Break In Period

[warmsunshine]

Now I know that nowadays you don't strictly have to "break in" a new car with varying speeds, etc. But is it okay to just drive as you would normally? I mean cruise control on 70 for an hour or whatever... Any special thoughts of some things to do to promote long life and health of my new 2007 CR-V, driving-wise?

[2RedV's]

Now I know that nowadays you don't strictly have to "break in" a new car with varying speeds, etc. But is it okay to just drive as you would normally? I mean cruise control on 70 for an hour or whatever... Any special thoughts of some things to do to promote long life and health of my new 2007 CR-V, driving-wise?

Oh YES you do need to vary your speeds, as in vary the rpm's. What you don't have to do is baby it for 5,000 miles. Proper ring break-in needs varying rpm levels and varying loads placed upon the engine (Don't rev it in neutral though)

The break-in procedure is mainly for the brakes, tranny, rear diff, CV joints, etc. and the manual mentions the first 600 miles. It mentions hard stops and full throttle starts, but it is not because of the engine that you need to limit these activities.

[connermt]

:D Now I know that nowadays you don't strictly have to "break in" a new car with varying speeds, etc. But is it okay to just drive as you would normally? I mean cruise control on 70 for an hour or whatever... Any special thoughts of some things to do to promote long life and health of my new 2007 CR-V, driving-wise?

If anyone who believes you MUST baby a new car could ever see how they are driven off the assembly line & through the road course, they would wretch
:eek: :D

[2RedV's]

A young friend worked at Mitsubishi in Bloomington, IL (was Diamond Star Motors) and he was one of the guys who drove cars off the line, briefly tested them and parked them out in the giant lots. He said you can believe that he (and his co-workers) probably hit redline in every car, sometimes many times if it was one that got the 1-2 mile test.

[connermt]

A young friend worked at Mitsubishi in Bloomington, IL (was Diamond Star Motors) and he was one of the guys who drove cars off the line, briefly tested them and parked them out in the giant lots. He said you can believe that he (and his co-workers) probably hit redline in every car, sometimes many times if it was one that got the 1-2 mile test.

That's what we/they are instructed to do (at least for Honda).
They try to do everything they can to find any problems from the rouch road to the radio to the wipers.... UGH
And starting them...! That is murder. They pump a couple gallons of gas into the tank, then crank the starter for about (what seems like forever) 10-30 seconds until the gas gets through everything before it starts.
In Eastliberty, the track goes straight for about 1000 feet or so & they get the car up as fast as they can then there is a hard bank. At the end of the straightaway, there is a hugh mound of dirt that is used to keep the car from going off the track. There are many cars the whip out on the dirt pile - a few even end up on their sides at times!
That is quite a fun job!

[2RedV's]

That's what we/they are instructed to do (at least for Honda).
They try to do everything they can to find any problems from the rouch road to the radio to the wipers.... UGH
And starting them...! That is murder. They pump a couple gallons of gas into the tank, then crank the starter for about (what seems like forever) 10-30 seconds until the gas gets through everything before it starts.
In Eastliberty, the track goes straight for about 1000 feet or so & they get the car up as fast as they can then there is a hard bank. At the end of the straightaway, there is a hugh mound of dirt that is used to keep the car from going off the track. There are many cars the whip out on the dirt pile - a few even end up on their sides at times!
That is quite a fun job!Why would they crank the starter that long? It's the fuel pump that has to move the fuel along the line and then pressurize. Turn key to ON and wait for the pump to turn off is just as quick.

[connermt]

Why would they crank the starter that long? It's the fuel pump that has to move the fuel along the line and then pressurize. Turn key to ON and wait for the pump to turn off is just as quick.

I don't know the technicalities of it all - just know what has to be done for them to start

[2RedV's]

In any event, it's great knowing that Honda doesn't baby those high-revving engines either. :)

[jmodic]

Wow, My wife and I have been babying it since the CR-V has that nifty instant mileage meter on the dash. Since we bought this over a week ago we been trying to get the most out of the mileage and running at low rpms. Since giving up our 2002 Civic Ex we have been missing the 35 Mpg.

What is odd from the time I was a kid Dad always said you need to be restrain in driving a new car since it needs to break in before running it hard. I guess I will put the pedal to the metal and make go baby go!!

