Shoot I bought this car with the 36000 mile warranty I'll be damned if I am breaking it in. Drove from Philly to Trumbull Ct first week raced a crossed the FDR bridge. And then 2 weeks later came right back same thing. I don’t think there was 1 time that I got in my Fit and didn't hit 80. Tested it to see how fast it could go 2nd week and hit 120. Last week got a ticket for 94 in 65. Bought a radar detector and had my 5000 mile check up this week and they said everything looks great. All in all break in period. Ha, I tested my for the break in period. Come on it’s a fricken Honda people. 30 years from now the planet is going to be loitered with this car. You think you see a lot of these fits now! Just wait!!!

 

I think about it like this. Honda has gone to great lengths to hire some of the best engineers in the world. Add to this the experience base (decades) Honda has building engines for various high performance applications including motorcycles and cars. Throw in the mix that due to the fact Honda puts a warranty on new vehicles, it is their financial best interest to provide owners with the best information on how to maintain their vehicle mechanically, and to continually do research to develop such protocols. If they gave out poor break-in info, and this led to a greater failure rate, the company would stand to lose. Illogical to give out anything other than the best info available to your customers.

A lot of really bright folks have invested a lot of time and money into figuring out what the best break-in procedure is for your Honda. Barring hard scientific evidence to the contrary developed by smarter and more motivated people, I would say whatever Honda says is the way to do it regarding break in procedures. I doubt that anyone contradicting Honda's recommendations has anywhere near the same experience base and engineering resources necessary to have a credible argument to do things differently with a better result.

This is a fancy way of saying do what Honda says.

 

Case closed.

 

Honda outboards have had a major problem with break-in, to a point where they were getting 1-2 quarts of gas in the oil by blowby. The fix is to break it in very hard and high load/RPMs from the start. LOAD THOSE PISTON RINGS!!!!

This is how I broke-in my 09 Fit. 50-75 miles easy going nothing over 4500. Your lower bearing are broke-in at 50 to 75 miles. Next is the piston rings that can take 1000 to 3000 miles to seat good. With the below loading technique. Then full load ( to the floor) from 2500 to 5500 first through 4th. LOAD THOSE PISTON RINGS!!! I would even put my foot on the brake going up a large hill to slow the acceleration down a bit so I could keep the load on the rings. Stay away from 6500 and above rpm for 1000 miles. Engine builders use the Dyno to hold load through the midrange power curve of their motors for long load runs. Then a cool down run.

About 20 years ago I talked to Mario Andriette's engine builder and he told me this street car, new engine break-in procedure. Babying an engine like the manufacture wants you to do it is to their advantage if they screw up and build a way overly tight motor- almost never happens. This above way is how pro engine builders break their $20,000 to $100,0000 engines in.

It's all about the first 1 hour of babying and then it's LOAD THOSE PISTON RINGS!!!

This is what Honda Marine found out when SO MANY people babied they outboards to the point of wreaking the engine because they did not seat the piston ring soon enough or ever because of NOT loading the piston rings.

 

disclaimer: individual experiences should not be taken to represent the experience you can expect.

with that, i have broken in two motors by literally driving them as hard as i could within what is safe when not on a track or a dyno. one was an Evo 9 and at all points in its upgrade path it made more power than the average Evo 9 on the same dyno with similar modifications.

my wife's fit has generated a maximum of > 40mpg (auto trans) when driving with mpg as the priority.

couterpoints - 1. luck 2. other folks achieve very high mpg with a variety of break-in techniques. my Evo got a max of 27mpg on the highway at 70mph. i have never been much of a conspiracy theorist, but i am going with the hard break-in technique from here forward if i ever buy a new car again. with conventional oil! (yes, i changed the factory fill synthetic to conventional within 20 miles in the Evo fro break in, changed it at 200, 1000, and at 3000 miles with synthetic).

 

I just intend to drive as I normally do. If I'm taking a long trip, I'll punch it up to 90 mph for extended period. I really believe that peeling out from green light etc. is ludicrous and will probably get you a ticket. I will definitely employ my turbocharged dyno caps. This will seat those rings nice and tight.

And don't ask me about my "turbocharged dyno caps". If you don't know what they are, well, your just out of luck.

 

The only way to break an engine in is to load the piston rings, and stress it.

That being said, I drove mine like I stole it for the first 300 miles, then drove it hard for another 700 miles. Occasional burn-outs, red-line shifts, full throttle driving, 95mph on the highway, using engine braking to slow down, and general ass-hattery were all things that I did. Of course, I do the same thing every time I drive my 99 Civic.

I've heard stories about how honda supposedly breaks in every single engine in the factory, just like Ferarri, but I'm not sure how much truth there is to that. With a warranty, who cares? I've beat the living hell out of every honda I've owned, and they still run. My 99 civic? Original engine with 250k km on it, and they are 95% autobahn driving over 100mph.

