Road Rage, good info and you're right that "in between" is probably the best method.

The link for motoman was hilarious! Although, not the same guy I'm talking about.

As someone mentioned, Motoman's recommendations originally applied to sport bikes. But he has also applied and written about his break-in methods regarding cars as well. And the S2K is as close to a bike as you can get with four wheels!

Although I'm not an "expert" in the matter, I know from my own personal experiences and from friends and other people's experiences that a more "aggressive" break-in period is better than going 600 or more miles with no VTEC. That's ridiculous. The car was made for that, and although going to redline is unnecessary, I think that for a proper break-in, you should allow the car to go into VTEC.

I never said anything about pounding and beating the car to death, just giving it plenty of varied driving, through all the gears at a variety of speeds, corners and stops (and yes, hitting VTEC). Although changing the oil within the first 20 miles may seem extreme, I see and understand Motoman's reasons (get out metal fragments/gunk as soon as possible rather than floating around in engine or adhering to certain parts). If you're not going to change your oil that early, I do agree with RR that it's a good idea to do it by the first 1,000 miles.

No need to attack me because I offer a more "aggressive" point of view for break in. Again, I've done both methods (easy break-in and more aggressive break-in), and the aggressive break-in period was much more beneficial.

I just don't agree with the "easy" break-in that people still preach these days. You can hit VTEC before your first 600 miles! It's not going to "hurt" your engine or car!

 

nate, when it comes to cars you have two choices and there is a tradeoff.


if you start to engage vtec and get into the higher rpm during the first 600 miles, you will most likely have a stronger motor. . but the tradeoff is that the engine lifetime will be shorter. on the other hand, follow honda's recommendation and your engine won't make as much whp BUT the engine will last longer. personaally id rather have the engine that will last longer and sacrifice the extra 2-5 whp that i would've gained otherwise. although i did follow hondas recommendation, i made sure to do a lot of engine compression braking during breakin. my car does feel stronger than most of the bone stock s2000's i've driven(my car is still stock too). it could be a mental thing(my car HAS to be faster than yours) but when your friends varify the same thing, you have to start thinking that you did something right.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by RazorV3
nate, when it comes to cars you have two choices and there is a tradeoff.
if you start to engage vtec and get into the higher rpm during the first 600 miles, you will most likely have a stronger motor.