Breaking in a new Yaris

[yaris_the_walrus]

My Yaris will be my first new car and I've heard people talk about "breaking in your car" before you take it on any long trips. Approximately how many kilometres should you drive around the city before you drive it long distances on the highway? I have a few trips planned over the next two months and I don't know if should drive or take the train. :confused:

[plushDJ]

I don't think highway trips would be a problem, I think they mean don't redline it everytime you hit the gas or run the engine at too low an rpm. I'm only running it around 3000 rpm til 1000km then I'm going to have fun with it. Hope that helps!!

[riceboy]

Same here, I've been babying the car @ 3k max shifts,... I've been on the highway but haven't done much more than 110 km/h... Once 1000km hits I'll play with the car a bit more... Take your time and enjoy.... Oh and enjoy those 600km's trips on one tank of gas.... hope it lasts once the aggressive driving kicks in...

[why?]

breaking in an engine is mostly done at the factory. Mostly what you want to do is to try and not stay at the same rpm's for too long, and don't rev the heck out of it.

I know specific instructions are written in the owners manual.

[yaris_the_walrus]

My concern is that because I walk to work every day I will hardly put any kms on it before I have to go to Toronto.

[Idjiit]

Heh, you don't even wanna know what my break in period has consisted of. :O

[riceboy]

yaris_the_walrus - drop it off to me, I drive about 100km each day, I'll have it back to you in 10 days.. all nicely broken in....

[SmellyTofu]

Never baby my new cars.. swing between 2-4k at 2/3 to 3/4 throttle on and off... varying speed from maybe like 60-80km/h (traffic permitting).. that'll be a good start. Just make sure it's nice and warm before you do it.

Taking it too easy won't allow the rings to bed in properly.

[yaris_the_walrus]

Ok, thanks. I thought that driving on the 401 at 110 km/h for 4 hours might be too much for a new car but I might try it out and just make sure I stop for dinner on the way.

[Dylanby]

Are most people following dealer recommendations for the 1st oil change? Or are you getting one done sooner (after say 1st 1600km)?

[NickNickNick]

I had my first oil change at 6900kms, took 3 trips in that time over 1000kms long, and am currently getting 55mpg per tank. I di no 'babying' whatsoever. I treated it the same way I treated my 1980 Chevette. Check your tire pressure weekly. Most important thing.

[poshi]

my dealer told me to go back for first oil change at 3000km, and then every 8000km i will do my oil change. they are pretty nice and I love my standard 3 dr hatch.. I got my car for almost 2 wks now. and it's about 1000km.

[fnkngrv]

Break in...

I drove it 120 miles from Dealership to place that I was staying shifting around 4k....drove at 65mph.....

Next day left to drive 2086 miles from Minnesota to Maine....Shift points at around 4-4.5k and averaged around 80-85mph.

First Oil Change....called the dealer when I had 3027 miles and he said to call back to have it done at 5k just as the manual states. He also did inform me that the oil that is used is a Synth/Crude oil blend which had been asked in another thread....I plan on changing over to Synth at first change with Mobil 1 or Castrol Syntec.

[07WYarisRS]

Castrol and Mobil 1 are still crude/synthetic blends...
Actually 90%-98% cude base stock in Mobil 1
it's a group III synthetic meaning it's a mineral oil that has been refined using the hydrocracked method. Add in a bit of esters and POAs and slap on a lable and call it 100% sytnthetic. Mobil 1 took Castrol to court YEARS ago when they came out with the syntec line for this very reason... But because the finished product no longer resembles the crude base it was made from Castrol won the case and since then 98% of all synthetics are made this way because it's WAY cheaper to make and allows for HUGE profits

If you want to use a REAL synthetic that does not contain mineral oil look up Amsoil, REDLINE or Royal purple. these are pure Group IV or V synthetic lubricants (not oil) (Ester or POA based synthetic lubricants)
we call them oils so we don't confuse the mass public...

Some of these oils only need to be changed every 6 months to 1 year or 35,000miles
figure that out and that's a huge savings over the years you own your car

[fnkngrv]

Good info 07....thanks!:thumbsup:

[Hyde]

i drove it really hard the minute i got the car. thats the best way to break in the car

[TRD_Yaris]

Castrol and Mobil 1 are still crude/synthetic blends...
Actually 90%-98% cude base stock in Mobil 1
it's a group III synthetic meaning it's a mineral oil that has been refined using the hydrocracked method. Add in a bit of esters and POAs and slap on a lable and call it 100% sytnthetic. Mobil 1 took Castrol to court YEARS ago when they came out with the syntec line for this very reason... But because the finished product no longer resembles the crude base it was made from Castrol won the case and since then 98% of all synthetics are made this way because it's WAY cheaper to make and allows for HUGE profits

If you want to use a REAL synthetic that does not contain mineral oil look up Amsoil, REDLINE or Royal purple. these are pure Group IV or V synthetic lubricants (not oil) (Ester or POA based synthetic lubricants)
we call them oils so we don't confuse the mass public...

