.0L GT3 engine (991.2), F22C1 (Honda S2000), and several other "high performance" engines. I'm thinking this 228hp 2.4L boxer 4 can handle hard running sooner rather than later.

 

[SheperdX]

At 5:48 the video shows the crankshaft of a (nearly) horizontal engine in motion and there's a kind of "peg leg" on the connecting rod cap. Is that for throwing oil on the cylinder bores?

Correct. This is an old-school way of doing it. I saw this on a model T once. Now-a-days you might only see those in lawn mowers and the like. To my knowledge, I dont know of any modern cars for the last 30 years that use them.

 

[BRZLS7]

What state? Whenever I get the 86 I would love to meet up with people in the PNW

22 BRZ owner in Seattle area, doing the same thing, too. haha

 

[TRU-BOOST]

Personally I am a fan of the HARD BREAK IN. If you have ever had a race engine built or see what they do on other types of cars it makes you question why there can be so many methods. As mentioned above your piston rings are the biggest parr of the break in. They need heat to seat properly. Turbo charged cars should stay out if boost for a while so the low rpm method makes sense. On a NA engine, I see no reason to keep the revs low. High RPM builds more seat and seats rings faster. Its a debated topic, but I do hard break ins. Turbo cars I wait until 500 miles though. I have no intention to 1000 miles on the BRZ. It will likely see the rev limiter on the way home from the dealer.

 

[lostinmysenses]

I don’t mean to bash on anyone’s responses or discredit anyone’s claims, but like mentioned earlier, you’re going to get random suggestions and guidelines created by people that “feel” it’s the best thing to do, or you can simply follow the manufacturer’s recommended break-in period.

Honestly, it’s 1,000 miles; go make a weekend of it. Go drive around and get lost in your city for fun and start to build a bond with the vehicle. Go out of your way to check out a cool new place, or just go get ice cream but go out and drive casually while keeping the revs varied and under 4k rpm.

It’ll go by sooner than you think and you’ll have an engine that’ll thank you for it.

Then, of course, keep the rpms high and leave the racing for the track.

 

[Mookie]

I was lucky enough to pick up my new 22 brz this past weekend and am loving it so far. I've gone thru the settings to modify the rev/shift lights & beeper so that It goes off at 4k RPM. When I was going thru the owners' manual it said the engine break-in period was 1k miles and to not go above 4k rpm unless in emergencies until past that 1k miles. How strict do y'all plan on adhering to this rule? I have only put 100 miles on the car so far and am planning to keep this thing forever so want to make sure I don't overtax the engine early on by revving it out. The car is plenty of fun at low revs so it's not like I can't enjoy the car yet but am looking forward to bouncing of the rev limiter on the racetrack as soon as I can. Do y'all think i need to wait until 1k miles on the odomoter before I can fully rev the engine out? furthermore I'm planning to track the car as soon as i hit 1k miles. Is this safe to start racing the car as soon as the engine break-in is over or is there anything else I'm missing out on to preserve the life of the engine?

I love cars but have no experience in mechanical engineering so have no idea what stress is caused by revving the engine before the break-in period is over.

my info-
car - Black BRZ limited, 6-spd Manual, no mods.... yet
loc- pacific northwest

Patience!
I always buy new, follow the breaking procedures, and keep my cars a good long time. Does the break-in period really matter? Maybe not, but if Subaru/Toyota took the time to put it in writing, I take their word for it. Those few miles will go by in a blink.

 

[PhatFreshPrince]

There are two different camps here - the "drive it hard" camp and the "take it easy" camp. What I did was evaluate how many experts are in the "drive it hard" camp and how many experts and in the "take it easy" camp. I feel it was 10 to 1 for the "take it easy" camp.

 

[Blighty]

Its a fun topic. I do wish some youtuber did a 3 engine compare, high load drive it like you stole it, moderate load keeping within spec but following a break in process, and low load, taking it easy at all times.

 

[TRU-BOOST]

What you all have to take into consideration is the source of the info. That vast majority of people have zero knowledge on the topic and just do what they are told. Of course when your source is the manufacturer they will always tell you to take it easy. After all, if something were to go wrong because you werent paying attention or thought it was a great idea to show all your subie bros how your exhaust pops n crackles when you bang the rev limiter for 20 seconds straight, guess who has to cover it under warranty. On the other hand you talk to any professional engine builder, be it super high performance competition stuff, or just rebuilding an old civic daily driver, an engine builder will always tell you to be "aggressive". The heat cycles and pressure variations going in and out of vacuum are what sets you up for success. Just like new brakes. Most people dont know you are supposed to go out and immediately slam on the brakes from various speeds without coming to a complete stop. It heat cycles the new pads prevents future warping or premature failure. In the grand scheme of things it probably makes no difference at all. I can only speak to my own experiences and I have done PLENTY of hard break ins on all kinds of vehicles. Never had compression issues which is supposedly the only real concern.