Honda engines were designed to be driven hard, so just do it.

EDIT: Oh, btw, how many of you when you test-drove a Fit took it easy? I sure as hell didn't.

 

I just got my fit yesterday and they said DONT CHANGE THE OIL EARLY!. With the new Fit's you will change it when it hits more to 5,000- 6,000 miles.

 

What if you've autocrossed it twice in less than 4000 miles? :P

 

mine currently has 220 miles and i use my sport mode 80% of the time i'm driving it..
no babyin' nor shifting less than 3K RPM.. i'm breaking my engine good. I don't launch in first gear nor go FULL-throttle but i tend to downshift and upshift.

its a HONDA and its meant for high-revving and a bit of aggressive driving.
my uncle still drives his old 92 CIV with 250k miles and all he replace was a timing belt, starter, alternator, and clutch/flywheel and it still is runnin' adequately strong.

another fact is if you dont break your engine good then it will result to engine leaks in the near future according to my Automotive Teacher that worked for HONDA for years at the college i'm attending.

bottomline is, drive your car the way you would drive it for the rest of its life.
I bought a FIT for a reason, its gas efficient yet it doesnt take away the rumble high-revving VTEC and the cornering ability of a FWD. Or else, i would have bought an AVEO or YARIS or VERSA which is strictly for DD, FUEL EFFICIENCY, ECO Box car.

 

Reading through this thread, mahout's advice seems to come from the most knowledgeable base. I'm curious though, about the don't change the oil early warnings. I'm picking up a Fit in Delaware at the end July. I expect to have four days of stop and go driving, with frequent cool down cycles before hitting the road to Atlanta. I had been planning on changing the oil the night before leaving, at which time I would expect to have 300-400 miles on the car. OR, would I be better off to wait until getting to Atlanta at about 1000 miles?

I plan to use petroleum-based oil for the first oil change, then switch to Mobil 1 at the next, unless that is too soon. Is the recommended oil change interval for the Fit strictly based on a readout from the engine monitoring system, rather than miles or months?

 

Just drove home a new 2009 Fit Sport AT last night. Before leaving the dealer, he said don't use the cruise control for 750 miles. What's up with that?

 

The dealer was right. During break-in, you want to do as many short trips as possible (for heat cycling) with as much variation in speed as possible (to seat the rings). Accelerate to put pressure on the rings; then decelerate (using engine breaking) to draw up oil. Constant speed running, as on a flat freeway with cruise control, is the worst way to break in an engine.

I plan to drive the first few tank or two entirely in sport mode and use the paddle shifters to exaggerate this behavior, looking for as many hills as possible. This doesn't mean full throttle to redline, but don't hypermile, or drive as if there is an eggshell between your foot and the accelerator. Mileage will suffer, but the engine will break in better.

 

so what about auto-x? im having my fit shipped up here from CA and i get it a couple days before the last auto-x of the season....worth it?

 

I don't know if I "beat my car to death," but I do autocross it. I also inspect it visually before and after each event, and I change the oil every 4000 miles with synthetic oil, and a new OEM oil filter.

I don't know if I "beat on it," but I do know that I don't have problems with cars like other people my age, and I have never had a car die on me. And I've driven probably 20k miles per year since I was legal age to drive (I'm 21 now.)

 

Driving the car hard as a beak in? Gibberish... unsubstantiated urban myths.

The engine needs to beak in as gently and as easily as possible. What happens in the initial period is essentially polishing of the rough surfaces (i.e. cylinder walls, connecting rod bearings, valves, camshaft, oil pump, and numerous other surfaces.

By running an engine at excessive rpm or with with excessive load, will make deeper scars on these surfaces, which will result in rough and uneven surfaces and excessive clearances. This is why engines begin using excessive amounts of oil.

Follow the manufacturer's recommendations. They want to make the car owning experience as good as they can as they are concerned with the product quality and reputation.

They would not try to deceive customers regarding the beak in procedures.... Think about it... why would they do such a hard work on making the car as good as it is...

 

My 2010 TW Fit Sport 5AT arrived yesterday registering at 320 miles on the odometer. It was actually driven by retirees from Bianchi Honda in Erie, PA all the way to Columbus, OH. I see lots of wonderful tips here as far as the first 600 miles - 3K miles, but in the interest of time, it would be helpful to get a recap of the top 10. Thanks!

 

 

Lol! still waiting the new car model where the manual will state:

Break-in Period:
- Do donuts in the parking lot for couple of hours.
- Drive the on highway at maximum speed possible, its good for your engine.
- Play chicken with a train.
- Try to avoid the cops.

If its true, I understand why Ferrari break their engine in factory !

 

Thanks Steve244 for the reply. I passed the 600 mile mark yesterday! It drives beautifully! <Sniff>