doctor64776

MY RX8 is AWESOME!

BUT....

I picked my 8 up from the Mazda dealer with 74 miles on it and drove it 200 miles home like a BAT outa Hell ...redlines and 130 mph . Then when I get home I read how the rotary needs a 600+ mile break in ? Bummer My other cars never needed a break in so then I attempt to be gentle for next 300 and she is an unbeleivable machine, sooo tight I have have never had anything like her. My question is... Did I do trully horrid damage? was anyone else a little rough during first 600 ?

Thanks

Fully loaded Titanium RX8 every option they could sell me

wakeech

what cars were you driving that you thought didn't need a break in?? 600 semi-easy driven miles is a pretty light break in, actually.

no, you probably didn't do unbelievably irreparable damage to your motor, but farther down the road (as in way, way farther) there may be some negative reprocussions, but probably nothing you're going to have to deal with.

rough idle hasn't really to do with improper break in procedure adn could be a multitude of other things.

poolsidenaz

Don't sweat it. You think those pre-existing 74 miles on your car were put on 'break-in style'? :D

mysql101

If they used your car for test drives, you can bet the other 70 miles were all driven at redline too.

All 3 of the RX-8's I test drove were beaten and flogged.

robertdot

Let's face the facts. Most people DON'T break in their cars. Every MFG suggests that you do.

My dad told me about many of his friends who broke the car in by pushing it to it's limits for the first 500 miles.

I understand break-ins and that cars are sometimes fragile in the seals. But, letting history stand, I've not heard of anyone that ignored the break in that ended up at the dealer getting a new engine.

But, I've not heard from everyone in the world either.

I, personally, didn't get to read the manual before I drove my car home from the dealer (~1 hr drive). I kept it at 55 MPH the whole way home, and the ride is fairly flat interstate. When I got home, I read that the break-in suggests not keeping it at the same RPM for very long. OOps. I haven't had any problems, despite the almost 100 miles I had it at the same RPM.

Basically, don't worry about it until you need to worry about it. Just do your best until the break in is over.

Aesculapius

On a side-note, is break in even necessary? I mean, is there an real empirical evidence that supports the need for it? It seems to me that break in is a perpetuated assumption that started 30+ years ago and now holds the same weight as fact.

Mr M

This has been my perception of breaking in;

During the rotor housing, or cylinder bore machining process rough edges are left on the inner friction surfaces. As you run the engine these rough edges are worn down, producing heat. It is because of this heat manufacturers suggest a break in period.

From my motorcycle racing days I learned that by working the engine too hard during break in, you risked actually wearing out the bores, because the lubrication couldn't remove all the heat. And by driving at the same, constant speed we glazed the bores, reducing sealing and thus compression/power (the pistons were virtually 'polishing' the bores).

To help with break in, the RX-8 has a coating on the inside of the rotor housings that wears off with time. As long as the engine didn't get really hot during the break in time, you should be OK.

wakeech

even with machinery machined to the highest levels of accuracy, there can be huge uncontrollable imperfections. letting the machine work itself together and close clearances which we can't make as perfect as we'd like is just a matter of principle: it does really work, and works for anything that moves. getting your first oil change analysed you'll (well, ok, the testers will) find a huge amount of particulate from all the components of your engine bedding in to one another.

is there still overkill on break in?? well, i'm not really sure, but i don't think being careful will really hurt anything either.

Nubo

If memory serves, Mazda sort of hedged their bets with this one in the manual, on one hand saying break in wasn't necessary but on the other hand giving details for break-in regimen. Thanks Mazda, for the insight. Personally, I "believe" in a break-in period and was one reason I arranged to get a vehicle with no test-drive miles. But, I have no data that would prove or quantify the benefit.

So, what can you do now? I don't think selling is warranted. Change the oil and enjoy the car. If it becomes a garage queen before the warranty is up, drop it, just like any other car.

Aesculapius

I agree with everything you just said. But, does it hold up to outcome based observation?

Hypothesis: Engine life is improved and less repair required if an engine is broken in properly (insert definition here)

Experiment: Take X number of cars. One half of the group break in by stated definition. The other half you don't. Observe engine life and repair requirements for both groups and compare. Apply statistical analysis and see if there is a significant difference.

Has this type of study ever been done to anyone's knowledge? It's not that I don't think that there are small imperfections in new machinery and that they need time to smooth out. All of these explanations are very reasonable for the need for proper break in procedure. BUT, if in the end, there is no difference in outcome, there is no point in following the procedure to begin with.

Don't mean to sound so cynical, it's just that in medicine, many reasonable theories and assumptions have been totally burned by studies designed to test those outcomes.

doctor64776

The last "NEW" car I bought was a 1988 escort GT LOL! I loved that little car and it specifically said that its engine did not require a break in period . I always read my instructions and manuals...ALWAYS I like reading it especially on so costly an investment, BUT I did not read about it in the dealers LOT so when I got and home and read it I was disturbed... LUCKILY I have found a forum of intellegent and well read fellow 8 owners willing to offer their own unadulterated opinions to guide me.

Thank You guys

Drive on Dude

merlin00gt

In the past, American car manufacturers pre-break in their engines by running them after final engine assembly, but before it's put into the vechicle. I know that the Corvette has this done, as do many other GM vechicles. They do this because they know that 600 miles in a 'Vette is not easy to do slowly. The first oil change for that engine is not for 6000 miles!

XcelR8

I was watching a special on Lamborgini and they dyno every engine right after assembly to redline for torque and hp. Then they dyno it in the car after final assembly. Granted the RX-8 doesn't have a hand assembled $85,000 drive train, but it still is a fresh motor. I semi-followed the breakin period and have 10K miles on mine and no issues.

BTW...my Ducati's break in was 1000 miles at a different levels of RPM...ya that happened.

titaniumgrey

I thought my dealer told me break in wasn't needed ....

MarkJ

Proper break in for a rotary has been critical since day one. Even with a properly clearanced
engine, new bearings have always been the most important parts to break in. Although mazda now has multiple bearing sizes (only for the manual) to help with setting clearances,
a proper break in is still required for high rpm rotaries.