brand new car, ok for highway driving?

[Mys73ri0]

So I just recently purchased a car and want to drive it back to Wpg for Thanksgiving.

There's only 2500 km's on the car now, and I've heard conflicting things as to whether it will hurt my engine/tranny if i do the long drive back to Wpg.

What is beyond's thoughts on this?

[SRT]

Drive it.

[01RedDX]

.

[gyu]

What car do you have? Check the drivers manual to see if they specify the break in period.
When I took delivery of my car, the salesperson told me there is no break in period , then later I read in the manual that there is a break in period of about 2000kms.

[Awd-Tsi]

Considering when I worked at dealerships we would go to Edmonton and get cars with 20k on them, I would assume it's fine just to drive it. Highway km are the easiest on it.

[CUG]

OP, I know where that's coming from. People think the break-in period can't have sustained RPM levels over a long period of time. I personally don't know either. I would maybe get an oil change before hand if you think that's the problem. The transmission will be fine.

[whiskas]

Constant RPMs means that there isn't variations in cylinder pressure.

You want lots of variation in pressure to properly seat the piston rings.

So ideally you should be varying RPMs as well as doing a healthy amount of engine braking.

[psycoticclown]

Apparently, running the engine at the same RPM levels are bad during a breakin. When my friend was breaking in his new motor and highway driving, he would just vary the RPM levels as much as possible, going down a gear and then back up every few minutes.

[AE92_TreunoSC]

Its not like the old days, the engine is already broken in per say. Machine tollerances have changed a lot and break in periods really only effect high performance engines now.

Every one has different views, but the answer we all agree on is to vary the engine speed and perhaps have a bit of fun driving rather then hovering at 110.

[Abeo]

I'd consider 2500 km to be broken in. Thats more than enough heat cycles and load conditions to make the rings seat, and if they haven't glazed already, they probably won't now. Heck, my motorcycle is considered broken in after one heat cycle. And like AE92_TreunoSC said, engines are put together way tighter than they used to be, so less of a break-in is required (if at all).

[btimbit]

You should be good by 2500kms, go for it. If you want to be safe, then vary the speed and rpms a little rather than cruising a the same speed the entire time.

[95teetee]

Originally posted by AE92_TreunoSC
Its not like the old days, the engine is already broken in per say. this.

Manufacturers aren't giving you a virgin engine and letting you eff it up so they have to cover the warranty.

[911fever]

just drive the car.

[AndyL]

It's not just the engine - there's breaking in of the diff gearing going on to... RTFM and follow it - it's not just there to add weight to the glove box...

[M.alex]

For whatever it's worth, those engines that I drove "hard" from the start (e.g., on the dyno within 100miles) have been problem free. Great power, no burning oil, etc...

Those that were babied had some minor issues (e.g., dyno'ing on the lower end, small amount of oil burn over time, etc....)

Whether or not that's a coinsidence, I have no idea, but I tend to subscribe to the idea that I've read in the past that the rings and whatnot seat differently within the first 500miles if you baby it vs drive it (read though, drive, not abuse)

[2BLUE]

Cars are usually are put to redline before they leave the factory.

[spikerS]

I am not sure, but things have probably changed since the last new car I broke in back in '97.

Back then, the owners manual advised to not drive at a sustained highway speed or RPM during the first i think it was 800kms, might have been 8000kms tho.

Best advice in here was to check your owner's manual.

in my opinion, at 2500kms, you should be just fine doing the trip. I would just vary your speed every 20 mins or so while on the highway, and drive the city stops as normal.