Just got my C8 last week and I am in love with it. Almost at the 500 mile break in period and just wanted to see if there is any noticeable feel that changes with the car after the 500 mile break in period. I obviously have not "gotten on" the throttle at all leading up to the 500 miles so that will naturally be a different feel, so I get that. But, anything noticeable besides being able to get on the motor more?

 

Amazing IF you can feel a difference. ... ,most especially if you've been breaking it in correctly. Before 500 miles it's OK to get on it, just don't PIN it or go over 4K rpm.

 

Some say there's a noticeable difference. I didn't run my engine hard the first 1500 miles and broke it in by varying the RPMs through manual mode so can't say I noticed aby difference. But now that I am over 1500 miles, this baby screams daily!

 

Yeah, that's the thing. During the first 500 miles "the engine will be torque limited in low gears." The torque limit is removed after that. But, you should not be driving aggressively during the first 500 miles anyway - so its not clear you could actually tell a difference. I have seen folks claim they can tell the difference. I could not.

 

You will not feel a difference. The only supposed difference is in first and second gear and you're not going to feel those differences.

 

You won't feel a difference any more than you can feel the V8 to V4 mode that some claim.

 

Can’t help you with a comment on feeling any difference, but congrats on getting the car and being close to meeting the 500 mile break in period.

 

When I finally get to the top of MM's months long list for my car, I'm planning on a Museum delivery. The drive from NCM to home is a bit over 700 miles, so I will accomplish my break-in over the first day or two (depending on what time we can hit the road, my son and I may stay somewhere overnight). The drive is largely Interstate between Bowling Green and Dallas, TX. What suggestions do you all have for how to ensure a proper 500 mile break-in?

Certainly, we won't be over-revving, but I can imagine how we can vary the speed and RPM's over such a long drive. I'm open to ideas.

 

You'll be fine. You have manual mode. Just swap between gears at times and do some varying of speed and revs a bit. Stop at rest stops for just a min and pull back out of them.

 

We did the museum delivery and drove 700+ miles home to MD. Much of that was on interstates. I was constantly varying my speed between 65 and 80 or so. Sometimes with just throttle and others by downshifting a gear or two and accelerating a little harder. We got off on a few secondary roads where we could just to break up the monotony. Enjoy the experience.

CC

 

When you go over 500 have it in Z mode, you'll feel a difference if you punch it from stop and don't let up

 

The rpm limit is removed after 500, but not the punch it mode. That takes another 1000 miles, 1500 total. Btw, hard to recall, but i think the rpm limit was 3500 vs 4000. It may be a difference between yellow and red zones. As a pilot, never understood the yellow. Red line is ALL that matters.

 

Yep 500 miles is enough to use WOT. Should not Track or use Launch Mode until 1500 miles as that puts more stress on engine and DCT. Launch Mode mostly on DCT. When I hit 500 miles I purposely hit near read line in lower gears. In my 2020 build time there were LT2 engines with early valve springs breaks. Have a street ~4 miles from my home with farm fields, no homes orten no traffic where it's save to accelerate at WOT. I did that (which I do frequently for fun now) to stress the valve springs at the 6600 rpm redline so if there was a valve spring issue I would be close to home!

BUT I agree with putting it in Z-Mode power set to Track (belive that is the way they now come programed.) It's like driving another car! It will avoid comments some new owner's post about the C8 not feeling powerful unless at WOT. That is because the DCT has 8 gears to help GM get as high a EPA mpg rating as possible. Heck 4th is an overdrive ratio as are all higher gears. 8th is 0.33:1, crazy low! Makes the car downshift to accelerate. I often drive in Z-Mode an in our rural area it doesn't shift past 5th. Unless on an Interstate (which I seldom use) the increased mpg going into 6th, 7th and 8th is not that much. In fact your right fit has a bigger influence on mpg! Not saying you have to leave it in that mode BUT at least use it enough to understand what a sports car can feel like!

 

You should not be able to tell the difference, because, prior to 500 miles you should not have done any WOT starts, and should not have exceeded 4000 rpm. So, you should not have punched it and kept on going in Z mode (or any mode) prior to 500 miles. After 500 miles WOT throttle and full rpm* is ok. But many of us (not all) interpret Launch Control and Rapid Exit starts to be track like activities and choose not to do that until 1500 miles.

*when the car is warmed up. Even after break in, during warm up, you will see the red-line on the tach will not be at the maximum level until the car has been running for a few minutes.

1) During the first 800 km (500 mi), engine
torque will be limited in low gears.

.2) Avoid full throttle starts and abrupt stops.

.3) Do not exceed 4000 rpm.

4) For the first 2 414 km (1,500 mi): Do not participate in track events, sport driving schools, or similar activities.

 

I plan on doing NCM pickup, I have seen people say not to use cruise control, however on my C7 from the NCM I did manual mode with cruise control and varied speed, RPMs, etc. Did I do something wrong back then? That was plan in the C8, but have seen people say not to use cruise control as well? Thank you in advance.

 

I believe the owners manual also says to avoid cruise control during the break-in period. But the objective is to vary not only engine speed but also vehicle speed.

 

Thank you I will try and avoid the cruise control just to follow the owners manual. It's only 500 miles should go by fast with a 1200 mile drive home.

 

When I picked up my new C6 (6 speed standard shift) took I95 500 miles home. Did as you using different gears to vary engine rpm BUT also something that is a benefit for the engine. When in a lower gear, higher rpm, I would slow, leaving a large gap to car in front then accelerate and repeat. That uses some engine braking. The vacuum created in the combustion chambers, pulls a small amount of oil onto on the cylinder walls and where rings ride. That is what typically happens when you are coasting to stops driving locally. Cruise control does not do that.

 

That makes a lot of sense, varying the load on the engine doing a good acceleration etc. Thank you for the advice.

 

I agree that one should not rely on cruise control during break in. But on both my Corvette and my Ford F150, cruise control will frequently use engine braking, even downshifting as needed. On the F150 its especially noticeable in Sport mode. And on the Corvette its especially noticeable with the powertrain set to Sport of Track. In fact, both will downshift and use engine braking even without cruise control if they detect my intent to maintain a speed on a hill or to slow down due to a tap on the brake. I realize you knew all that - I have seen your posts about tapping the brake to downshift.