[2RedV's]

Wow, My wife and I have been babying it since the CR-V has that nifty instant mileage meter on the dash. Since we bought this over a week ago we been trying to get the most out of the mileage and running at low rpms. Since giving up our 2002 Civic Ex we have been missing the 35 Mpg.

What is odd from the time I was a kid Dad always said you need to be restrain in driving a new car since it needs to break in before running it hard. I guess I will put the pedal to the metal and make go baby go!!Your dad WAS right - for cars built 20+ years ago. Engine technology and engine oils have drastically changed since then.

[connermt]

Wow, My wife and I have been babying it since the CR-V has that nifty instant mileage meter on the dash. Since we bought this over a week ago we been trying to get the most out of the mileage and running at low rpms. Since giving up our 2002 Civic Ex we have been missing the 35 Mpg.

What is odd from the time I was a kid Dad always said you need to be restrain in driving a new car since it needs to break in before running it hard. I guess I will put the pedal to the metal and make go baby go!!

I find myself watching how I drive to see if I can get better MPG based upon that in-dash indicator. I think it more cars had this feature, more people would be concerned with their driving style. Being that gas isn't getting any cheaper & being able to see a "real time" MPG read out, I think it would be most beneficial.
"Back in the day", cars needed to be "babied" for everything to seat & seal properly. New cars, aren't quite that bad. While I wouldn't advise drag racing a new car with <5 miles on the odo, you don't have to be as frugal with the cars these days. Unless, of course, it's some type of specialty or high performance vehicle that recommends 1000 miles of easy-drivin' before you let it loose.

[Black Pearl]

Buying this car and now reading this thread has proven to me just how out of touch with the car world I am. I dutifully read the break in instructions on page 214 of the manual. When I had about 250 miles on the car, I got on to the Pennsylvania Turnpike. It should be illegal to sell a car in Pennsylvania with less than 400 horsepower because the road designers believe that a 20 foot accelleration ramp is more than sufficient. (We even have stop signs on accelleration ramps getting on to Interstates in Pittsburgh--indeed the most livable city in the US...obviously chosen by people who don't live here, but I digress.) Faced with the decision of not beating the engine and waiting for several hours for a hole in the traffic, or punching it down and merging in, I chose to disregard the break in instructions and punched it down, but cautiously not all the way. My my, the reviews were right, it is a sissy after 40 mph (for a brief moment I cursed myself for not getting the V6 Rav4). Watching a truck bear down on me in the mirror, too terrified to look at the tach, I floored it which resulted in a lot of noise but not a tremondous accelleration. A bit hair raising, but we made it. Anyhow, I have been cursing myself ever since for my foolishness of the brash act of trying to merge on to the Pennsylvania Turnpike. "You know you bought a Honda, you want it to last for 250,000 miles, so what do you do? First opportunity you have, you beat the engine. What an idiot! Stay the hell off the turnpike for 1000 miles....." Then I read this thread. I am an idiot.

[2RedV's]

Have no fear to give it full throttle, even for long bursts. Just avoid the drag race start from a stop. You've got iVTEC under that hood! Use it. It will make you smile. :)

[Black Pearl]

I'm old man, my drag racing days are over.

I hate to tell you, but my blowed out 99 Voyager Van 3.0 V6 with 127K on it did a better job of getting on the Pennsylvania Turnpike--one of America's trully miserable highways. No smiling just grimacing in fear. After I get 1000 miles on it, I'll try it again. I didn't buy it for performance, I bought it for fuel economy, and I heard the angels sing the first time I sat in one. I really do like the vehicle even though I am extremely critical. (garguantan door handles, shifter in the way of my knee, arm rests, warranties, dumb headlights etc). Its the first car I have liked since 1970.

While you are here, I have two problems with this site. One: the text is too wide to fit my screen. I have tried the smallest text size and it remains the same size. I have to work the horizontle bar to read each line of the posts.

Two: I am constantly having to log in. I will do a reply and go to submit and get an error message that I am not logged in. Any suggestions.

Again thanks for the warranty info.

[2RedV's]

Change your video adapter card settings to 1024x768 - I'll bet it is on 800x600.
There is a setting somewhere for the login... I'll try to look for it later.

[Black Pearl]

You were right. The only problem now is that I can't see the rest of the computer. Getting old is hell.

[2RedV's]

You were right. The only problem now is that I can't see the rest of the computer. Getting old is hell.Now you need a bigger monitor. ;)