Some of these oils only need to be changed every 6 months to 1 year or 35,000miles
figure that out and that's a huge savings over the years you own your car



WOW!! very informative!!! i was unaware. I was wondering why you can get 5 quart jugs of Castrol Syntec or Mobil 1 at WalMart for about $21.76.....that's pretty cheap comparative to Amsoil (which is the sh1t!)


My break in:
1000 miles as stated in Owner's Manual:
-do not maintain the same ENGINE SPEED for too long
-warm up the vehicle atleast until the "COLD" light turns off

-less than 70% throttle for the first 500 miles, then a few short bursts at low RPM after the engine has been warmed up and driven for awhile
-less than 4000 RPM max for the first 500 miles, the next 500 miles under 4500 RPM
-quality gasoline (Chevron, Valero,)


Question: Is H.E.B (Grocery Store chain in Texas area) Fuel Station gasoline any good? i don't know who provides it...

[naossoan]

I've never broken in a new car before, but I will be starting tomorrow when I get my Yaris.

Anyways this is my experience with other applications:

First off I've owned a new motorcycle before, and the way I broke it in was - treat it as you normally would. Babying engines is NOT the proper way to break them in by any means, even if the manual tells you other wise.

I ran my bike through the gears and didnt shift until pretty high RPM. Not redline, but up there.

and that bike lasted me forever, and you get more power out of it because you didn't baby it, but broke it in PROPERLY.

Another example is my 2stroke RC truck engines that run on 20% nitro fuel.
At max speed they're goin between 20-30000 RPM

Let me tell ya something. The manuals for almost every engine I have owned tell you to idle the engine through 4 tanks of gas, then drive the truck around slowly not going more than half throttle. It doesn't say take any breaks or anything, but it would take roughly 25 minutes for initial break-in.

That method is BUNK - It's HORRIBLE way to break in the engine. You will have less power long-term and you will need rebuild the piston and sleeve far sooner than the GOOD way to break in the engine. Which is as follows.

Heat cycle: moment you fire up the truck start driving it around...not higher than 1/2 throttle, run for 2-3 minutes and then take breaks to let the engine good down, do that for about 15-18 minutes runtime, then do it again and start doing some short full throttle blips and such and run 2-4 minute hea cycles for about 10 minutes or so.


I realize that my tiny little 2stroke nitro RC truck engine is VASTLY different than a full sized vehicles engine, but it's still the same basic principal. Don't baby the engine, but don't over-do it either. You want to drive it like you normally would...unless you're a race car driver then tone it down a bit lol. Most importantly make sure the engine is up to temperature! Tempurate is one of the biggest things we look at for proper break in when it comes to my RC car engines - too cold and you'll have crank problems, too hot and you'll burn out the piston too fast.

[hystria]

engine: very small roughness on metal surface, will whip off in the first 1-2 hundred miles

oxygen sensor (sets the fuel/air mixture, therefore affects acceleration and fuel consumption): when new, it needs to get "burned" in order to operate to the specs. The hotter it gets, the faster it burns. I'd suggest, passing the first hundred miles, start shifting/keeping the revs higher than usually (above 4000rpm) and drive so 2-3 gas tanks.

don't switch to synthetics before 1000 miles, a new engine needs to run on mineral oil

[BMGYaris]

Hey guys, this is just a theoretical situation. Its not like I did it or anything.

But what if someone got their car with say, less than 15 miles on it. drove it slowly home for 15 miles.

Then drove a 100 mile road trip in going some 110-120 the whole way, just because it was the first time he/she could. What kind of problems might he/she need to go get checked for at the shop?

[rage2]

My Yaris is my 5th new car. I've broken in all my cars by driving them hard straight off the lot. My Yaris has 115 hard km's on it, WOT to redline in every gear. The reason I do this is because cars that go thru a hard break in period will be more powerful than a "normal" break in. All 3 of my SLK's were broken in this way, and was faster than the others at track days. I've never had any problems with engine reliability either.

[Spades]

well, I agree for the first few thousand miles you should baby it and vary the RPM range, most of the breaking in is done at the factory these days, but you can never be to carefull...also, if you plan on shifting at higher rpms and flogging your car, keep in mind part of the break in process is seating the valves, and if the valves seat for the 3k-5k range and you constantly shift your yaris at 6k, its harder on the valvetrain and you wont get as much performance from the engine. I have not verified that on a newer car, but thats how they break in older muscle cars...I think the best way is to drive the car how you intend to drive it, but avoiding keeping it at the same RPM range for long trips (switching from 4th to 5th every now and then to vary the rpms).

