I've owned one before, but it had 700 miles on it when I bought it...so there was no break-in for me then.
Now, I get the chance to break the car in.
When they say to vary the engine speed, does that mean to shift often, and not hold one gear? ...or does it mean not to stay on the interstate for three hours in one gear?

The other, more important, thing is...When I checked my oil, i swear it looked synthetic. Does the Honda break-in oil look very "clean" like synthetic oil does, or do all conventional oils do that in the first couple of hundred miles. I'd hate for the dealership to have put synth. in there thinking it was a good thing. The last thing I want to do is start pointing fingers, but if my car's not broken in properly, I'd want to have proof that it wasn't my fault.
...one last question...
Am I being paranoid?

Thanks dudes...
by the way, my car is BLUE (old was silverstone)

 

first off congrats on the new whip - enjoy it! (& safe rides)

the oil in your engine is factory fill not put in by the dealer - it does have several additives that are put in to assist during the breakin of the engines internals...

that oil does look very very clean for the first few hundred-thousand miles...

there's been lots of discussion in these forums - entertaining reading if you can get your self out of the new ride.... regarding engine speeds during breakin periods...

although YMMV .... my feeling is that varied accelerations and varied runs for a few minutes at different RPM levels along with frequent drops in engine speeds will assist in breaking - seating of piston rings etc... I don't think it would kill these engines to run them for 600 miles at 4000-5000 RPM as a break in run but I think its a better method to vary speeds a lot during break in... Honda reccomends not exceeding 6000 RPM during those first 600 miles ... me I did it a couple of times early on and started to build my RPM levels as I approached full breakin...

remember that you're also breaking in the other mechanicals of the car - gearbox, differential, brakes, suspension etc...

and for many drivers - they're getting used to the performance, handling & ride of their new toy...

enjoy!

 

oh yeah -- about being paranoid ....

only if no one is watching.

 

Congrats on the new car! Great color- bad picture

When you vary your engine speed, you can row through the gears like you said or you can hold out in one gear up to 5k. I would row through the gears if I was at a constant speed. But if I was accelerating, I'd keep the RPMs up then shift before 5k.

As for your second question, I've actually never opened up a bottle of synthetic oil in my life so I wouldnt know how it would look. Since your car is new and your oil has yet to "absorb" contaminents, it should look clean. If I was a dealer, I sure as hell wouldnt waste time and money draining out the factory oil and putting synthetic in there.

oh, and dont be so paranoid!

 

Thanks for the quick reply. I had one before, so I'm already used to the performance of it. The thing is that I've never broken in a car before...and I read the manual, it says not to exceed 5500 rpm. I guess they're just giving themselves a 500 rpm buffer zone.