I am. 300 mi, no hard breaking. 600 mi, no quick acceleration. Doing this will certainly ensure a well formed fit between the brake pads and rotors, and the pistons and the block. Well...?

 

This is my first new car and I'd love to do everything right except I got a mantran and have never driven stick before. I'm feverishly praying that I don't somehow mess it up somehow. Any tips/advice?

 

ive been driving like a granny till i hit 600
so lucky my work is 3 miles away from home

 

Your first stick? Wow. This is my 3rd (with a 9 year break inbetween) and I'm still as paranoid as can be.

I'm going easy on the shifting and not accelerating too fast in order to break my car in. And not going over 65 when I can help it.

Try not to ride the clutch too much. If you approach a light that's going to stay red for a while, put the car into neutral and keep just your right foot on the brake, letting go of the clutch. If you're nervous about it, I'd suggest practicing a bit on an empty parking lot to get the pattern down well.

 

I did about 500 miles before doing any high revving

 

I'm trying to. It's not easy keeping the revs down with all these hills about. Once I hit 600 miles, I plan on driving the freeway, and hopefully get better gas mileage.

 

I just turned 1300km on my new Fit and I changed the tranny oil and the engine oil already. I put in Spoon magnetic drain plugs for both and I swap out the crappy stock tires for some Dunlop DZ101s

-joe

 

Notice any metallic deposits?

 

not much that i can see, but the new magnetic plugs should take care of that problem later

-joe

 

what constitutes high revving ?

 

i've not even hit 290 miles yet over the past week, then yet i haven't driven it all day today and i won't get it back till tomorrow evening after it get's refinished (wet sanded and buffed), but i plan on going by the basic 500 mile break in, however mixing driving habits, between mild and soft.

 

I am driving it normal. This topic is highly controversial. I am of the belief of driving the car/ motorcycle normal to hard in order to set the piston rings. Apparently, Driving it gentle will cause the pistons not to heat up enough thereby causing a very small gap between the piston and cylinder wall. That could cause oil to blow by and hence you use oil. However, dont everyone get thier panties in a bunch... It is your car, break it in how you want
Neal

 

Everything I have heard and done about breaking in modern new cars is to take it just slightly easy - accelerate gradually from low to high revs but don't poke about. Variation is most important - no really long periods of one RPM or load. Change gears often (out of D for automatics - use the S and paddles if you have them!) Go up and down hills if you can and winding country roads are best - break in the suspension, steering gear and brakes. Don't get stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic if you can avoid it... this is for the first thousand miles or so.

What does the owners manual say?

 

I have a manual and I been shifting at 4k in the first 1000 km and then up at 5k now that I feel it's broken in

-joe

 

First time owning a manual myself. A lot of hills in Seattle, so been shifting in 4000 rpm in 1st to 2nd.

 

Manual or auto? There is a plug on the tranny too? Did you do it yourself?

 

I just could not bring myself to have a new car worked on like that. I know wet sanding and buffed makes the paint 100 times nice looking. Gets rid of the orange peel.

 

It's not like i wanted it, local car wash scratched the Bajesus outta it, so their insurance is paying to have the scratch's removed, scratched the headlights, wheels, and entire body, so at least i may have a smoother looking surface now, lol.

 

HOw are u supposed to drive? I was told to keep RPM low and if possible, avoid freeway. But the manual jsut says no quick braking or accelerating. Should I go by the manual? I always thought breaking in the engine is a little more annoying than avoiding quick speed changes.

 

Whenever you drive a new car home, most important thing is to run rpm up to 4.5k or so at 3/4 throttle then take your foot off the gas completely and leaving it in gear, let the car slow down. Do this as often as possible in the first 25 miles. This is the best way to seat the rings.

Also - Leave the Honda break-in oil in for at least the first 4k miles.