The first 100 miles

370 Zed · 04-16-2012, 09:04 PM

Two days in and just done my first 100 miles, and to be honest it's the most fun I have had driving in the last decade. Whether just cruising on a mere tickover in 6th on the middle lane of the freeway or getting her to 'step out' on some of the fun roads near work. Love my Zed!

Took this photo yesterday (on the phone)... after I volunteered to go and fetch some stuff the wife needed!

juicypinkkk · 04-16-2012, 09:20 PM

grats! yours looks exactly like mine = ). Loving it also. New car smell, haha.

370ZilverZ · 04-16-2012, 09:45 PM

Great to hear. On your way to break in now.

MacLean · 04-16-2012, 09:47 PM

Welcome & congrats on your new purchase!!!!!!! I'm pretty sure you will be running more errands for the wife, but it might take a little bit longer too if you know what I mean....lol

LakeShow · 04-16-2012, 10:18 PM

1,200 is the milestone, then you can really open her up.

Luke · 04-16-2012, 10:31 PM

Congrats. Looks like mine too. Glad your having fun. Any issues at all?

MacLean · 04-16-2012, 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LakeShow

1,200 is the milestone, then you can really open her up.

What? I thought you have to wait until to put 500 miles on the ride before opening her up.

JARblue · 04-16-2012, 11:30 PM

Welcome

I believe the manual says 1200 miles. My dealer told me 700 miles...

I just made sure to accelerate each gear through up to power band at a steady, medium rate. I was careful never to punch or drop the accelerator during the break-in period. Although as a DD it took less than 3 weeks to break it in. Seeing as it's my wife's DD, she wasn't too happy about me getting to drive it exclusively for those first three weeks. I promised her I wasn't having any driving fun. It was actually quite stressful in traffic sometimes - the synchro rev match came in handy and helped in getting to know the clutch.

MacLean · 04-16-2012, 11:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JARblue

Welcome

I believe the manual says 1200 miles. My dealer told me 700 miles...

I just made sure to accelerate each gear through up to power band at a steady, medium rate. I was careful never to punch or drop the accelerator during the break-in period. Although as a DD it took less than 3 weeks to break it in. Seeing as it's my wife's DD, she wasn't too happy about me getting to drive it exclusively for those first three weeks. I promised her I wasn't having any driving fun. It was actually quite stressful in traffic sometimes - the synchro rev match came in handy and helped in getting to know the clutch.

I see....... I am only shifting at 3k rpms. My dad took it up to 4K rpms once, but it is ok b/c it is my dad. I am only cruising on the highway at 60mph with the cruise control on.

LakeShow · 04-17-2012, 12:51 AM

1,200 is stated in manual. 1,200 is done on almost all sports cars.

Luke · 04-17-2012, 02:56 AM

hahahaha my dealer told me cars dont need to be run at all these days. I was like ummmmm....... riiiiight.

JARblue · 04-17-2012, 08:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cgmg21

I see....... I am only shifting at 3k rpms. My dad took it up to 4K rpms once, but it is ok b/c it is my dad. I am only cruising on the highway at 60mph with the cruise control on.

Generally I tried to push it to about 5.5K in 2nd-4th (4K or so in 1st/5th), but I was putting in the clutch as soon as I got there and then letting the RPMs drop all the way back to almost idle levels while in neutral. Then I revved back up to appropriate RPM for my speed and made my next gear shift. I also made sure to downshift into just about every gear except first (although you can do it easily with SRM). The key to this is being very steady while you traverse the RPM range for each gear. For break-in period, the SRM can really help since it can make every shift smooth as butter especially if you need a little bit of a learning curve.

And I'm not saying that cruise control at 60 is bad for your engine during break-in, but getting the engine to go through the lows and highs in each gear is the proper way to break-in. If you find that most of your break-in miles are cruising on the highway, you're not truly breaking it in. In that case, I would recommend using the frontage roads every once in a while, or just take it around town every so often for 30 min of driving where you make sure to do some proper break-in.

FWIW, every mechanic I know says this is how to break-in properly, but they never bother to do it to their own cars...

MacLean · 04-17-2012, 10:54 AM

When slowing down, I always downshift too. By doing this you do not have to use the brakes as much.

I looked in the manual and it did state during the first 1,200 miles follow these recommendations to obtain maximum engine performance and ensure the future reliability & economy of your new vehicle.

•Avoid driving for long periods at constant speed, either fast or slow. Do not run the engine over 4,000 rpm.
•Do not accelerate at full throttle in any gear.
•Avoid quick starts.
•Avoid hard braking as much as possible.

