I am picking my new car up next week, and I will be shipping it to Germany where my apartment is after I own it for 6 months (for tax purposes)....anyway, I have always heard that a car should be broken in the way it will be driven. Mine will be driven at around 125 mph cruising speed, sometimes higher, lower on land roads...How could 55 mph prepare it for that?

Thanks!

 

Engine break in is not really needed.
But driveline and gears need breaking in to ensure a smooth, quiet and long life.
Keep things at more reasonable speeds the first few hundred miles or so.
Vary your speed, and avoid lugging or high revs for a while.

 

That's not the way the 2006 owner's manual says to break it in. Page 2-21.

Some here exceeded the 55 mph limit during breakin, but I don't think I'd drive it 125 mph the first 500 miles.

 

Of course that makes the most sense.
But the whole affair still remains somewhat of a crapshoot.
Violating the handbooks recommendations certainly doesn't sentence your car to death. And just because you do stick to the letter of the law that's also no guarantee.

So I try to be sensible about it, and that's how I broke in my C6.

No one told me about all this when I picked up my C5, and we cruised at 100+ and hit 120+ several times coming back from Vegas when I bought it. I probably drove cruising at around 100+ more than just a few times the first week and month. 6 years later when I sold it there were no problems.

 

Good luck brotha...That's why I do not buy used cars...

 

125 mph cruising speed? You're making me jealous... :o

But anyway I have heard there is a way you can reflash the transmission after the initial 500 mile "learning period", so if you intend to drive it at 55 mph for the initial break-in period and want to have it relearn your driving behavior after you go to Germany I guess you could go this route.

 

Well, don't be too jealous, back in the '80's before the wall came down the autobahn was much less crowded. Now it is horribly crowded with trucks and small slow cars. The only saving grace is that drivers actually know how to drive. They drive on the right, check the mirror, pass on the left, and get back over to the right. Amazing huh? The fatality rate is lower on the autobahn than on the US Highways, but remember, the autobahn is impeccably maintained and constructed for high speed driving. I would never drive these speeds on US Highways. The potholes and dips/uneven pavement would kill you if the incompetent drivers didn't! No offense to all you incompetent drivers out there. There really is no training to speak of in the US. It's easier to get a pilots license in the US than a drivers license in Germany.

 

I'd work myself up to the 125 cruise speed as slow as you can without killing anyone. Vary your speed and keep the rpms under 3K if you can. And I was worried about driving 75 breaking mine in!!!

 

I just picked up my 2005 with 300 US miles on it at Bremerhaven last month. I followed the GM breakin guidance with an upward adjustment on the speed since the 55 mph reference is partially a GM liability avoidance angle. My German dealer in Homburg who only deals with Corvettes and Cadillacs says to be sensible but not to worry about the breakin much since the computer won't allow the engine to deliver full performance until about 8000 miles. I run at 100-120 mph routinely where allowed and 140-150 tops so far. May push the top end eventually to see if the advertising is accurate, but as you indicated the amount of fools out there has increased since I ran my BMW easily at those speeds 25 years ago without concern since the other drivers were also professional and paying attention. The car is awesome at those speeds on the autobahn, and I flip my suspension switch to "sport" to add the extra stability when I'm running anything over 100 mph. It's the place to be with a C6! Enjoy!

 

There's good thread on here about breakin but I can't find it right now.

Essentially there are a few things to consider - engine rings and bearings, differential, and brakes.

For the engine, the post talked about sealing the rings and the fact that you want some load on the rings, especially in the first 100 miles. This makes sense, and it talked about doing some strong pulls - not open throttle, and not above 4000 to 4500 RPM - a few in succession to heat up the pistons, then a cool down period - light throttle and lower RPMs. Do a few strong pulls each time you drive it for the first 500 miles.
Second is the bearings. The bearings need to be polished thoroughly before full load is exerted, which means cycling the engine through a wide range of RPMs, light throttle and vary engine speed as much as possible during the first 500. Now this is somewhat contradictory to the first part about the rings, but you need to balance it out and compromise a bit on both.

Next is the rear - builders will tell you the first 100 miles are important - heat the unit up for a 15 or so mile run - not over 55, and then let it cool down completely - 1.5 hours or more. Do that twice and then just keep the speed down as much as possible for the first 500.

Next is the brakes - they are simple - go easy on them for the first 200 miles.

That's how I broke mine in - I also extended the break in to 1000 miles before going WOT just to be sure the bearings were well broken in - a bit much but that's just me.

 

Someone broke into your engine?

 

OH now that is funny! Are you a stand-up comic? hahaa I was getting tired of all those intelligent replies. Thank you for that!

 

Thank you to everyone for the replies! I will run it lightly, but at various rpm's not WOT and not worry about the speed as much.