Break in period for a new SHO

[2016-SHO]

Quick question for the guru's here.. Is a new SHO tuned to full power (365hp / 350lb ft tq) from the factory or is there is a break in tune of some kind? I had a customer ask me that question and I thought it was a good question. Thanks in advance..

 

[CZD3MY]

Pretty sure there's no tune but Ford says don't go over 4000 rpm till after 1000 miles.

 

[2016-SHO]

Pretty sure there's no tune but Ford says don't go over 4000 rpm till after 1000 miles.

Thanks for the info..

 

[OmaHahn]

There's a ton of info on this topic across the Internet! I also own a newer Audi S4 and I read one of the Audi forums all the time. I like to read the forums with the guys who own the S6, S7, RS7, etc - these cars with tunes are over 700 HP easy! Now to my point - ALL these guys say you should NEVER "break in a car!" If you buy a sports car that's meant to be driven, then drive it like it's meant to be driven from day 1! Some guys even provide mechanical reasons such as setting the piston rings, etc by exercising the engine hard. If you baby the engine, well you're going to break it in that way and then when you finally go WOT there can be issues. Cars these days don't need a break-in period. You ever watch car shows on the weekends like Power Nation, etc? Those guys build brand new engines and then throw them on the Dyno and after a very short warm up time it's red-line, high RPM on the Dyno! There's no break in. So go after it like you stole it!!!

 

[SHOdded]

I would pay attention to the mfr's recommendations, especially in this case. You can exceed 4,000 rpm, but you should avoid anything but spikes into that zone for the 1,000 miles. If you do decide to run it hard (no breakin), change the oil out to full synthetic after 1,000 miles, because that is what you will NEED to do keep it running well. It's your call, and your dime.

 

[rubydist]

there are really two questions here:

1. is there a break-in procedure to follow with the vehicle?
2. is there a break-in period for the vehicle?

The answer to the first question is (in most cases) "no break-in procedure". In other words, you can just drive the vehicle normally from day one.

The answer to the second question is "yes there is". Most new engines take up to 10,000 miles before they are fully "broken in" and providing the optimal mileage and performance.

The reason for both answers is that the manufacturing of components today is so much better than it was 30+ years ago, that the finishes on pistons, cylinder walls, rings, etc. are much smoother. Therefore, you don't wear off half a pound of metal shavings in the first 1000 miles like you might have 60 years ago. In the old days, you needed the special procedure to deal with all that initial wear, which basically doesn't happen today. The fact that all that initial wear does not happen today is the reason it takes so long for the engine to be "broken in" because it takes much longer to get everything loosened up. Most of us have looked at modern engines with 150k miles on them where you could still see the factory hone cross-hatching in the cylinder walls. Just think how brand new that cylinder wall looked after 10k miles. On a 72 351C, after 10k miles you had a ring ridge already. So if you drive it like you stole it from day one on a modern vehicle, you might get through that initial break in period a little sooner.

 

[SilverSH0]

I would say a big difference between old and new is that old vehicles used break in oil and new vehicles use regular engine oil. That alone is going to make a big difference.