Proper Break-In?

Associate
Joined
28 Jul 2003
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1,219
I'm taking delivery of this in 2 weeks.

Don't hotlink images! - Will Gill

I'm curious as I can't seem to find a definitive answer anywhere. Some people say performance cars needs to be driven hard in the first 100miles to get the piston rings to set properly, others (including the manufacturers) always say to drive it like it's made of glass.

From what I've read, the theory of driving it hard in the first 100 miles holds merit...but well given the price tag I'm obviously a bit dubious.

Does anyone have empirical evidence to suggest one method over the other?
 
Man of Honour
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20 Sep 2006
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33,883
Just drive it hard, but allow the brakes/tyres/clutch etc to bed in, Engine from everything I've read by experts should already be bedded in on a bench and then if you want it should be driven hard.
 
Man of Honour
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You must be one of less than 10 people to order a new Infiniti, how was the sales process? It's supposed to be markedly different from other marques.
 
Soldato
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EGBB
Running in period....open a can of worms!

Most people, including sales people (what do they know anyway!) will tell you that you don't need to run a car in these days! However, from experience, every user manual that has come with a brand new car (including the latest addition to our collection, a Merc E350 in Oct 13) has clearly stated that there is a run in period of around 1000 miles.

Within this you should try and drive the car below 2/3 max revs, without excessively harsh acceleration or braking. I have always done that with my new cars and they always run very well.

Read the manual and follow it!
 
Soldato
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SE England
A Sebastian Vettel edition? Blimey! Certainly joining a niche club. As Fox said, what was the purchasing process like?

Random fact, but I hillclimed that same model at Cholmondeley and got it up the hill faster than Andy Wallace driving a Veyron and Anthony Reid driving a Noble M600 :D

Pipped a 12C and an F40 past the post a few times as well. The Infiniti wasn't the best choice for the course, though, but it did very well!

Anyway. Just drive the wheels off it, within reason - but give the brakes a little time to bed. Extend it to the redline without excessively loading the engine regularly. These things have already been run by the time it gets to you, so just get it loosened up properly. Ask your dealer if you're not sure, or check the handbook. It'll probably just say 'drive it'...










:)
 
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Soldato
Joined
13 Jan 2004
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20,929
Irrespective of the 'best' way, whether evidenced or not - I would suggest following the manufacturer guidelines.

Is it really worth not doing so and risking your warranty?

Other than that, that Infiniti looks awesome :D
 
Associate
Joined
30 Dec 2008
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1,940
I think for a road going engine, just running it pretty normally, not too grandma like (won't stretch the con-rods fully), not too aggressive, nor labouring the engine for long (too much heat build-up) but just heat cycle the engine, up and down a few hills to let it heat and cool as it works itself in.

The race engines take a lot more nanny'ing for a few miles (although we ran my engine very hard after 100 miles and maybe four afternoons heat cycling - then straight to dyno tune it!)



Wait 100K!!! WHAT?!
 
Man of Honour
Joined
17 Oct 2002
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159,534
A Porsche Cayenne GTS will trump it on every objective measure * – ride, handling, value and practicality – and even if it didn't, the pricing makes this little more than a rich man's folly.

It looks like a £40k car and even at that level as with most Infiniti it would sell very sparingly... but £100k!?!?

How can it possibly be worth the extra over cars like the Cayenne and all new RRS!?
 
Soldato
Joined
5 Apr 2009
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24,796
With a standard Infiniti FX50 costing £58,280, buyers are paying a huge £47K premium (including the spoiler) for the ‘Sebastian Vettel’ kudos. You get tweaked styling and exclusivity (200 worldwide, 50 of those in Europe), but a £67,000 Porsche Cayenne GTS offers similar performance with much better handling. There’s a huge market developing for sporty, individual SUVs, but the only sporty part of the Infiniti Vettel is the name.

Jesus wept, £47,000 so it says 'Sebastian Vettel' on the boot. For a lot of people that would decrease the value rather than double it :p
 
Man of Honour
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17 Oct 2002
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159,534
So it isnt the performance you get for £47k extra, as the standard model has the same performance?

Is this a real thread or a trollthread, why would anyone pay twice as much for a car thats already a particularly uncompetitive offering just for a bit of styling tweaks?!
 
Associate
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11 Dec 2009
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Barnsley
Make of this what you will but I've had new company cars over the last 6 years (all VAG diesel). The first two I "ran in" by taking it easy in them, not excessively slow but taking it easier than I would normally drive. Both of them used approx 1 litre of oil between services. My current one I drove normally (hard-ish) and it hasn't used a drop of oil between the last 2 services.
 
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