I'm afraid that's old advice from a bygone era. Engineers I've spoken with tell me that the need for consumer "break-in" has almost been eliminated in today's world, in the effort to take as much risk and guess-work out of warranty-forecasting, and to reduce warranty claims and risk. With manufacturers warranting drivelines out to 100,000 miles, and selling even longer extended deals, the factories SMARTLY do not leave any "breaking-in" at the whim of their vast, varied, and mostly idiotic and mechanically-ignorant customer-base. The engines are "run-in" at very high rpm before they are even loaded into a chassis, and modern machine techniques and high tolerances have made the whole "drive her gentle, get a few oil-changes under your belt, don't rev her beyond xxxx" the stuff of old-school legend that survives because of father handing advice down to son, advice that's becoming ever-more irrelevant in today's auto industry. Their goal is to make cars that are designed and built and delivered to the ever-more mechanically-novice public under the basic assumption that every new owner will be hard on the machinery the moment they buy, and to anticipate that fact by having it ready for war before it rolls off the truck.
You are mostly correct Ricks, there really is no special break in required other than trying not to brake real hard until the pads are seated in and not driving at a constant RPM for the first few hundred miles.
With that said I get a big chuckle every time I hear someone say to keep the RPMs down until it's broken in. Within minutes of a new engine being assembled, it is bolted into a dyno and run at wide open throttle to redline on a engine test dyno.
After the car is assembled it is run up to around 80 MPH on a rear wheel dyno at the end of the assembly line.
Finally, your new car gets the snot beat out of it by the yard jockies who move the cars around the holding lots, load them on the trains and then unload them at the distribution lots.
About 1 out of 10 cars gets taken for a test drive at the factory. If your's has been factory test driven there will be a little white sticker on the window indicating so and how many miles they went.
Finally, unless you get a car that only has a couple of miles on it, someone at the dealer has already ragged on it, if not a few test drivers too.
So the day you get your brand new Mustang, it's already been leaned on a few times.
But "breaking in" does still sort of happen. Most new cars show a significant increase in gas mileage after a few thousand miles, which indicates that something is wearing in.
When C&D does a long term test of a car (usually 40,000 miles) they do 0-60 and 1/4 mile times when the car is brand new and after 40,000 miles. Most cars show a slight improvement ( a tenth or two ) in these times after 40,000 miles.
With that said I get a big chuckle every time I hear someone say to keep the RPMs down until it's broken in. Within minutes of a new engine being assembled, it is bolted into a dyno and run at wide open throttle to redline on a engine test dyno.
After the car is assembled it is run up to around 80 MPH on a rear wheel dyno at the end of the assembly line.
Finally, your new car gets the snot beat out of it by the yard jockies who move the cars around the holding lots, load them on the trains and then unload them at the distribution lots.
About 1 out of 10 cars gets taken for a test drive at the factory. If your's has been factory test driven there will be a little white sticker on the window indicating so and how many miles they went.
Finally, unless you get a car that only has a couple of miles on it, someone at the dealer has already ragged on it, if not a few test drivers too.
So the day you get your brand new Mustang, it's already been leaned on a few times.
But "breaking in" does still sort of happen. Most new cars show a significant increase in gas mileage after a few thousand miles, which indicates that something is wearing in.
When C&D does a long term test of a car (usually 40,000 miles) they do 0-60 and 1/4 mile times when the car is brand new and after 40,000 miles. Most cars show a slight improvement ( a tenth or two ) in these times after 40,000 miles.
:OT:Stang2k5 said:
Nice redneck backward thinking...Autos have come a long way and are able to shift faster than most manuals. As for your "industry standard", I guess it is a matter of preference. And just because someone prefers an auto does not mean they are insecure about their inability to drive a stick. I have both and am sure I could more than hold my own powershifting the manual and I'm sure my "non-industry standard" auto would show you a little insecurity.
