4000RPM-1500 MILES?

[Bigtime53]

Ok since I have ordered one of these ZL1 cars and have owned previous hi-perf cars I have tryed to educate myself as much as I can about it.I have watched videos and read everything I can.The video I believe that GM did says it is crucial that the new owner of these ZL1 cars keep the rpm's below 4000 and not exceed 80mph for the first 1500 miles. Now my question is if you do not do this what will happen? I looked at some new ZL1's on the chevy store lots and every one had miles on them.So after watching the video you have got to think that as soon as dealers got one of these cars and all the hype about them they just had to take them out for a "test drive". Now do you believe they kept them below 4 grand? I would say probably not. Will this hurt the car in anyway? Will this void the warranty if you, lets say are away from your dealer you bought it from and you have a problem with the car and take it in to a another dealer who see's that the break in was not followed right and refuses to fix the car under warranty then what? I have told the dealer that I have ordered mine from several times that no one drive's mine after it is unloaded off the truck unless I am with them.I do not want mine hot rodded at all! What are you thoughts on this?

[E-Ray]

Breakin period is a big issue on this forum, some say to abide by the rules, others say ride it hard to properly seat the rings. But your right, mine to had 35 miles on it when I bought it. So whose to say how it was treated during those 35 miles. I believe these engins are built very well and will with stand a lot, dont believe you have anything to worry about. Of course this is my personall opinion. also the computer that records this info may also record the milage in which it happened. Not sure on that one either.

[I call it Vera]

I'm at 1026 miles. I've managed to stay within the confines except once, where I think I hit 4,300 RPMs. I did NOT wanna stop. It sounded so awesome.

It's a tough 1,500, but probably worth it.

What are you getting? Coupe, Convertible? Manual or Automatic? Color?
I had the hardest time choosing color, and if I replaced the car, I might go for a different color, but still happy with what I have.

[TomF1]

Mine will be a week old at 6:00 pm today and i drove it to work for the 1st time today.
With 6 gears its really easy to stay under 4k rpm's and i'm not looking for speeding tickets so the under 80 is no problem either.
I've read about the ring seating, so giving it a good go now an then might be good for it.
Break in is not a problem.

I asked the dealer not to drive it, but they said a mechanic had to test it.
My paperwork all said 11 Km's, but it had 14 when i got it. The salesman had to take it out to fill it up. (which they then charged me for :(

[I call it Vera]

Originally Posted by TomF1

Mine will be a week old at 6:00 pm today and i drove it to work for the 1st time today.
With 6 gears its really easy to stay under 4k rpm's and i'm not looking for speeding tickets so the under 80 is no problem either.
I've read about the ring seating, so giving it a good go now an then might be good for it.
Break in is not a problem.

I asked the dealer not to drive it, but they said a mechanic had to test it.
My paperwork all said 11 Km's, but it had 14 when i got it. The salesman had to take it out to fill it up. (which they then charged me for :(

that part is total bullshit. If the sales guy feels like he HAD to drive it, he should at least pay for the gas . . .

[HDRDTD]

1. As far as break-in period, you know what the kool-aid from GM says. Why 1500 miles rather than the conventional 500? nobody knows for certain and GM isn't saying. It's your choice to either follow the manufacturers reccomendadtions and be safe, or to take the stand of many performance shops that will tell you to just drive it hard from the get-go to seat the rings properly.
Some people speculate that the 1500 miles was more to break in the DRIVER than to break in the car itself. Give the new driver a chance to drive the car rather tamely for a while and get used to it's handling and power, before going all-out. If you're not respectful of this car, you can lose control of it in a heart-beat.
Me? I drank the corporate kool-aide and abided by the manufacturers reccomendations to play it safe.

2. Miles on the car at delivery.
How paranoid do you choose to be.? that's what it boils down to. Most all the cars typically get deliverd with 5-10 miles on them. Some may have a bit more. Who put those miles on the car? HOW were those miles put on the car?
It all depends on your suspicisions. Some will just accept that theye were just put on during normal transit/delivery/prep and were done safely, while others are convinced that they MUST have been put on by either customer test drives or 'dealer' test drives during which they MUST have driven it hard to see just what the car can do and what all the fuss is about.

A reputible dealer would NEVER allow any of it's employees to abuse a car prior to sale.
Plus, the way I look at it is, the milage at delivery is recorded on the bill of sale, and the warranty begins.

Mine had 11 miles on it at delivery, and I know it wasn't taken for any 'demo rides'.
I'm not worried at all.

[Bigtime53]

Originally Posted by I call it Vera

I'm at 1026 miles. I've managed to stay within the confines except once, where I think I hit 4,300 RPMs. I did NOT wanna stop. It sounded so awesome.

It's a tough 1,500, but probably worth it.

What are you getting? Coupe, Convertible? Manual or Automatic? Color?
I had the hardest time choosing color, and if I replaced the car, I might go for a different color, but still happy with what I have.

I have ordered a SIM with a automatic trans, the exposed carbon fiber hood and no moon roof. I struggled for over a week trying to decide if I should go with the standard trans and I do not mind shifting but my wife said she wanted to drive it some so that was the deal breaker on the standard tranny!

[I call it Vera]

Originally Posted by Bigtime53

I have ordered a SIM with a automatic trans, the exposed carbon fiber hood and no moon roof. I struggled for over a week trying to decide if I should go with the standard trans and I do not mind shifting but my wife said she wanted to drive it some so that was the deal breaker on the standard tranny!

I had the same transmission issue.

I ended up going for manual because
1) wife wouldn't drive it
2) theft deterrent
3) I really wanted a manual

I keep telling her "It's a good life skill. You can still learn." quickly followed by ducking

[Rob07002]

I worked for BMW NA at their VPC when I was younger. Most cars left the VPC for the dealers with 5-10 miles on them. Take it from me, those are HARD miles.

[c4maroboy]

i love reading the "reasons i bouth auto/manual" posts! the number one reason is always so the wife can/cannot drive it haha im the only one of my friends who can drive manual so when they ask to drive my car, none of them can!!

[BlackinBlack]

I followed the break in. The 80 MPH rule is not for the motor but the rest of the driveline.... mainly the rear end. People forget that break in is not just for the engine but the rest of the car. Funny how people like GM's product that was designed and built by the engineers that GM employs but disregard the recommendations by those same engineers.

For the record I broke my car in via the GM way. I trapped at the drag strip stock at 119 MPH also when I added my CAI I opened the throttle body and it was dry as was the rest of my intake track.

My wife can drive a stick but she seems to be scared to drive it.

[Sven59]

A machine shop guy was on a earlier forum, he said one thing that a lot of people miss. The ring and pinion gears need to be "broke-in" also, he said that there are microscopic craters in the metal and they trap some of the lube and it will eventually smooth out. He said that the break-in process will allow it to smooth out properly. I am not a specialist but what he said seemed to make sense. I followed the break-in and have had no issues and it has run very strong. Lets say you go the hard route and violate the break-in and something goes wrong they would be within their rights to deny warranty and if it was a blown engine who wants to pay for that. Now if you are made of money go for it!

[Bigtime53]

I guess that if something did happen in the 1500 mile break in period the service people could look at the computer to tell what was going on at the time at whatever part failed.Is that correct? I do know that the computer can be looked at and tell what the speed of the car was going if it is involved in a crash so I would think it is possible to look at for warranty repairs also.Does anyone know for sure?

[Terebit]

I'm always amazed at the posts from owners who take low mileage (new) cars to the modification shops where they flog the car on a dyno at WOT to redline. I guess the speed shops don't believe the break in is necessary.