Looks like I do not need to use cruise control & can shift up too 4k rpms as the max.

nmjaxx9 · 04-17-2012, 11:03 AM

Welcome and congrats!

ZCarMan · 04-17-2012, 06:08 PM

Congratulations!

04-16-2012, 09:45 PM	#3 (permalink)
370ZilverZ A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: DFW, TX Age: 67 Posts: 2,321 Drives: '11 BMW Z4 Rep Power: 18	Great to hear. On your way to break in now. __________________ 370ZilverZ Journal BMW Z4

04-16-2012, 10:18 PM	#5 (permalink)
LakeShow A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: L.I., NY Posts: 5,307 Drives: Everything Rep Power: 25	1,200 is the milestone, then you can really open her up. __________________ \|2013 Audi S4\|Ibis White/Black\|S-Tronic P+\| \|2013 370z\|PearlWhite/Persimmon\|Touring/Sport/Nav\|F.I. CBE 18" CF\| \|Sold\|2011 370z\|Gun Metallic\|Touring/Sport/Nav\|

04-17-2012, 12:51 AM	#10 (permalink)
LakeShow A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: L.I., NY Posts: 5,307 Drives: Everything Rep Power: 25	1,200 is stated in manual. 1,200 is done on almost all sports cars. __________________ \|2013 Audi S4\|Ibis White/Black\|S-Tronic P+\| \|2013 370z\|PearlWhite/Persimmon\|Touring/Sport/Nav\|F.I. CBE 18" CF\| \|Sold\|2011 370z\|Gun Metallic\|Touring/Sport/Nav\|

04-17-2012, 06:08 PM	#15 (permalink)
ZCarMan A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: MD Posts: 4,488 Drives: 09 Z34, 13 F-150 Rep Power: 26	Congratulations! __________________ Jon Swift \| SPC \| Stillen \| Motordyne \| AAM \| Cobb \| Hawk \| Volk Racing \| Bridgestone Green Demon Eyes

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04-16-2012, 09:20 PM	#2 (permalink)
juicypinkkk Base Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Toronto, ON Posts: 162 Drives: 2012 Sprt 6MT 370z Rep Power: 14	grats! yours looks exactly like mine = ). Loving it also. New car smell, haha.

04-16-2012, 09:47 PM	#4 (permalink)
MacLean A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Houston Posts: 1,589 Drives: '12 GM Nismo # 0445 Rep Power: 16	Welcome & congrats on your new purchase!!!!!!! I'm pretty sure you will be running more errands for the wife, but it might take a little bit longer too if you know what I mean....lol

04-16-2012, 10:31 PM	#6 (permalink)
Luke Base Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Australia Posts: 111 Drives: 2012 370Z 6MT Black Rep Power: 13	Congrats. Looks like mine too. Glad your having fun. Any issues at all?

04-16-2012, 11:30 PM	#8 (permalink)
JARblue A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Austin, TX Age: 43 Posts: 36,450 Drives: 11 Z34, 98 E36 M3 Rep Power: 2684440	Welcome I believe the manual says 1200 miles. My dealer told me 700 miles... I just made sure to accelerate each gear through up to power band at a steady, medium rate. I was careful never to punch or drop the accelerator during the break-in period. Although as a DD it took less than 3 weeks to break it in. Seeing as it's my wife's DD, she wasn't too happy about me getting to drive it exclusively for those first three weeks. I promised her I wasn't having any driving fun. It was actually quite stressful in traffic sometimes - the synchro rev match came in handy and helped in getting to know the clutch.

04-17-2012, 02:56 AM	#11 (permalink)
Luke Base Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Australia Posts: 111 Drives: 2012 370Z 6MT Black Rep Power: 13	hahahaha my dealer told me cars dont need to be run at all these days. I was like ummmmm....... riiiiight.

04-17-2012, 10:54 AM	#13 (permalink)
MacLean A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Houston Posts: 1,589 Drives: '12 GM Nismo # 0445 Rep Power: 16	When slowing down, I always downshift too. By doing this you do not have to use the brakes as much. I looked in the manual and it did state during the first 1,200 miles follow these recommendations to obtain maximum engine performance and ensure the future reliability & economy of your new vehicle. •Avoid driving for long periods at constant speed, either fast or slow. Do not run the engine over 4,000 rpm. •Do not accelerate at full throttle in any gear. •Avoid quick starts. •Avoid hard braking as much as possible. Looks like I do not need to use cruise control & can shift up too 4k rpms as the max.

04-17-2012, 11:03 AM	#14 (permalink)
nmjaxx9 A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Middletown, Ct Posts: 5,853 Drives: 2011 Nissan 370z Rep Power: 26	Welcome and congrats!