2008 Subaru WRX STI: Engine Break-in

I know some dont follow the recommended break inprocedures but things like rings and the like have to be given time to seat correctly. So if the manufacturer recommends this why NOT follow their recommendations since they engineered the vehicle?

I was told by both Mistubishi and MINI that I did not have to worry about breaking in my new 2008 models.
 
Nevertheless, better safe then sorry - I drove carefully for the first few thousand.

lightning73, the 2004 Subaru Impreza manual states the same thing Mike wrote. And that's how I broke in my 2004 WRX Sedan. I think I briefly revved it two or three times north of, or I guess east of, four grand on the Impreza's centrally-located tachometer when I was still a n00b (newbie) working the gears.
 
After the first 1,000 miles were up, I did a "maximum attack" run up the 5 out by the Grapevine and one hard launch nowhere close to something Chris and Josh would've been proud of. I have learned much better technique since then. Also, hard launches are *very* bad for Subaru 5-speed manual powertrains. I think I've done less than ten total with mine. At 90.6K miles, the original clutch is still working well. :o)

I think it's better to play it safe than sorry with a new engine. What an excersize in patience for sure, but it makes opening up that engine after the first 1k miles that much sweeter. I look forward to more post on this LT STI. Can you guys take it to a canyon this weekend and tell us how it performs?!

My easy rule of thumb: follow the owner's manual. Unless you have a few thousand miles of durability testing with company engineers that would prove otherwise, I think it's foolhardy to second guess what's printed.

Under 4500 rpm for 2K miles on a 911 Carrera.

I agree w/ roar. It just makes sense to do what the manual tells you regarding break in. Also, if you don't follow the owners manual its just something else for them to cook you with down the road if you have a problem and need to rely on that warranty. Who knows what a car's computer is keeping track of these days?
 
maybe it notes every time you take the revs up above 4k in the first 1k miles....Plus its a nearly forty thousand dollar car. Going easy for 1k miles seems like good common sense for taking care of an investment.

Alot of engine modules can tell what the max RPM the car has hit is (I think this is more for checking to see if someone downshifted from 5th to 2nd at 70mph and forced an over-rev). That being said, note that the manual also says "Don't go over 4000 rpm unless it's an emergency".
 
If some dealership tried to call me out for hitting 4500 rpms, I'd ask them if they knew I wasn't in an emergency when I hit that engine speed.
 
I have ~1700 miles on my 08 legacy GT, which has a very, very similar engine to the STI (turbo and intercooler are different, engine programming obviously, and there's an exhaust-side variable valve on the 08 STI).
 
I broke it in like this: 500 miles up to 4000 rpms (one or two runs to 4500rpms), 250 miles to 4500 rpms, 250 miles to 5000rpms...and then once I hit 1000, I took it to 5500-6000 regularly. It's not a high revving motor, so no real reason to go over 6000.
 
I did this to give the engine a chance to break-in properly, but also to give it steadily increasing pressure to seat those rings. It's not like a little light goes off at 1000 miles and suddenly the engine won't be harmed by hitting it's redline. And it's not like the engine needs 4000 rpms, no more, for 1000 miles to break-in properly.
 
I've read this many, many times but perhaps someone can confirm: the engine is taken to redline before leaving the factory.
 
Joe
 
P.s. Recently, Subaru produced a bad batch of 2.5 liter turbo engines. Had a serious problem in the first few hundred miles which would result in engine knocking followed by engine failure. Their cure to identify any engines with this problem? Perform an oil change and then, while sitting still in the shop, rev the engine to 6000 rpms 10 times in a row.
 
This was ordered on brand new Subaru engines to see if they would have the low-end knocking problem.
 
I guess all those owners are going to have engines without properly seated rings, if the break-in fanatics are right :)

For those who want evidence of the Subaru procedure to determine if the 2.5 liter engine was in the bad batch, visit here:
 
http://www.cars101.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=339&p=581#p581

Joe, I already informed the Mikes about the stop sale when I first read about it on NASIOC. The long-term STI was produced before the affected engines were installed into vehicles. :o)

i'd follow the book.
 
there is a wacky (IMHO) school of thought, that you should red line your engine the first few times to 'set it and forget it'.

I suspect a big part of the manual guidelines is corporate policy to make sure that if you drove like a crazy man out of the box and blew the engine they could call you on the warranty protection. Nontheless, it can't hurt to stay roughly within the guidelines in order to get all the moving bits well seated before you decide to do any serious canyon carving.