[hystria]

Hey guys, this is just a theoretical situation. Its not like I did it or anything.

But what if someone got their car with say, less than 15 miles on it. drove it slowly home for 15 miles.

Then drove a 100 mile road trip in going some 110-120 the whole way, just because it was the first time he/she could. What kind of problems might he/she need to go get checked for at the shop?

an engine is an engine. sure, they say baby it the first hundred miles, try doing city driving instead of highway... at one point it helps, but how much ? statistically saying, maybe that engine would run 2% better that others...

if that is not a matter, drive it as you like from the very first mile. it's my advice as a mechanical engineer, two things seems to be important: use mineral oil for the first thousands miles and never rev high a cold engine.

rage2: what you are saying is all about the oxygen sensor, the hotter it gets the faster it starts work at his normal range

[YarisPR]

I really never gave the car a break-in since they come already tested from the factory. I just droved it hard a couple of times. I just think my engine came with the expected 106hp since we know hp factory numbers are estimated. :biggrin:

[sdmf]

i drive it like i stole it, hehehe

[rage2]

rage2: what you are saying is all about the oxygen sensor, the hotter it gets the faster it starts work at his normal range
No, I'm not talking about a cold engine vs a warm engine, I'm talking about 2 identical engines, one broken in "easy", and one broken in "hard", or drive it like you stole it. The engine broken in hard will be more powerful.

[ChinoCharles]

i drive it like i stole it, hehehe

:bellyroll:

I peeled out of the lot when I bought it if that tells you anything. Couldn't help it! My dealership loves me anyway.

[Black Yaris]

Drive it like it's hot... Wow, Chino actually changed his avatar!!!!

[Doug007]

I worried about the break in period as well. I drove mine as prescribed in the manual, varying speeds for the first 1,000 miles. I changed to Mobil 1 at 2,000 and follow factory intervals of 5,000. Now at nearly 15,000 miles, I've never burned any oil and get great gas mileage.

[ROCKLAND TOYOTA]

My Yaris is my 5th new car. I've broken in all my cars by driving them hard straight off the lot. My Yaris has 115 hard km's on it, WOT to redline in every gear. The reason I do this is because cars that go thru a hard break in period will be more powerful than a "normal" break in. All 3 of my SLK's were broken in this way, and was faster than the others at track days. I've never had any problems with engine reliability either.

ive been doing the same thing as well. my del sol was quicker then most and im hoping the yaris will be broken in just as good......

[rage2]

ive been doing the same thing as well. my del sol was quicker then most and im hoping the yaris will be broken in just as good......
yep, it's a nice little secret that some of us solo1 and solo2 guys use when buying a new car for the track.

The only time I run a easy break-in procedure on a car is when I'm building a new motor from scratch, for about 100km, to ensure the rings and walls are contacting smoothly. After that is an oil flush, then hard break-in!

[sf180th]

i drive it like i stole it, hehehe

When I test drove a yaris it only had like 30 miles (I went home with it that night) I left the lot and waited till I came to the first stop and then let her loose, I chirped the tired shifting into second and beat the hell out of the car for about 15 minutes. Currently have 11,000 miles on car and no problems.

[meteorite2007liftback]

I broke mine in with a combination of long highway trips and red line WOT shifting in between. Currently have just over 3200 miles and the oil level hasn't ever gone down a drop, which indicates rings are well seated and the break in was a success :) I think people (myself included) stress needlessly about the break in. Just think how many cars are out there that people buy new and aren't even aware of the term "break in" and drive their cars for hundreds of thousands of miles.

[jlift]

don't switch to synthetics before 1000 miles, a new engine needs to run on mineral oil

Well, why then do some new cars come from the factory with Mobil 1 synthetic in them? I don't think that statement is accurate at all. :confused:

[V8TITAN]

honestly with such low horespower i didnt even consider going easy on it...plus with a nice warrenty how can you go wrong ? we never keep our vehicles past 30k tops...so none the worry.. i got my titan with 7 miles on it and i go WOT everytime...my tires dont like it but theyve gotta earn their keep lol that also helps out my 10mpg average haha

[Ferret_san]

:bellyroll:

I peeled out of the lot when I bought it if that tells you anything. Couldn't help it!.

Now thats funny!

