Should a new car be driven at high speed before or after the first maintenance?
3 Answers
It is acceptable to drive a new car at high speed either before or after the first maintenance, as long as you do not immediately take it on the highway right after getting the new car. Here are the detailed explanations: 1. For older cars, if you wanted to drive at high speed, you had to wait until the break-in period was over before taking it on the highway. However, for modern cars, due to the continuous improvement in automotive manufacturing technology, the parts of new cars are no longer as rough as they used to be, so the requirements for the break-in period are not as strict as before. 2. Of course, for a brand-new car just out of the factory, owners should not rush to drive at high speeds. Normally, the first maintenance is scheduled at around 3,000 to 5,000 kilometers. Within this mileage range, the new car can gradually adapt to the operation and break-in of its components. 3. If you drive at high speed before the first maintenance, it is recommended not to rev the engine too high. Generally, try to keep it below 3,000 RPM and avoid sudden acceleration as much as possible. At such RPM, gradually increasing the speed to 100 to 120 kilometers per hour is completely fine.
When I first picked up my car, I specifically consulted the veteran technician at the 4S dealership. He said that nowadays, new cars don't require deliberate high-speed running at all. If you really want to do it, make sure to wait until after the first maintenance! Think about it—during the break-in period, the engine is full of metal shavings. Like in my case, after running 1,000 kilometers with full synthetic oil, the drained oil had shiny particles. After the first oil change, you can take it to the highway: rev up to 4,000 RPM in 2nd and 3rd gears for ten minutes, then maintain 120 km/h in 5th gear for half an hour. But the veteran patted my car hood and said, ’With today’s precision machining technology, just drive normally!’ In the end, I drove carefully for three years, and the engine still roars like new.
Experience is the best teacher. Last month, I accompanied my friend for his car's first maintenance. The workshop mechanic pointed at the metal shavings on the filter and said: 'See this? Running at high speeds before the first oil change is like using these particles as sandpaper to grind the cylinders!' The correct approach is to choose a less crowded highway after the first oil change. Last week, I helped him do it this way: first let the coolant temperature reach 90°C, then maintain 4,000 RPM in each gear for 2 minutes, and keep 4,000 RPM in D gear for 20 kilometers. But honestly, I've never deliberately run my own car at high speeds. It's been seven years with 150,000 kilometers, and the fuel consumption has always been around 8L/100km. The key is regular maintenance.
