To breaking in .
How to Break in a New Car
There are plenty of ways to break in your new car. Some of them are the right way.
It's a thing of beauty: A brand-new car, shiny and crisp. It makes you want to spend the whole evening walking around it. Pretty soon, the neighbors wander over to congratulate you—and to render advice.
Break it in carefully, one says: "No more than 30 miles per hour until it has 1000 miles on the odo."
"No," another says. "Drive it like you stole it, if you want it to be fast."
Others recommend synthetic oil, or nitrogen in the tires, or a mouse-milk oil additive, guaranteed to double fuel economy.
The ritual of breaking in a new car is part of the body of knowledge we refer to as conventional wisdom. It's not necessarily wise, and the technology of building a modern automobile has evolved to the point where a lot of "wisdom" is obsolete. Few cars specify a break-in procedure anymore, simply cautioning you to avoid extreme acceleration or extended idling for the first thousand miles or so, and there's little in the way of extra service up front. Some don't even mandate an oil change until 6000 miles. We think your new ride deserves better. Here are a few tip.