There are two schools of thought when it comes to breaking in a new vehicle and whether your new vehicle is a performance model or not there are some things you should do and some you shouldn’t do when you have a new model vehicle. The reality is that having a new car is like anything else that’s new; you need to break it in and do so in a way that will make it possible for the car to reward you with years of great driving. Here are some things you should never do in your brand new performance machine, and here’s a video describing these things if that’s what you prefer.
Don’t Floor It – When you have a brand new vehicle there is a recommended break in period for the engine. This time allows all the parts of the engine to begin to mesh together and work together so you don’t have a distinct engine problem later on. During the recommended time it’s important that you don’t go over the limits that are given in the owner’s manual so that you can allow your engine to spend that initial time period becoming a working engine for your vehicle that will give you years of great performance.
Don’t Redline the Engine – Yes, you can bring the engine to the redline without flooring it. This adds extreme heat to the engine and can cause your engine to expand to a point that may cause problems in the future. Your owner’s manual will not only recommend that you accelerate gently during the initial break in period, but it will also tell you that you need to avoid reaching a specific rpm during that break in period as well. Make sure you pay attention to how long the break in period is for your engine so that you can avoid a potentially costly problem in the future.
The only exception of note to this rule with your engine is the Acura NSX. The reason this engine is able to handle the load so quickly is because Acura has already put the engine through the break in period at the factory. This makes it possible for you to go from the showroom to the race track right away and not feel like you’re going to have a problem with your engine at all.
Don’t Use Cruise Control – The reason for this is to simply allow the vehicle to experience a different load and speed that you will use during the driving of your new vehicle. It may sound counterintuitive, but you should really try and avoid the constant speed during the break in period. You might consider more city driving than highway driving during this time to make this happen and create the proper feel in your vehicle and let it get used to the different ways you’re going to drive it.
Avoid Short Distance Travel – During the break in period it’s important for your engine to be able to come up to the optimal temperature and all your fluids to flow the way they’re supposed to. This means driving more than a few miles at a time and allowing the vehicle to warm up all the way and have the fluids flowing the way they should.
Avoid Towing – Even though you have a vehicle that is capable of towing a load you need to avoid this during the break in period so that you can ensure your vehicle is able to be fully broken in. Towing will put a load on your brakes and other parts that you don’t need during the break in period and can certainly do once this time period is over and you’re ready to pull a load wherever you need to go.
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