YoGeorge

Just out of curiosity, do you know what they do with stick shift cars?

I am assuming that because of the rising/falling RPM's on a stick shift car of any brand during normal shifting, the engine *is* undergoing more cycling than an automatic trans car....

At 5600 miles (3000 since the first OC), mine seems to be using zero oil, so that's a good thing.

George

vintage42

That is not my understanding of it. Steady rpms do not make a good break in, and high rpms can be destructive to a new engine.

The best break in is vigorous driving on a hilly twisty country road to cause constant natural short accelerations and decelerations using up to 3/4 throttle. The nature of such roads also prevents undesirable sustained high speeds and rpms.

That is what the Owners Manual means when it says:

BAC5.2

Have you ever seen the inside of a healthy Subaru engine at 190,000 miles? You can STILL see the crosshatching!

Companies like Lambo and Ferrari engine-dyno their engines before putting them in cars. Pre-broken in. I guess they figure the cars will see so few miles that, at that rate the motors would NEVER get broken in.

One word to the wise. Stay away from WOT and full boost. Change the oil frequently too.

I've seen a few too many cars come in the door with a blown motor because the owner went WOT immediately. In fact, one motor had 11 miles on it when the guy decided it was broken in enough to take full boost from an SZ55. The rings blew OFF of the number 4 piston and the piston contacting the wall destroyed the block and shattered the piston.

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The Aggressive™ -- You don't know about it.

1998 Forester S - Big brakes, Big Tires, 5-gears.

vintage42

Yes, break in does not remove the honing marks, and it takes a lot of wear to do it. A motor given frequent oil changes may succumb to some other problem before enough material is worn from the cylinders to remove the honing marks.
I think they do it for three reasons that don't include one:
1. The car is expensive enough so that a factory break in is not a significant cost item.
2. The motors are so valuable that the factory does not want the break in to be left to the owners. In spite of what might be written in the Owners Manual, just like the owner opinions found here, some owners will baby the engine and others will drive it too hard. The result might be engines that in one case didn't break in, or in the other case seized up.
3. The owners of Lambos and Ferraris expect the cars to be ready for unlimited use. Sheiks and moguls may not have weeks and a thousand of miles of roads to break in such a car, and they don't want the responsibility. They want it ready to run out of the box.

From having watched several of my vintage motorcycles restored and then breaking them in, the break in is actually the final stage of the manufacturing process. In cases where much is at stake, like Ferraris and Lambos and vintage engines, the break in is best done by a knowledgeable person, not always the average consumer.

YoGeorge

I agree on the price of the car and owner expectations. A number of years ago, our family toured the Corvette plant in Bowling Green, KY, and although the plan was shut down (model year changeover), the main activity of the day was them rolling cars that were built already onto dyno rollers and hammering them for a while. Definitely more than checking the function of the transmissions.

Again, the price of the car makes it possible, and warranty costs resulting from what owners might do with the cars make it worthwhile.

Geezer

I consider my car broken in (after 1,850 km of babying). So now I am going to hammer the snot out of it!

Just kidding...At these gas prices? No, it will be a continuation of pretending to have a raw egg on the accelerator and brake pedals.

Geezer

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Griff (The Geezer)
Drives a 2009 Forester XS Ltd.

YoGeorge

...is that doggone fuel economy readout on the dash staring me in the face. My wife has even suggested that I cover it with black electrical tape so I don't obsess over it as much as I do....

But then there are days when I just want to buzz the motor a bit and enjoy it (easier to do with my manual trans as well), cruse at 35 mph in 3rd gear and enjoy the responsiveness, etc. Kind of like standing on a scale while eating at an all-you-can-eat buffet.

George

vintage42

The Subaru LaFayette factory made Tribecca, Outback, Legacy and Camry. Maybe some of the Outbacks and Legacys were stick shift, but as we went by on the catwalk over the factory floor, we did not see one being tested. I imagine they are put on the same rollers as the automatics, and run up and down through the gears to make sure the transmission works.

I don't think either a stick shift or automatic necessarily shifts more. Assuming both Foresters have 4 speeds, it seems that the amount of shifting would depend on the driver's habits. For instance, in my stick and automatic, I use the least throttle and rpm possible, and so the shifting is much the same.

YoGeorge

Yeah, but I was thinking more of the engine cycling based on gas pedal inputs. Even if I shift my stick shift car as many times as an automatic trans car, it's going to pull slightly more engine vacuum between shifts, if I let off the gas entirely, whereas on an auto trans, I'll just hold the gas pedal down at 30% throttle.

And given that I've got 5 speeds and an auto has 4, I might be shifting a "couple" more times. On the other hand, I might hang in 2nd or 3rd gear on city streets where an auto would be shifting up, then down, somewhat more.

And if I do hang in 2nd or 3rd gear, say, on city streets where I'm slowing for intersections, the engine is going to be pulling more vacuum if I let the engine pull the car down at each block. Again, not a big difference, but maybe some difference.

George

Peaty

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Peaty

04 -XT

06 B9 Tribeca & 99 Miata

ScoobyMods

peatpics

Quicksilver

Peaty-
I'm fully in agreement with the cobbtuning recommendations...with their recommendations for appropriate boost levels, I'd suggest that all FXTs should come with boost guage.
I'll bet a fair amount of money that most of us can't tell the difference between 1-2 pounds boost, and 3-4 pounds boost, without guages.
Noticed a very nice 3 guage pod (fits Defi, etc.) in the ForesterXT ad in the forum!!!!
-Quick

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2004 FXT 4EAT - Platinum Silver Metallic

Arthrogrian19

Interesting article Peaty. Thanks for posting it. My new FSXT has 300 miles, as of today. I've been briskly accelerating to 3,500-4,000 RPM and backing off to promote an upshift. I've had to get on it a 2 or 3 times (on ramps), and it's revved to 5,000 RPM. I typically roll into the throttle, rather than stomping on the accelerator. After 1,000 miles I'll switch to Redline Synthetic or M1 5w30 Synthetic.

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'08 FSXT, GRP, 4EAT

dbtuned

Another method to break in an engine.

Since I have a dyno, I've blended this method with Cobb's method and have had excellent reasults; agressively driven engines that don't burn oil, better mpg, etc.

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Quality is not an act, it is a habit.
-Aristotle

Lone Ranger

Well, I have a new Forester now.

Ha, dbtuned resurrected this thread with his post above... I had forgoten about it.

I pretty much followed the method. I noticed at around 1500 miles the engine began to feel like it was loosening up a little bit and felt more powerful.

I've decided to leave the factory fill oil in until first oil change @ 3750. I don't see a problem with doing this. If anything there is probably some residual assembly lube suspended in the factory oil that helps the lubricity.

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2009 DGM 2.5X 5MT

crash613

I hate these type threads... there is SOOO much info out there that no matter how you break it in, you can find info stating you should have done something else. :(

I had to drive my MY08 FXT back from Maryland, (to Ohio) but i did vary speeds. After home, i kept the RPMs low.