Break in schedule?

What is the rule of thumb concerning this? I always thought it was to watch the speed (do not go over 55 mph for first 1000 miles), but a friend recently told me it's the rpms (don't go over 4000) not the speed. Which is it?

How would you experienced drivers go about breaking in your RX-8? The first driving on mine (other than bringing it home from dealer) will be a 220 mile/3.5 hour drive on the highway. How would you advise i drive it so as to break it in the right way...what are some things i need to be mindful of?

Thanks.

Originally posted by strongbad
What is the rule of thumb concerning this? I always thought it was to watch the speed (do not go over 55 mph for first 1000 miles), but a friend recently told me it's the rpms (don't go over 4000) not the speed. Which is it?

How would you experienced drivers go about breaking in your RX-8? The first driving on mine (other than bringing it home from dealer) will be a 220 mile/3.5 hour drive on the highway. How would you advise i drive it so as to break it in the right way...what are some things i need to be mindful of?

Thanks.

the manual says dont take it past 4000 rpms. but it also says that there is really no break in. but i waited 600 km just to be safe

Its always a good rule of thumb to be gentle on a new vehicle for a few hundred miles just to ensure everything has seated properly.

From my experience they also advise that you avoid highway driving and hard stops for at least the first 500 miles or so.

I was flipping through the manual, and it said for the first 600 miles not to exceed 7000 rpm for long periods of time, drive at varying rpms, and avoid highway driving. Thats very liberal for break in guidelines.

I was flipping through the manual, and it said for the first 600 miles not to exceed 7000 rpm for long periods of time, drive at varying rpms, and avoid highway driving. Thats very liberal for break in guidelines.

IIRC it doesn't mention 'no highway driving', but your other points are right on. I'm at 566 miles, and counting, and occasionally run up to redline.

Your best bet would be to not take it over 4 or 5 thousand rpm until 600 miles. you cant be too careful with a car like that. just think about what your going to do after that though

I had a custom RX-7 engine built for me by a friend of mine. My friend is a genius with these machines (he can hand street port them and mine was still running strong after about 50,000 miles) he told me 2 important things when he gave me the finished car

1) baby the car for 1500 miles. ie: don't run at the same rpm for a long time, don't take the engine over 4000 rpm. After that you're ok. The seals need that time to "set" correctly

2) check your oil EVERY WEEK. The Wankel engine consumes a small amount every time it runs. If you go a while before checking, you could run out. He was adament about this (ie: Don't ask me to fix it if you let the oil run out, because I won't).

Enjoy your new car.