Tomasu

Hi everybody, im new here and i just bought a new 05 WRX, took it off the lot with 5 miles (3 were my own test drive). Anyways ive had it for almost a week and it has about 250 miles now. I havent revved past 4500 rpm yet and the car is still damn quick.

Sorry if this is such a noob question but i searched and couldnt find anything.... How many miles should be put on the motor before revving high or pushing the car very hard? I dont wanna do anything that will break the car at all, but with feeling how quick the car is only going up to 4500 rpm max, im eager to find out what it will do if i take it to redline haha. The very last thing i wana do is break anything :-( .

All the dealer said was for the first 1000 miles, whenever on the freeway, every 5 or 10 minutes, vary the speed and rpms when cruising. So ive been doing that, but ive never revved it up high for fear of hurting it. so any info would be helpful!

This car is such a blast... its the overall perfect car, ive wanted one ever since i set eyes on the debut of a 2.5 rs back when i was like 12. And now i have one :-D . AWD feels greater than i ever could have imagined. Im subaru for life now haha. And it handles better than my s13 w/ mods and sticky es100 tires did! The WRX is worth every penny.

Well, thanks in advance!

Tom

-j-

iTrader: (2)

Wait the 1000 miles as recommended to be safe, but I actually drove a little past that when I had too. You will notice later that the tires that came with it is better used as a chair or coffee table. Don't push them too hard, but if you had an S13, I would think you know how to drive or slide

Have fun and welcome!

Tomasu

haha yeah i learned ALOT from the s13 gripping and drifting. For a long time i was really into the whole mountain racing thing and i got really good/fast... but too many of my friends have wrecked, so ive since called the quits. Ive turned to more comfort/style/reliability so i can focus on my school more now. Sure cruising the mountains during the day is alrght, but not racing other cars up and down it pushing hard during the middle of the night. Same with drifting, waste of tires and kills the car... fun while it lasted tho (cept for running from the cops h34r: ). I hope to AutoX in my future and keep it safe/legal.
So yeah ive grown up alot with buying this car :-). I even feel like more of an adult and i dont haul *** around everywhere like most hte drifter kids still do.

So far from what ive felt, those stock tires have been stickin pretty well (mostly due to how well the chassis is setup tho). I cant say i know how far the limits of the wrx are yet, but i definately know how to control how much im pushin it and when to bring it down a notch. The wrx is clearly a whole different level of automobile than the s13 tho.

Well thanks for hte input and the inviting welcome! Its cool to buy an awesome car, its even more awesome finding yourself in a new cool community because of it .

dizmfker

iTrader: (10)

im wondering the same thing.. i got 1200 miles on my 05 now and i've been keepin it under 3000rpms.. i was told the break-in period is 3000 miles?

-j-

iTrader: (2)

Let 'er rip!

porter_mann

Yesterday I went to Rim of the World Rally in Lancaster. I spoke with one of the mechanics from Easy Street Motorsports who do the ESX for subaru. They had the most elaborate setup there - fully supported. He says, after 500 or so miles start bringing the RPM's to 7 grand 1-2 per day. Take it easy, let it warm up first, and then rev it high - like on an onramp or something (no launches). In addition to seating the rings, he says that at higher RPMs, everything stretches a bit more - thousandths of inches compared to lower RPMs. If you baby it (RPM low), carbon deposits form on the cylinder wall at the apex of where the piston hits. One day, when you do rev it high - the piston stretches those thousandths of inches and hits the carbon buildup (which basically is as tough as the surrounding metal) - damaging the rings and ultimately the engine. He also says to vary the RPM.

I have no reason to disbelieve him, he used to be a formula 1 racer and now he's a mechanic for Easy streets motorsports. On another note, their ESX STI was first seat at the final leg at lancaster. I don't know what their final time/position was though at the end. In the end, like J says, "let'er rip".

I'm in the same position, I'm at 700 miles on the WRX. Check the oil frequently, some say it tends to eat a lot of oil in the break-in period. I started the 7k revs, and its super smooth all the way up. www.easystreetmotorsports.com

resident smurf

iTrader: (3)

I adhere to the hard break in suggested by Motoman at the hard break in secrets site and apparently the ESX tech you met... boost and varied RPM's off the lot on my '05 STi.

Sean

meilers

I also think the hard break-in is a bad idea for an everyday-driver vehicle that will not see race time. I've read several of the very detailed "pro-hard-break-in" articles and discussions, and almost all the people advocating this were professional racers or race mechanics; often they were motorcycle racers, and motorcycle engines are VASTLY different in design, tolerances and needs than a boxer engine from an AWD car. If you are the sort of person who demands a 13.9 1/4 mile vs. a 14.0, then you already plan to modify and rebuild your engine and it is a moot point. If you just want the car to get you around town in a sporty fashion and last 100k+ miles, you'd be best advised to follow the manufacturer and dealer recommendations (which includes not switching to synthetic until 10,000 miles and not changing the transmission fluid until 30,000 miles as well).

MVWRX

iTrader: (1)

All the break in info is in the manual isn't it?

Lorry

Yup, with motorcycles, a hard break in is considered best to get the piston rings to bed in properly. However, thrashing a new transmission can make it shift more roughly. Since many 600cc sports bikes don't see > 20,000 miles anyway, long term reliability and quality of life is less of an issue. Even so, the topic is still debated.

porter_mann

One thing about racing vehicles - they're thrashed all the time (lauches, redline, hard shifting, etc...). They're driven hard from the begining and ultimately throughout their life. I think this has a more dramatic effect for reliability then the method for break-ins. Even a properly broken in engine won't last at sustained redline RPMs. My opinion is, rev it high on occasion but don't thrash on it.
The mechanic did agree that the first 500 miles to take it easy. And then from there on - let it rev high a few times. Nothing extreme.


Another thing to think about. There are many high performance cars that come STOCK with synthetic. The Corvette comes to mind, as well as some European vehicles. Personally, I'm going to change my oil at 1000 miles with dino, and then again at 3000 dino - just for costs purposes. At 6k I'll probaly switch to redline.

nypatrick

Break in procedures all really trying to tell us that no engine, no matter how carefully machined, does not have some rough edges. Getting rid of them, and getting everything loosened up a bit, if what is done during breakin. Change the lubricant frequently, sneak up on the revs, run up and down, but get to the redline. Hold it there for longer periods over time (miles run) and you'll have an engine ready to roll for a long time. As to the carbon build up: most detergent gasolines (aren't they all?) help keep carbon down. The pros can do fast breakins because they do it often, like after every race. Can you afford that? There is also the warranty issue: do it the factory way, and let them pay if it breaks. [ I recently posted my timing belt breaking after just 32K, 32 months. SOA is doing the work.] I am not able to advise between synthetic and natural oils, as I have only used standard Quaker State, in the viscosity from the book, in my '02. Maybe some of the exotic oils (Lucas, etc.) are better, by my experiences with Valvoline, Pennzoil, Mobil, etc., have all been good.