I agree with the “rev it up early in its life” school of thought, but I don’t place a whole lot of importance on that. I’d say it’s more important to vary the revs constantly during the engine’s early days, and to change the oil after a few dozen miles, to flush out the metal shavings that the seating process might result in. A lot of the mechanics I’ve talked to agree with that last point, if nothing else.

"We wanted nothing more than to drive it to the nearest canyon road and push it to the limit"
 
I'm sure you don't actually condone pushing it to the limit on public roads...

Maybe Mike meant 70-80%, Huss? :o) 100% is only for the track, right?

Suby - I think 70% of this car's capabilities is about twice the posted speed limit :)
 
I agree with varying the engine speed constantly. Also, go easy on the clutch and brakes.
 
As for changing the oil....I like to wait till at least 1000 miles, personally. Get as much of that gunk dissolved into the oil. I'm not as worried about the metal shavings as just all the assembly greases :)
 
Joe

I've seen varying recommendations in my owners' manuals over the years, from very conservative to no comment at all. Basically, I just do what it says. I tend to think it's the lawyers more than the engineers making those recommendations, but it's not a big deal to relax for the first month. As someone else said, the anticipation can be fun.

"I've read this many, many times but perhaps someone can confirm: the engine is taken to redline before leaving the factory."
  
Joe - I'm not sure about Subies, but BMWs are run up to 125 mph and taken to redline multiple times before leaving the factory. I've watched them do it on the factory floor - they have monitors above the cars showing the speed on the rollers as well as other data. FWIW, BMW recommends in the manual to stay below 100 mph and below 4500 rpm in the first 1200 miles.

having a performance car would make it very hard to stick to the break-in schedule. it's really one of the biggest things I'll dread when I actually get one myself, haha.
 
but as everyone else has said, better to play it safe than sorry. I honestly think that following a proper break-in procedure does do some good though. then again, I've heard that in modern cars it's not needed... so I dunno. I'd just go with the owner's manual though.

My boy's 08 Impreza was the same. He babied that thing like there was no tomorrow!!! I'm like 'COME ON!!!!' :P
Sometimes I think he loves it more than me. :(

Desmo - Are you suggesting I meant other than push it to the 'legal' limit? I may have just left a word out.
  
Speaking of leaving things out of the original post, I should mention the STI didn't lose any oil during the first 1k. I recall previous gen units burning a healthy amount over time - - we'll see how ours holds up as we rack up miles.

Ever watched the lot techs at a dealership rip around in the cars that are just off the truck?

I've heard of the 'drive it hard' approach as well. The reasoning is you want a great deal of pressure in the cylinder so the entire ring will wear into the cylinder surface to seal the combustion pressure as well as possible.
 
I'm no engineer, so I'm not certain. But for warranty purposes, it's probably best to break it in slowly.
 
On the other hand, Ferrari takes their production cars out to Maranello for a few hot laps before they're delivered to consumers.

i broke in my WRX as per the book and it burned oil relentlessly before it spun a rod bearing. (cylinder 3, which is closest to the turbo and is a common cause of failure with turbocharged subaru's)

The manual for my 2007 RX-8 says "Don't race the engine, vary engine speeds, avoid hard stops and full throttle driving for the first 600 miles."
  
I understand how high RPMs can affect break in but what affect does a wide open throttle have on the break in?

My '09 Forester XT, just completed its break-in (I followed the rules best as possible). Happy to say it's using very little oil so far.
   
So far I have not heard nasty low end knocking from the turbo motor but it'll soon be checked to be sure.
 
However, I'm surprised the STI's intercooler isn't larger. Have there been any issues of heat soak with these?

kurtamaxxxguy, the new STI's intercooler is actually larger (shorter, but much wider) than the old one's. Maybe it just looks smaller because it doesn't have the STI logo on it anymore. =Þ

sealclubb3r, I don't fully understand it, but wide open throttle puts higher loads on certain engine parts regardless of revs. When your engine's still cold it's just as important to avoid WOT as high rpm.

The pedeal to the metal crowd while has a point.
 
Theres reasoning that it magically creates high(er) pressures to seat the rings is bunk.
 
If you have a 10:1 compression engine, thats NA. How the heck are you going to magically increase pressure to a much greater degree if you are flooring it then if you are taking it 'easy'.
 
WOT will change the computer settings to fire the engine for max power. But your 200hp engine, will not create more then 200hp no matter how you drive

Listen to Huaracing dude. Following the manual obviously made his car blow up!
 