Brilliant...Stang2k5 said:
Auto = 3.27 * .70 = 2.29
Mauual = 3.55 * .68 = 2.41
Sorry if I am taking this out of context, but I thought these comments were way out of line...
NOW...
Where is this
Mach1dsg knows me from a few other forums. He also knows I'm a hard core enthusiast... I hope he agrees with me when I say I'm a bit of a realist as well.
There are always the "freak" cars that produce more horses than the "normal" cars. There are also "freaks" that run quicker 1/4 miles than the rest of their brethren. However, it is usually a couple tenths at best.
Time and runs seem to be holding out that the Automatic '05 GT's are capable of turning 1.8X 60' times. It seems the best times being run are 13.6X and these are being done by folks that have more passes down the 1320 then most folks have driving back and forth to work.
I will not debate that there are going to be a few (very few) "freak" '05's that are going to be quicker than that. But those cars first have to make it into the hands of these very experienced racers and then I don't expect the times will be much more that a couple of ticks (at most) quicker.
The two people that have claimed 13.2X times have disappeared from existence almost as soon as somebody asked to see a slip. That alone would lead one to wonder if they were not salesmen trying to drive up the price of the '05's.
I have seen similar things happen with a lot of new cars on the market. Like the 13.00 second WRX STI claims that happened when they first came out -or- the mid 12 second claims a couple of people claimed they got out of LS1 Fbodies back in '97-'98.
I have no doubt the folks at the blue oval are going to give us some amazing Mustangs in the not too distant future. I love this new body style so much that I hope it's sooner than later... If they do it's going to be adios to the SS and hello pony!
I'm not here to bash the '05's as I do love them. I'm just here to say, "WTF".
There are always the "freak" cars that produce more horses than the "normal" cars. There are also "freaks" that run quicker 1/4 miles than the rest of their brethren. However, it is usually a couple tenths at best.
Time and runs seem to be holding out that the Automatic '05 GT's are capable of turning 1.8X 60' times. It seems the best times being run are 13.6X and these are being done by folks that have more passes down the 1320 then most folks have driving back and forth to work.
I will not debate that there are going to be a few (very few) "freak" '05's that are going to be quicker than that. But those cars first have to make it into the hands of these very experienced racers and then I don't expect the times will be much more that a couple of ticks (at most) quicker.
The two people that have claimed 13.2X times have disappeared from existence almost as soon as somebody asked to see a slip. That alone would lead one to wonder if they were not salesmen trying to drive up the price of the '05's.
I have seen similar things happen with a lot of new cars on the market. Like the 13.00 second WRX STI claims that happened when they first came out -or- the mid 12 second claims a couple of people claimed they got out of LS1 Fbodies back in '97-'98.
I have no doubt the folks at the blue oval are going to give us some amazing Mustangs in the not too distant future. I love this new body style so much that I hope it's sooner than later... If they do it's going to be adios to the SS and hello pony!
I'm not here to bash the '05's as I do love them. I'm just here to say, "WTF".
These numbers are very possible. M/T got a 13.8 I believe w/ an auto and C/D got a 13.6 with a stick. We all know how those guys drive. Also, Ford has been very conservative with power ratings in recent times. The new car is supposedly lighter even though it doesn't look it one bit. Plus, new rear suspension=bad ass!
SLOW 97 said:
The '05 GT weighs about 100 lb more than a similarly equipped 99-04 GT, or about 40 lb more than an '03 - '04 Mach 1.
Sorting through all the BS, it appears to me that a BONE STOCK '05 GT Auto can run 13.6. IMHO A BONE STOCK '05 GT Manual is capable of 13.5, possibly 13.4 with an incredible driver and a perfect run. I will NOT belive any claimed faster runs (bone stock) unless they are fully documented.
mach1dsg said:
You have posted a few times on 350Zmotoring (one of my main forums). It struck me that you too are an enthusiast and made some very valid additions to a discussion about somebody claiming to have smoked a LS1 Camaro in a stock 350Z. Don't know why but your handle stuck after that topic.