I was wondering how long or how many miles i should take it easy on my new MCS before i start pushing it hard.

 

What's the '07 owner's manual say?

 

^^^
Excellent suggestion!!! The manual says 1,200 miles...push it hard after that. The manual has more info on p. 76.

 

Drive it like you stole it . . .

 

shhh! gokartride's watching this thread!!

 

^^^ How did he know???

 

Just having some fun with you and Motor Mouth

 

 

I babied it until 1400 miles and kept it under 4k rpm

 

The user manual says "Drive at varying engine and road speeds". So during break-in if I plan to take a long road trip on a highway with no traffic, what should I do? Slow down and speed up every hour? How big of a deal would it be if I didn't do that?

 

The whole point of the break-in period is to seat the piston rings to the lands. To do that, you need lots of high load [yes, flooring it], and lots of engine braking. I agree with keeping the operation variable; no cruise control, no traffic jams, and no "durability tests" [aka top-speed runs] for the first 100-300 miles. After that, change the oil, and have fun!

$0.02,
Ryan

 

At highway speed you have 4 gears (3-6) to choose from to keep the engine running at various speeds. You probably want to avoid 3rd to avoid taking the engine over 4000 rpm. And yes, for a variety of engine break-in reasons you want to avoid constant speed highway driving with cruise control

 

if your car is a lease dont worry about it

 

Not right, Not right. This is a Mini, A special car, Somebody will have to pick up the pieces some day ,when and if they buy it. ( bottom line, treat all Minis with the greatest of respect, we have to uphold the reputation)

 

A buddy of mine that builds racing engines gives the same advice. He says if you don't get the engine hot enough (if you keep the revs low) you won't get the rings to seat properly.

dean.

 

I agree! Drive it like a rental! I break in everything I own this way.

 

I used the Ryephile way of breaking in my engine - evidently my clutch protested! :-)

 

Thanks for all the advice everyone, i would have looked in the owner's manual but I don't have my car yet :(

 

Well that's a darn good reason!!! If you need to read more, there is a PDF of the owners manual at MotoringFile.com under "MotoringFile downloads."

 

Drive it like you stole it

vs

Follow what the car maker tells you to do

Why does everyone think they know more than the people who made the car?

 

Soooo...tell me, how long do your engines usually last you?

 

You can also download the owners manual from the MINI Owners Lounge. I have read mine about ohhh I lost count already!
The only one that is not available that I can find is for the radio (in the Owners Lounge anyway).

 

Exactly what I did... HIGH LOAD low rpms.... need cylinder pressure to seat the rings! I need to change my oil lol.

 

At least until I trade it in! I've never had a catostrophic engine failure. I break in EVERYthing the same way.

These things aren't low-tech Harley-Davidson motors. They've actually got some 21st century technology in them. With Nikasil (chrome) bore cylinders there is no "ring seating".

I bought a Yamaha FJR1300 back in August of '03. I rung the bike up to 140+ mph with 8 miles on the odometer. That bike now has over 50K miles on it and runs better than any coddled broken-in bike. It's all about varying the ENGINE speed, not the speed of the vehicle. It's much worse for a motor to be lugged (too rpm) than it is to be rev'd high.

My wife and I toured the Corvette factory in Bowling Green, Kentucky a few years ago. EVERY single car that comes off the assembly line is run up on a dyno to REDLINE.

As usual, your results WILL vary. Break it in the way you feel comfortable. Babying a new motor is a waste of time. Life's too short.

 

Interesting. I hear this same thing all the time, but it's usually more like "my best friend's brother's uncle's girlfriend's nephew builds race motors, and he says beat the hell out of it when it's new."

Never really heard anyone that ACTUALLY does this. So why do the car manufacturers tell us to do otherwise? I'm not trying to be a smartass, I'm truly curious.