Engine Break in guidance

I wouldn't worry about it too much. I would do at least 100 miles before your trip to make sure there are no issues, new cars sometimes have minor things you don't want to discover away from home.There's countless threads about this already. You can either baby the engine like in the manual, or drive it very hard. You can find many articles and threads telling the pros and cons for each method. Either way seems to be fine. I prefer the hard break in, but only because of positive results and advice from engine builders. There's a lot of discussions about this, ignore the ones not related to modern engines that come with Synthetic oil from the factory. Enjoy your new car!

You'll get a lot of varied opinions here. My advice would be to drive conservatively for the first 1K miles. Don't over-rev the engine, or brake excessively, etc. Details are in the manual.

I picked up my 2024 Premium not quite 3 weeks ago, now have just about 500 miles on it. When I picked it up my dealer said to avoid the cruise control for the first 1,000 miles (and be very gentle with the brakes for the first 500). I don't spend much time on freeways these days, so my break in with varying engine speeds fits the instructions, but will take a month or more to get to 1,000 miles. Whether this is necessary or not I plan on keeping this car for a long, long time, so being conservative now compared to a long life later seems like a good trade off.

I'm with PDawg on the hard break-in method. I've taken a new Subaru from the delivering dealer, where I checked tire pressures, fluids, etc and driven straight to the steepest longest interstate mountain section and floored it at the bottom and never let up until cresting, where I engine braked on the way down the other side.

I've also followed the book on other new Subarus. (Lots of Subys in 32 years, lots of "experimenting.")

But I still drive the initial 100 miles with a version of hard and book... that is, some full throttle bursts and engine braking down to legal. Also, I avoid extended constant speed driving during the first 1000 or so miles. Just me, though, biased from building/rebuilding engines.

My results with newer cars were the same with both methods... great running engines that never burned oil.

You, do You. No advice here.

This is getting old...

Why not follow the advice of the engineers who designed the engine?

AstroKats said:

This is getting old...

Why not follow the advice of the engineers who designed the engine?

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Actually, I am a ME which is why I value the Voice of the Customer. As good as things are designed, real-world experience is also valuable.

7eap4a said:

Actually, I am a ME which is why I value the Voice of the Customer. As good as things are designed, real-world experience is also valuable.

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So, you're from Middle Earth. That's cool. Welcome!

If you have anything tangible to post here we'll gladly discuss it.

AstroKats said:

This is getting old...

Why not follow the advice of the engineers who designed the engine?

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And where will you find this advice? Because the engineers aren’t given carte blanche to write the manual.

The engineers will have their input, sure, but the accounting, marketing and other departments will have their say as well. In the end, the recommendations in the manual are likely a compromise.

.5% of people that buy new cars "break them in properly". the other 99.5% dont even know what that means.. still i dont see the line of brand new cars at dealerships with blown engines cause they did not break them in properly . or the field service engineer telling me yup that owner should have broken in there engine correctly and this wouldnt have happended. its your car do what ever you feel is best if its not stating otherwise in the owners manual.

I would just follow what it says in the owner's manual and once past 1000 miles, or warranty, go crazy.

7eap4a said:

1st post here - be gentle

I have a 2024 Limited due to arrive in 4 weeks. Right about that time I want to go on roughly a 1000-mile trip. This is my 3rd Subaru with CVT and in the past, I've tried to vary speed during the first 1000 miles or so. That's been difficult to do with a CVT. The RPMs will drift a bit but regardless of speed, they are usually pretty consistent. My question is about the proper break-in. Besides not driving like a knucklehead, is there anything to really avoid? I plan to do an oil change right after the trip, but anything else? Thank you!

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I would also say (this if from what I remember in the owner's manual...so follow it exactly) that like others mentioned, just vary speeds, drive locally, don't go over 4000rpms for the first 1000 miles. I remember during my initial 1000 miles when I first put it in manual mode (paddle shifters), I could hear what sounded like a chain move. But, its never happened again. The first 1000 miles are like a test run to make sure there aren't any gremlins that you find before you start using cruise control on highways, towing, long trips, etc.

AstroKats said:

So, you're from Middle Earth. That's cool. Welcome!

If you have anything tangible to post here we'll gladly discuss it.

Click to expand...

Even if you don’t have a tangible post to reply to please feel free to post anything anyway!!!

From the owner's manual:
New vehicle break-in driving –the first 1,000 miles (1,600 km)
The performance and long life of your vehicle are dependent on how you handle and care for your vehicle while it is new.
Follow these instructions during the first 1,000 miles (1,600 km):
. Do not race the engine. And do not allow engine speed to exceed 4,000 rpm except in an emergency.
. Do not drive at one constant engine or vehicle speed for a long time, either fast or slow.
. Avoid starting suddenly and rapid acceleration, except in an emergency.
. Avoid hard braking, except in an emergency.

You might want to look into "Ceramic Coating" treatment for the Paint and Windshield.

Other than that, enjoy your trip!

(Members would love photos of your new Crosstrek!)

AstroKats said:

This is getting old...

Why not follow the advice of the engineers who designed the engine?

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Never have. Too old to start now. That's why I've never leased a car... I want to do to it whatever I want to do to it.

In fact, the drilling, cutting, tweaking, installing, etc starts as soon as I get one.

Hasn't troubled me yet.

7eap4a said:

PERSONAL ATTACK

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No need to be nasty. I meant that if you have some reports you can cite about engines failing early because they weren't broken in properly we can discuss it. RTFM. Just take it easy at the beginning and try to vary engine revs, no hard braking, etc.

Friends, please keep it friendly and helpful. No personal attacks.

I know everyone is sure that their way of breaking in an engine is the best way.

Everyone here will disagree with me. But I ree-linede my last 3 right out of the gate. (not slamming my foot to the floor).

None of those uses oil. Oil consumption is undetectable. Don't lose a minute's sleep over the trip.

Everyone has their black magic method tested over 30 cars, 10 cases of beer, and passed down over generations. The safest method is to follow the manual Sheldon posted above. Is it the best method, i don't know. I'm also an ME, but i have not designed a car engine.