I am picking up my 06 OR today after work. Do I have to keep it under 55mph for proper engine break in? also, my friends are going 4 wheelin this weekend on cape cod in the sand dunes. should I not go offroading until I break in the power train?

RTFM, page 5-19 I believe.

Seriously: For first 1200mi keep it under 4K RPM, avoid heavy acceleration and braking. Vary engine speed as much as feasible. No towing for first 500mi.

Simple: don't baby it, and don't thrash it. Drive it normally and reasonably.

Brent

I'd wheel it. Let it know it's not going to be a mall crawler. It'll thank you for it later.

55? go and see what 4k rpm does on the highway...hint, you can go much faster...its reving through the range thats more important

Keep in mind that other components need to break in as well. If you stop too hard or too soft (ie. ride the brakes all the time) then the disks may develop a lip.

I would even leave switching to 4hi and 4lo to after several hundred miles. Then be sure to take it easy at 4hi for a while.

Lots of other moving parts in a vehicle generally start off tight and can break when pushed hard at the beginning.

Having said that I have driven well past 70 after first 300 miles. I would really leave the really hard acceleration to after the first oil change.

If you follow the instructions in the manual I cannot see how you can go wrong.

I am sure people take it offroading all the time as soon as they buy it but they are the people that are leasing and will trade it in 3 years.

I wouldn't get too fussy about the break-in period. The main thing is not to drive like an idiot with quick accelerations off a standstill and hard braking of any kind. I would try an even mix of highway and city driving. In an ideal world, I would take it out on a 55-mph state highway that passes through towns where you have to slow down and stop at the stray stop light from time to time, & etc. A bit of undulation--going up and down small hills--would be a plus too.
That said, I'd wait a while before taking it offroad, maybe a thousand miles or so. Even then, I wouldn't push it too hard in the early going. An earlier poster was correct in saying that some components are stiff when the vehicle is new.

I guess you guys haven't seen how the Car Jockey's at the Dealer drives it for you, huh? They don't care and don't abuse it worse then they have for you allready and you should be fine. Off-road won't kill it either, just take it easy. I went offroad the same night I bought mine and have been loving every minute since, but I also bought the Xtended warranty (Gold), ya wasted money, but piece of mind for the most part, including Rentals when required. That alone has paid for the warranty.

Enjoy!

That's why I bought mine with 9 miles on it. More than the lot attendants and assorted dealership employees, I feared idiotic test-drivers. I have a friend who sells cars and you wouldn't believe the stuff people do on test drives. Idiots.

I am still just under 1,000 miles as well but I agree with what everyone else is saying around here about driving sensibly. I try to resist the urge to "put my foot in it" but instead accelerate in a normal fashion as opposed to a "jack rabbit" start and stop.

Another thing that I did a few weeks ago was to change my oil at 500 miles. This was likely overkill but that is how I approach most projects... I did this oil change as I read that metal shavings are at their highest level during the first 500 miles. I thought this was likely hearsay but since oil was cheap it didn't seem like it could hurt. Hence, I change my oil, let it sit in the drain pain over night and then poured the oil into a container for disposal the next day. I was surprised to see that at the bottom of the drain pan there were indeed some pretty good metal particles--nothing abnormal--but I am glad to have them out of my engine. I will change the oil at 2500 miles to synthetic and then again at 5,000 miles and then switch to a 5,000 mile oil change interval.

I know the oil change topic wasn't really your original question but I thought it would be relevant to the idea of proper break in...

Good luck!

My Friend joked that I only have two driving modes - ON and OFF. I have to say after breaking in my previous car properly if just a bit harsh for 1000 miles, I drove it - as they say - 'like I stole it'. Over twelve years and the engine has never had a problem and it always passed air-care easily. And I kept that sucker revved to the 7200 redline quite a bit.

I would say you are doing yourself a big no-no by changing to synthetic so early. Your engine needs to wear a little more. With synthetic I have heard many experts say that the piston rings will not seal properly and will compress too much and leak eventually. In my previous car I changed to synthetic after 10,000 miles - I can only tell you what has worked for me.

I've heard that to but Mobil1 synthetic comes with a lot of top end cars straight from the factory. I'm a big Mobil1 fan and will probably change to synthetic @ 500 miles as well.

Not all engines come equal from all manufacturers - some run them at more load before releasing them. There are reasons believe it or not that the manufacturer suggests certain things.

When my friend bought his porsche he asked about break-in and was told to lay down rubber on his way out. Porsche engines for example are fully broken in when you get them - the consumer needs to do nothing special.

Different manufactures manufacture their engines differently - some put a load on them and therefore they don't require as much care - and would concievebly benefit from having synthetic from the start.

Unfortunetly none of this is very open - I doubt you could get two matching answers from Nissan. Still I would not think that there could be no possible harm from changing the recommended procedure.

ok, so now i have a little over 800 miles on my new x. today I had to stop very short from about 45 mph. i felt the abs kick in and all of that. I know stopping hard on new brakes can be bad so should I be worried that i messed up my brakes?

Absolutely not Mikey. Continuous hard braking is the problem. i.e. You brake hard at every stop light. A one off hard braking incident from 45mph hardly warmed up the brakes!

alright, awesome. i get so worried due to the fact that its my first new car.

Mikey, don't sweat it so much. As long as you don't drive like you have Jersey plates on your rig you'll be fine. I see in your profile that you went to Villanova. I finished my grad degree there in '02. Go 'Cats!

Hi Mike,

The X brakes are pretty stout and forgiving. I had my X-OR two weeks before I put her on a boat to Germany. I broke her in over here with no ill affects. Heavy braking is the norm here due to high speeds and short deceleration lanes on off-ramps. If you decel for exits while on the bahn you'll quickly become a grease spot on the pavement. Enjoy your truck and try not to get too twisted around the axle about the break-in.

You're an idiot, it's New Yorkers that are bad drivers.

Thanks for calling me an idiot. You must originally be from Jersey.

Thanks for proving that you are an idiot.

You are discriminating against people because of what license plate they have and your comment was immature and unintelligent. Yes I am originally from New Jersey, and I have never gotten a ticket or have been in an accident. I have driven over most of the country and have seen no difference in driving due to what license plate you have on. Except for NYC, but it's mostly the head wraps driving their taxi's. Also, thanks for the , that's not being hostile at all.

And this statement is the epitome of maturity and intelligence.

Maybe you shouldn't be talking, asshole.