How Do I BREAK-IN my SRT8!

[joeduavit]

Well folks, I finally took delivery last night of a 2006 Brilliant Black 300C SRT8 and it is simply awesome! I'll post pictures of him basking in the 'cool' Hawaiian winter weather in the next few days.

What I wanted to ask the group was, "HOW SHOULD I BE DRIVING?"

I picked up the car last night with 21 miles on it. We took it around town and I put maybe 50 miles all under 3000rpm at best. It was killing me!!!

[DanRealtor]

Originally Posted by joeduavit

Well folks, I finally took delivery last night of a 2006 Brilliant Black 300C SRT8 and it is simply awesome! I'll post pictures of him basking in the 'cool' Hawaiian winter weather in the next few days.

What I wanted to ask the group was, "HOW SHOULD I BE DRIVING?"

I picked up the car last night with 21 miles on it. We took it around town and I put maybe 50 miles all under 3000rpm at best. It was killing me!!!

Joe,
Not only is it not recommended that you baby it, it's actually not good for it. There are numerous threads about "Break-In". Driving it with some WOT (Wide Open Throttle) bursts is actually recommended to seat the rings properly. It is okay to have some fun with it right outta the box. You should be varying the RPM's not droning along at one RPM level all day long. The first 300 miles you should not be travelling for long periods at high speed, but again, it is good to "Open 'er up". The car also does have some "Self Preservation" built into the computer software. As you rack up miles the car will get faster, and does "Learn" your driving style, and will respond accordingly. I have had mine for 4 months (today) and have racked up 14,801 miles so far. She has gotten faster and faster. Although I do have to admit that I still haven't pushed her hard yet (we've only gone 163 mph so far!). And for God's sake, don't listen to any of the clown's advice about using non synthetic oil for break in. Our SRT-8's, Porsches, Ferraris, Infinitis all come from the factory with Mobil1 Full synthetic for a reason. Now go drive 300 miles (today if posssible) so you can really start to drive her hard (like she wants!)

PS Congrats on your sweet new ride!



Dan

[IceMan1959]

Originally Posted by joeduavit

Well folks, I finally took delivery last night of a 2006 Brilliant Black 300C SRT8 and it is simply awesome! I'll post pictures of him basking in the 'cool' Hawaiian winter weather in the next few days.

What I wanted to ask the group was, "HOW SHOULD I BE DRIVING?"

I picked up the car last night with 21 miles on it. We took it around town and I put maybe 50 miles all under 3000rpm at best. It was killing me!!!

Drive it like you stole it !!!!

[joeduavit]

Thanks Dan. Thanks Ice. That's all I needed to hear. You made my day. And I can't thank this forum enough. It is giving me a true appreciation of the engineering put into this car. My wife is already jealous of it...well, she should be!

[GoofyTimL]

Probably no place in HI where you can really open her up before you have to turn to avoid the beach! HA. Wish I could be there! Merry Christmas.

[caligezzer]

Avoid smooth boring your engine by driving the engine to gentle.



The recommended method to run in an engine is to slowly throttle up to high revs and then let off the throttle and the car will slow its self down. Do this every so often and your cylinders and rings will give you a good tight seal. You only have to do that a few times during run in to protect your horsepower.



Cars will get faster age. A car with 60,000 will normally win a drag by 6 car lengths from a new one so enjoy adding mileage.



Of course most new cars are run in by the manufacture now so the whole thing is probably irrelevant. LoL. That’s why new cars have Mobile One instead of cheap oils now.



New cars and bikes were always run on cheap oil for the first 500 miles, this was to prevent smooth bore and a few other issues. Wear and tear is NOT a bad thing.

[cbutler32]

Originally Posted by joeduavit

Well folks, I finally took delivery last night of a 2006 Brilliant Black 300C SRT8 and it is simply awesome! I'll post pictures of him basking in the 'cool' Hawaiian winter weather in the next few days.

What I wanted to ask the group was, "HOW SHOULD I BE DRIVING?"

I picked up the car last night with 21 miles on it. We took it around town and I put maybe 50 miles all under 3000rpm at best. It was killing me!!!

Drive around the island - 3 times...
that will get you close...
then once you get 300+ miles on it...
take it up to the freeway leading to I believe Hickam and the west side...
I forget the number...
and really blow it out...
the carbon build up that is...

ENJOY!!!
and CONGRATS!!!

[Sleeper300]

Originally Posted by joeduavit

Well folks, I finally took delivery last night of a 2006 Brilliant Black 300C SRT8 and it is simply awesome! I'll post pictures of him basking in the 'cool' Hawaiian winter weather in the next few days.

What I wanted to ask the group was, "HOW SHOULD I BE DRIVING?"

I picked up the car last night with 21 miles on it. We took it around town and I put maybe 50 miles all under 3000rpm at best. It was killing me!!!

Drive her Hard, just like she was built, yet give her time to warm up when cold, that's the single most important thing you can do for long life. Then i'd suggest changing your oil early the first time, aside from that enjoy like we all are and you'll be the envy of the island. Surprising most with acceleration that gets better with miles.

[crhemi]

Make sure you stop at Matsumoto's for one ice cold shave ice.
Aloha!

[artichoke]

Originally Posted by jasonnjames

Avoid smooth boring your engine by driving the engine to gentle.



The recommended method to run in an engine is to slowly throttle up to high revs and then let off the throttle and the car will slow its self down. Do this every so often and your cylinders and rings will give you a good tight seal. You only have to do that a few times during run in to protect your horsepower.



Cars will get faster age. A car with 60,000 will normally win a drag by 6 car lengths from a new one so enjoy adding mileage.



Of course most new cars are run in by the manufacture now so the whole thing is probably irrelevant. LoL. That’s why new cars have Mobile One instead of cheap oils now.



New cars and bikes were always run on cheap oil for the first 500 miles, this was to prevent smooth bore and a few other issues. Wear and tear is NOT a bad thing.

Owner's manual suggests short bursts of WOT. Anyway that's what I did on the way home from the dealership, I would be cruising at say 50mph = 1500 rpm, then mash the pedal to the floor for 3 - 5 seconds, then let off and coast (in D not N). I hope I didn't mess up the rings by the sudden WOT as opposed to gradual buildup.

It's hard to do gradual buildup unless you have several miles where you can go super fast. I was doing this on freeway with traffic, police, etc. Maybe it's not possible to break the engine as well in the car as it would have been on a dyno. For joeduavit, you can probably to the WOT burst thing on your local freeways if that's the right procedure. I only got up to 100mph once. But the coasting down in speed takes a long time. This engine doesn't seem to have much engine braking, which I take to be a good sign of the engine's efficiency.

My impression was that the engine got noticeably stronger after just a few of these WOT episodes spread over 10 - 20 miles, and I saw mileage of 25 - 30 mpg somewhat later in the trip. (I didn't know how to use the EVIC and I lost that display and could not get it back, so I don't have systematic mpg numbers.)

Wouldn't smooth-boring happen faster with petroleum oil? The cylinders would wear smooth faster because natural oil is less slippery. It seems to me that one would have a longer "grace period" to break in an engine with synthetic oil, before the machining on the inside of the cylinders wears smooth. But this is just a guess with no experience behind it.