First new car so I'm not sure how to go about this.. any tips?

 

There's a little book that comes with new cars. It is usually in the glove compartment. Read that.

 

I looked through the manual and didn't see anything...

http://http://techinfo.honda.com/rja...u/5A1515OM.pdf

 

There's nothing to see except, somewhere, "avoid rapid starts and abrupt stops." Keep the accelerator off the floor, and you'll be okay.

 

As someone who'd gone through 8 Hondas/Acuras, you'll be fine. If you think you are abusing it, you just might be, in which case you'll only get 200,000 miles instead of 300,000 miles....

 

MY BAD!!


For what it's worth, here's what my '07's manual says about break-in:




Help assure your vehicle’s future


reliability and performance by paying


extra attention to how you drive


during the first 600 miles (1,000 km).


Avoid full-throttle starts and rapid


acceleration.


During this period:






.


Avoid hard braking for the first


200 miles (300 km).


Do not change the oil until the


scheduled maintenance time.


You should also follow these


recommendations with an


overhauled or exchanged engine, or


when the brakes are replaced.

 

A large number of people believe that new cars should be driven hard (once up to temperature) from the very beginning since this is the best time to seat the piston rings. So lots of full throttle accelerations followed by throttle-off coasting. I think the throttle-off coasting allows the engine oil to splash onto the underside of the pistons and thus cool them down.

 

That I would be 2 chicken shit to try on my first new car... lol think I'm going to play it safe...

 

Right. And run into a few trees to make sure the airbags work.

Coasting has been part of the traditional break-in recommendation for years, but it's old school and not necessary - according to the manufacturers.

Do You Still Have To "Break In" A New Car?

 

Off throttle coasting (in gear) also helps seat the rings.

I broke in my car similar to this and have very little oil consumption at 100k miles. If I drive gently it won't burn any. Keep in mind Honda considers 1qt burnt in ~10k miles "normal". I will lose maybe 1/4 qt in 12k miles if i'm ragging on it, which I usually am. I also changed the break in oil early (4k miles)

Break in procedures like this are meant to get every last bit of compression out of the cylinders possible by maximizing the seal the rings provide. It is not something you HAVE to do, and you will be fine just following the "no hard starts for 600 miles" Honda recommends.

I know the articles about modern engines and whatnot and that may be true I admit, but from the varying accounts of oil consumption i've seen here for the L15 i'm going to have to say modern engine assembly is not as exact as many people would like to think it should be at this point.

Do what is easiest for you. Either way, the engine will last a very long time.