My dealer has a new 2012 Sterling Gray GT Premium coming in next week that I've paid a down payment on to hold it until I can take it for a test drive. If it drives right and looks right, I'll trade my 2011 BMW 335i for it. (I know, why would you trade a BMW 335 for a Mustang? Well because it's so boring that I almost fall asleep when I drive it. Fact is, the build quality is the same or lower than the Mustangs I've looked at. Plus it's going to save me about $100 a month on payments. But I digress.)

My question relates to break in period. I remember as a kid in the 50s and 60s that new cars had to be "broken in" correctly. Even the manual that came with the BMW mentioned a "break in" period during which I wasn't supposed to drive it over 80 mph or exceed 4K rpm. I'm wondering if the Mustang has a similar break in period.

If you know, or if you're an experienced car guru and you want to pass on any do's and don'ts, feel free to chime in. I haven't had a "muscle car" since my 1964 Impala SS 327 4-speed convertible from high school days. Looking forward to getting it.

 

break in ....thats old skool talk.

 

I've never bought a car brand new but I think I would do the break in period if for no other reason than tradition. Ask you dealer.
I totally understand trading the BMW...as does everyone here.

 

Let the car warm up to a decent temperature...

Then drive it like you stole it!

They are ready to go, broken in from the factory. Just go.

 

Thanks houtex. Gosh, I wonder where you're from. LOL. There's a great 2012 SG with stone interior in Fort Worth right now for sale. I almost drove down there from KC to check it out, but my dealer is getting one in next week that I'm going to take. Same car only this one has the premium interior with the seat stripe and it's charcoal instead of stone. I plan on driving it like I stole it if I don't have to worry about seating the rings and all that mechanical stuff.

 

I work at the dealer here in cleburne TX. No break in. Just drive the thing

 

Well, hell, that sounds easy enough. I can do that. With pleasure. But here's a question for you. I haven't seen my car yet, but it comes with the premium seats (with the stripe down the center). From what I've seen online, most of the cars with the striped seats have a chrome shifter. Is that standard with the premium seats? If so, that's pretty cool. I like that idea.

 

That I do not know. I fix the cars not design them

 

The chrome shifter is nice looking. I have the bullitt shift **** and I can tell you from experience throw a towel or something over it of you park it in the sun. when I swapped that shift **** from my leather one I learned something...I was at a car show and it sat in the sun man that thing got freaken hot! I had to get one of my waxing rags so I could shift the thing LOL. oh and enjoy the new ride.

 

Make sure she's at op temp and give her he\\. Left the dealership sideways in ours...

 

Lol...Dreaming about picking up my '13 & was thinking of doing the same thing for a laugh but was worried about break in, which led me to this thread.

 

In case you're nervous and dont quite believe everyone who says they are factory broken in, I put 1000 gentle miles on mine in a week. Surely you can wait a week to break it in cant you?

And by gentle, I meant nice engine tests up and down the power band. I'd take it up to 4k rpm's pretty quick after 100-200 miles. At about 600 miles I was getting it up to 5k rpm's, with quick throttle blips at various speeds in various gears to let all the metal get a taste. Finally at about 1200 miles I just went all out and let er rip on multiple occasions, both from a stop and from 60mph or so.

 

Yeah, better safe than sorry. My buddy suggested changing the oil every 1500k for the first 5k & change the filter then for any new wear metal. And I generally drive under 4k RPMs 99% of the time so I think I can wait a month before topping that with my 40k investment. I still cant believe Ford says you can run the Coyote at 7k all day. That's just nuts.

 

My advice is to give it a 500 mile break-in period. My 2012 Boss 302 has forged pistons in it so I make sure I warm it up for 3 or 4 minutes before I head out. I also make sure the water temp is in the normal range before I get on the freeway.

I broke the Boss in by doing lots of in town driving. Lots of stop and go and shifting up and down. For the first 500 miles I never ran the revs past 4000. At 500 miles I changed the oil and filter and then headed to the dyno shop.

I might be old school but I've never wrecked an engine whether it was a new car or an engine that I rebuilt for me or a friend. That's dozens of engines going back to the '60s. Change your oil often and don't use any additives. My Boss came with Motorcraft 5w50 full synthetic and I stocked up with a couple of cases because this is the oil I will use. Oil is the life blood of your engine.

 

I'm all about the 500 mile break in period on a newly rebuilt engine in a car. That is a good idea, and will be a good move.

THEN give it hell.

But the cars today? Off the floor? Go. Just go.

 

I just noticed this yesterday. My car is a GT MT82. The engine wasn't completely up to operating temp yet, but when I accelerated (not severely) I noticed a bit of stammering. It wasn't like turbo lag. The engine responded immediately, but as it accelerated, I noticed a very slight "missing" type of stammer. In other words, it wasn't a typically perfect acceleration.

Like I said, the engine temp needle was just barely off the C peg so it may be a cold engine issue. And it may be because it only has 250 miles on it so far.

Any suggestions? Or has anyone else experienced this?

Thanks.