[caveatipse]

Castrol and Mobil 1 are still crude/synthetic blends...
Actually 90%-98% cude base stock in Mobil 1
it's a group III synthetic meaning it's a mineral oil that has been refined using the hydrocracked method. Add in a bit of esters and POAs and slap on a lable and call it 100% sytnthetic. Mobil 1 took Castrol to court YEARS ago when they came out with the syntec line for this very reason... But because the finished product no longer resembles the crude base it was made from Castrol won the case and since then 98% of all synthetics are made this way because it's WAY cheaper to make and allows for HUGE profits

If you want to use a REAL synthetic that does not contain mineral oil look up Amsoil, REDLINE or Royal purple. these are pure Group IV or V synthetic lubricants (not oil) (Ester or POA based synthetic lubricants)
we call them oils so we don't confuse the mass public...

Some of these oils only need to be changed every 6 months to 1 year or 35,000miles
figure that out and that's a huge savings over the years you own your car


Not according to the Mobil 1 website:

FAQs for Mobil 1



I thought Mobil 1 as a full synthetic already provided the protection my high-mileage car needs. Do I really need to switch off Mobil 1 to your High Mileage product for my high-mileage car?

I'm currently using Mobil Clean High Mileage with good results. Why should I change to Mobil 1 High Mileage 10W-30, which costs more?

Why are you reintroducing Mobil 1 15W-50? Have there been any changes to the formulation, or is it identical to the previous product?

Is Mobil 1 with SuperSyn Technology a fully synthetic motor oil?

What's the difference between a fully synthetic and a synthetic blend motor oil?

What's the overall benefit of Mobil 1 with SuperSyn Technology?




I thought Mobil 1 as a full synthetic already provided the protection my high-mileage car needs. Do I really need to switch off Mobil 1 to your High Mileage product for my high-mileage car?

Mobil 1 High Mileage is designed for high mileage vehicles that have been using conventional oils. It's true that most Mobil 1 vehicles with 75,000+ miles should be in excellent condition and would not require some of the Mobil 1 High Mileage benefits. However, most cars on the road today do not use synthetic oils, so we developed this oil specifically for these cars that would benefit from switching off conventional oil.


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I'm currently using Mobil Clean High Mileage with good results. Why should I change to Mobil 1 High Mileage 10W-30, which costs more?

If your vehicle has been maintained well, Mobil Clean High Mileage represents an excellent choice. However, if you believe your engine may have sludge through less-than-adequate maintenance practices, Mobil 1 High Mileage may be the more suitable selection. Mobil 1 High Mileage helps reduce the sludge that other oils can leave behind which can result in extended engine life. For severe cases where sludge and other heavy deposits are present, shorter oil change intervals of 3,000 miles are recommended as clean-up proceeds.


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Why are you reintroducing Mobil 1 15W-50? Have there been any changes to the formulation, or is it identical to the previous product?

Mobil 1 15W-50 is being reintroduced based on popular demand. Mobil 1 15W-50 provides higher viscosity, designed to provide extra protection for performance vehicles and vehicles that operate in severe service, such as towing, hauling and racing. Additionally, Mobil 1 15W-50 contains higher levels of anti-wear (ZDDP or Zinc DialkylDithioPhosphate) that may be required for certain racing applications and camshaft designs. This is a new Mobil 1 15W-50 formulation and is not the same as the product that was marketed a few years ago.


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Is Mobil 1 with SuperSyn Technology a fully synthetic motor oil?

Yes, it is. To meet the demanding requirements of today's specifications (and our customers' expectations), Mobil 1 with SuperSyn uses high-performance fluids, including polyalphaolefins (PAOs), along with a proprietary system of additives. Each Mobil 1 with SuperSyn viscosity grade uses a unique combination of synthetic fluids and selected additives in order to tailor the viscosity grade to its specific application.


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What's the difference between a fully synthetic and a synthetic blend motor oil?

All motor oils are made up of base oils and additives. In general, fully synthetic motor oils contain non-conventional, high-performance fluids. Semi-synthetic oils (also called "blends") usually use a small percentage of non-conventional, high-performance fluids in combination with conventional base oil.

[Pavel Olavich]

When I test drove a yaris it only had like 30 miles (I went home with it that night) I left the lot and waited till I came to the first stop and then let her loose, I chirped the tired shifting into second and beat the hell out of the car for about 15 minutes. Currently have 11,000 miles on car and no problems.


11,000 and no problems, you say? Big lick....lets see what you say at 150,000 miles.....any car driven in any manner will be problem free at 11,000 miles.... :confused:

Funny I hear all this advise, and then I wonder if these guys know more then the people that wrote the Yaris factory manual :confused:

...gotta love the internet....you get all kinds of "expert" advise.... :laugh:

[Black Yaris]

burnouts.... just do lots of burnouts