Do not drive at a constant speed for extended periods.?

In the owners manual, under Break In Tips (page 178 - see below), the guidance amongst other things is not to "drive at a constant speed for extended periods" for the first 1000 miles. I'm flying 600 hundred miles to a dealer in a different region to buy and drive my new truck home. I suppose I'll need to make a lot of stops and avoid using cruise control and adjust my speed regularly so as to follow the break in guidance from the manual.

How would you comply with this guidance if your first 600 miles were a long drive home from the dealership? Stop every 50 miles? 50mph for 10min, 60mph for 10, 70 mph for 10 and so on?

Whatever I have to do, I don't really care, as I will be so excited to get this thing. Any day now.

FROM MANUAL:
■Breaking in your new Toyota
To extend the life of the vehicle,
observing the following precautions
is recommended:
●For the first 200 miles (300 km):
Avoid sudden stops.
●For the first 500 miles (800 km):
Do not tow a trailer.
●For the first 1000 miles (1600 km):
• Do not drive at extremely high
speeds.
• Avoid sudden acceleration.
• Do not drive continuously in low
gears.
• Do not drive at a constant speed
for extended periods.

 

If possible, I'd stay off the highway. Otherwise, fluctuate speeds as mentioned. Don't run the cruise.

 

Speed of vehicle is one thing, speed of engine is another. If you’re driving 70 mph for extended periods to make decent time, shift it into 9th or 8th gear occasionally if slowing down isn’t an option. It will vary the rpm’s to prevent constant running at 1700rpm or whatever it’s cruising in 10th.

 

Ditto last year, flew, and returned about 700 miles. Treat yourself to scenic route on way back home, speed changes, occasional stops, soak in scenery, and enjoyed the new ride. Expect a little grease to clean off the wheels when you get home, no sweat. Enjoy!

 

PFFTTT....drive it like you stole it. The value will be the exact same when you sell it. No person on the earth is going to ask if you followed the break in recomendations.

 

Another break-in recommendation from the manual is to disable the autostop feature to allow the turbos to cool while the engine is running. This is more important after slowing down from highway speeds, or after a sprited drive.

I disable autostop everytime I start the truck. I don't like this feature. I think it does more harm than good, and uses more gas.

 

won’t have this option if buying a hybrid. They don’t have the button to disable it. With they did cause it can be annoying when the truck is always shutting off. Also weird to be driving on battery power at low speeds and have no engine sound at all.

 

What is considered 'extended periods'? I drive on the highway for 10-15 min before I have to get on the off ramp, and slow down, then speed up again, have another 10-15min jaunt were i fluctuate the speed slight, but I certainly don't go for 30min or even an hour at a time. we are talking 15km or so between changes. sometimes 15-20km an hour difference, sometimes less.

Would this be safe for the break-in period?

 

Thats how I thought about it at first.
Now I just stop worrying about it. Toyota been building hybrids for a long time, including turbocharged engine hybrids, and everything is just fine. They know what they're doing

 

Nitro has very similar instructions, as well as a towing break-in process.

Direct from their install instructions:

 

You can use the highway, no problem. Follow this schedule:

- merge onto highway
- occupy left hand lane
- speed up to the posted limit and then slow down to 75% of limit within 2 minutes
- repeat this cycle until you reach your destination

 

Do not apply the brakes, though. Don't want to tip anyone off that you have a new vehicle (or that you may be slowing down). I'm sure they'll understand.

 

Bingo. Followed this procedure with every new vehicle and have never had an issue.

Also, the recommended break in period has been a new car thing for the last 50+ years. It’s not new.

 

We went on a 3000 mile road trip when my truck only had 400 miles on it. It was the first time I was glad my wife has a small bladder, so the frequent stops didn't bother me.

 

For best results, don't read the owners manual.

 

So shutting off a gasoline engine uses more gas than letting it idle? That's a hard statement to get on board with.

 

If he figured out a way to make it use more gas when the engine is shut off, maybe he can get a parent on the idea?

 

I think the fuel savings depend on various factors such as the duration of the stop, the frequency of stops, and the efficiency of the engine. For very short stops, the fuel savings from shutting off and restarting the engine may be minimal, and there could be a small additional fuel consumption during the restart due to the energy required to crank the engine.

Where I drive most of the time, the stops at intersections are quick.

I may be wrong, but this is just my experience. Sorry for going off on a tangent on this thread.

 

The auto stop/start "feature" is saiid to save 5-7% on fuel economy, if you do all stop and go driving.

I've heard and read all the claims about heavier duty starters and flex-plates that are supposed to be engineered to handle the additional work load of repeated start/stop cycles. But I'm old-school and still believe the majority of engine wear happens from starting the engine, not fuel dilution while idling.

My conclusion....turn that shit off every time I start my truck.