OK, I finally got out my owners manual and read that recommends not driving past 5K rpm (or something like that) or at steady speeds for the first 600 miles. Oh yeah they also say something about no hard braking, etc. for that mileage interval. Well, I'm past the 600 mile mark now. Is it safe to assume the car is "broken-in"?
Also, some ppl suggest changing the oil after break in as well as other suggestions such as: use petroleum based oil for breaking in, using break-in procedure for 1000 miles or more, etc.
I did not do any of those and the owners manual does not recommend any of them either. What are the majority doing?

 

well, i think there was a thread like this already, try searching around. this topic has been killed over and over again on this forum.

 

EVO is meant to be driven HARD.... IMO

 

My main reason for driving the car hard early on was to seat the piston rings correctly. You only get one shot at this and that is when the engine has very little running time on it. This does not necessarily mean "beat the dog **** out of it" but run it at high rpm for a couple of minutes and let it cool down. Repeat this a few times, change the oil and you're good to go. Changing the oil is important because there will be small pieces of metal in it as well as the filter itself.

 

500 miles is enogh

 

That's OK, most threads are re-treads anyway

 

My car dyno'd at 211 on the Vishnu dyno stock. I'm told the range is 190 to 215 whp on this dyno.

I drove it hard through the break-in period but I babied the clutch and the transmission and didn't sustain high RPM driving, but hit full boost and very close to redline on occasion.

I used synthetic Mobil one and Unocal 91 octane gas.

So based on my experience, push it hard, avoid driveline shock, engine heat, detonation, and go easy on the brakes the first few hundred miles imho.

 

i waited 1000 miles before i went hard on it

 

I took it easy for the first 500-1000 miles...

 

i waited until 1k miles on the 03, changed the oil, & then slowly drove it faster. i didn't bury the needle until i had at least 3k on the ticker.

the 05 is barely at 200 miles so another wait i will deal with. i might try royal purple oil though on the 05. it has worked very well for the domestic drag circuit.

 

My next break-iin will be done using the "moto-man" method. I pretty much followed the factory procedure using Mobil1, although I did drive it a bit harder than most would. I don't think the rings in my engine seated quickly or fully and I experienced fairly high oil consumption even up to hitting 10,000 miles on the odo. After that point the consumption tapered off some but it's always been high. I'll be running non-synth dino oil and running it under high boost and progressively higher RPMs. The rings should be seated within the first 50 miles or so.

 

The only thing that I would be concerned with about moto-man's flog it approach is that we are dealing with a turbocharged engine.

Would the cylinder pressures be something to consider when you're out there pushing 1.5bar on the engine? I'd like to hear some thoughts on this.

As for what I did, I changed the oil immediately. I've seen enough nasty crud inside of brand new transmissions to wish that I changed it sooner.

Jon@TRE

 

i broke my motor in hard...i hit full boost often when i 1st got it...thats how i like to brake in all my cars/motors..i did a compression test @ 3k and now @ 19k and its still getting 200psi in all 4 cylinders...works for me..

ps. just to add..i also check the oild level relegiously when i 1st got it...my car never burn any oil @ all..even @ 3k oil change maybe i'm down like 1-2mm on the dip stick line...

 

I let the previous owner of my car break it in...

Either which way, you can't go wrong with following the owner's manual. And it'd probably be a good idea to do your first oil change at 500mi. If you're still concerned about it, change your oil again at 1000mi.

My friend's evo on the other had. We pretty much drove hard up to 5K on the tach and never exceeded it as per owner manual instructions and his car runs like a champ.

Anyway, this topic has been beaten to death and if you do a search I'm sure you'll find everyone else's $.02

 

if you're gonna be seriously modding the car's motor the initial break-in isn't that important, just follow the manufacturer's instruction.

The break-in instructions isn't just for the motor either... it takes suspension and brakes into consideration as well. Consider that.