Break an engine in the way you plan to drive it!
 

Stupid question here, but I've heard people mention it before.

I am going to follow the proper break-in procedure of my new engine, but I've heard people say before, break the engine in the way you plan to drive it.

The only justification for this comes from the old stories about;

"You buy a car that an old person drove and it breaks down quickly because you start driving it hard, and the engine has never seen that"

"A car that has the crap driven out of it, seems to always just keep going"

There is a difference in breaking in a new engine and someone who previously owned a car drove it like a grandma.

Breaking in an engine for the rotary means, not redlining it, not staying at any set rpm for a long period of time, etc. There are a few guidelines, you can go look them up if you want. Driving a rotary like you stole it off the lot will probably create excessive wear on the engine, and the engine wont get settled right.

Now if someone owned an rx8 before you and never got it above 5k rpm, then that is a different story. Driving the RX8 without redlining it (after the initial break in period) could damage the RX8. There is carbon build up that happens, especially since the RX8 uses a rich fuel/air mixture, that can damage your car if it builds up for a long period of time. Redlining helps clear out all this build up, so driving it hard isn't only fun but it's good for your car :)

there is some discussion that rotaries should b driven hard during break in(I know some ppl that believe in this will chime in soon) but personally it's an engine and i would break it in just as any other engine slowly work ur way up in rpm no redline till 1000 miles or so don't keep it at one rpm for a long time etc....

The best way to handle it is imagine the motor and how its put together. There are fresh bearings in the front and rear stationary gears, the rotors have bearings and the wear is none existant right now. Its sorta like breaking in brake pads, you mash on them a lot early they will wear down fast and may develope problems. I say take it easy for the first oil change. Its not going to hurt the car if you take it easy on it. Redline, no, but you can take up to 5-7k on the highway occasionally after 700 or so miles on a rotary IMO. When we run dynos on fresh motors we run them at 1800 for 22 min then rev them to 4k to check the oil pressure. It can handle a rev to 4k rpms 22mins into its life so its not going to explode or anything.

^^and this is the guy to listen to (even though he owns a 350Z haha just kidding) he is building rotaries so he would def know the most

Be easy on it...and vary the RPM's a lot...the worst thing you can do is drive it at static lower RPM's on the HWY where the MOP profile is injecting very little oil.

Chuck in some premix and drive it " like you need to take it back in one piece" for a couple thousand miles...

How do I drive it if I actually steal a new one from the dealership? Just in case... wealth of knowledge here.

haha ^^^yes

Ha off subject but its actually a z32(300zx) and a 280z(s30) that I own, not giving love to the 350z at this point in my life, 350z's interior feels a little cheap to me and they dont build them like they used at nissan anymore.