Hey,

I have been lurking on this board for a while now, you all know your stuff. I was wondering if anyone had any advice as to how to properly break in a new car? I am approx. 6 weeks from getting a brand new Bonneville. This car is coming straight from the factory (I had to order it to get one w/o sunroof). One of my buddies recommends driving like a grandma for the first 500 miles and then let'er rip. Any help you could give would be cool.

The absolute worst thing you can do is use your cruise control for extended periods of time. Varying the RPM'* over the first 500 miles is a good idea. Other than that, I think most modern drivetrains are pretty basically "break them in as you're going to drive them".

My humble opinion. Please feel free to jump all over me now

I agree. You must break in the engine through all RPM. Don't drive at the same speeds for a long amount of time. All of the moving parts still have to polish them selves. Stay away from hard breaking .

Lucky bastard. I wish I had the money for a great car like that.

The car remembers the remotes and adusts everything to the last remote used. A/C , radio, seats and mirrors.

In reality, it takes about 30,000 miles before the motor really breaks in. You will feel more power around 30k because more modern engines have tight tolerances especially GM'*. Japanese engines (or aluminum ones) are around 10k they seal well and open up quicker because its aluminum and wears quickers. The GM ones take longer because of the iron block.

That'* interesting. I know this is off the subject, but my car is at 15K, and I push it hard once in a while. Is that OK?

1995 with 15K . Where do you drive ? To the mail box?

Perfectly fine. After approx 1k-3k miles you can push the car harder. Not a big deal. Just saying at around 30k miles you will feel the car has fully seated and will move much quicker (less friction in the seals).

I've heard that synthics are no good in higher milage engines. They are too thin .