I believe in redlining the furp out of new engines. And just to create more pressure, I curse at the car and make fun of it's mommy while I'm flooring it.

I am extremely interested to hear how the STI consumes oil over the period of this test. I had an 04 STi that I sold mainly because it burned a quart of oil every 1000 miles. And the dealership said this was normal!
 
Please keep us informed if things have changed! If it's not an oil burner anymore, I might switch back.

My 2004 WRX (2.0L - EJ205) has barely burned any oil over its 91K miles (switched to Mobil 1 at 7,500 miles). :o) Those who had 2004 STis, don't forget that was the first year of production for the 2.5L EJ257 engine.
 
For more information on Subaru EJ boxer motors, the following page is a decent resource:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subaru_EJ_engine

2.5 owners (non-turbo) i've known even had issues with burning oil. i only followed break in on the WRX because it was heavily emphasized by the dealership. I had the dealership tell me that my oil consumption was normal as well, i don't know about you, but a dry dipstick at 2000 miles isn't exactly reassuring. I also had many other problems that were dismissed and said to be normal. then once the warranty was over, my engine blew.
 
Mercedes Benz's i've owned were never broken in per some stupid regulations and never had engine problems nor any excessive oil consumption. Also, my 1990 300ZX Twin Turbo never burned any oil and is running as strong as ever, even today.

I am by no means an aggressive driver, so I just drive like I normally would right out of the box. That means I almost never go north of 4000 rpm. It has served me well so far.
  
None of my vehicles consume (or have consumed) any noticeable amount of oil between oil changes every 5000 miles. The level is always between the lines. Although I too have heard that one quart of oil per 1000 miles is "acceptable", if you go 5000 miles between changes, you could be left with a dry pan!

well, you are supposd to check your oil levels every 1000 miles or month. the more performance a car, the more i'd check it.

Had an experience similar to huy's recently. 1987 miles on my new 08 STi and though the engine oil was fine when I checked it at the track, I went out for a 20-minute session during which it ran as poorly as it's always done, then 10 minutes into the next session it spun the #3 rod bearing.
 
Subaru won't cover it under warranty. Remember, 1987 miles. They say I neglected it. The broken ring lands on two pistons, worn out locating hole on one of the cam sprockets, and the heavy coating of carbon on all pistons and combustion chambers says otherwise. The carbon especially says "ravenous oil consumption".
 
I'm talking to a lawyer who's sounding very interested in the case. The car broke down 6 days ago and never threw a CEL until the rattling started.
 
If you're gonna track it, be very wary about buying one of these.
 
Mine's a very low VIN because I ordered it in November. I'd had two STi's and a WRX prior to this and they were good cars.
 
This one sucks and Subaru is really giving me the run-around, even to the point of making sure there's no way I can talk to the regional rep.
 
Huy, I may be in contact later as I'm searching the internet right now for similar experiences, finding a disconcerting number of them, ahd if I find enough of them, will offer to let the custome... I mean victims piggy-back onto mine at my expense to make it a class-action.

I should also mention that Subaru has known for a long time that these cars are capable of suddenly developing a ridiculously huge appetite for oil and destroying themselves as a result yet has done nothing about it yet and if it happens to you, you're buying the new engine, regardless of how few miles you've got.
 
My opinion is if that you simply MUST have one of these (like I did), you'd better be willing to check your oil every 100 miles of semi-spirited driving and every 20 miles of hard driving. Literally. And that may not be enough, as there are other issues with them.

I have 92K hard miles on my 2004 WRX including eight track days. Abnormal oil consumption is not an issue for me. :o)

Not sure where the debate lies here...if the manual says to do it, why wouldn't you do it?

I just got my 05 STi back from the dealership. After a month and a half of fighting with Subaru they put a new motor, turbo, heads and much more into it under warranty even with my milage at 61k+
I was just about to get a oil service and have some things checked out. My Motor blew and through a rod. Which then caused more damage then anyone I spoke to has ever seen my parts list is at least 2 pages. all said and done it was $1,000 out of pocket. I was told my motor was poorly lubed. I had it in to dealership for service one month before. So seems like my oil disappeared in about 1000 miles. This has been a headache to say the least.

I am debating on my engine break-in process. I have read a lot on the subject. Has anyone done the break in with running it hard, but cooling in between? Short burst and hard acceleration. I also heard first 20 miles is most important. Any info on this? I am just past first 20 miles on my own and whatever the dealership did before I got it back. Any info that is your own facts would be great. No one telling me what "They "WOULD DO""
Thanks,
CNE100 (Matt)