For those of us that are receiving new cars as winter closes in (and have to leave our cars outside), thoughts on any special procedures for this?

Obviously I'll be running 0w30 SSO Amsoil, probably Mini's OE coolant, anything else?

This is pretty OCD, I'm just wanting to break in the car as I want (save how to break in motors for a different thread).

I'm just thinking in terms of hot-cold cycles to break in the engine/metal harness, and if the cold temps will be too extreme, etc. if it reaches 0 degrees or whatever. That, and how most engine wear is on cold start, worse the colder it gets, and throwing engine break in on top of that. Garage would be ideal, but not available, and no outlet to use a block heater..

 

Just drive like in the summer break in....no worries....
Cars are made and tested to deal with tempture extremes....heck I would be more worried about extreme heat and break in than cold...any modern syenthic oil/Lube used in a OEM or quality aftermarket is amazing compared to the stuff 20 years ago...
Just love your car, and drive it as intended....
I subscribe to the gentle and vary the rpms method....IMO cars broken in like this (rather than drive it like you stole it) tend to burn less oil, and do better longer term if you plan on keeping the car for many years......

 

Thanks for the input. I'm with you on the break in, sometimes people don't get the metal itself has to go through hot-cold cycles to harden/break in as well, not to mention the rest of the car..

I just thought the swings between hot and cold would be too extreme, or worse that my drives were too short to even get the car hot enough in the winter

 

Naw....with modern motors, they are so power dense and compact, it is still possible to overheat them on a cold day if there is a cooling system malfunction...unlike the old days with carbs and big displacement motors with low compression.....
With computers and ecu's , modern motors will do fine....just be sure if you do lots of sub 15 minute trips to go out on a hours drive or so every week...check your oil at fillups till the burn rate stabilizes, then every 1000 miles or so seem to work for many.....

 

yea my drives to work are 10min 1 way, which is my concern. that, and extreme cold messing with any engine heat cycling i'm trying to accomplish. i'm sure it'll be fine. i'll have all of november to break the car in before it gets too cold i think

 

I agree. Just regular, every day driving will break the engine in nicely. The low temps shouldn't make a difference.