Why cant a brand new car be driven at a constant speed for a long distance?

Question

I was told not to drive my new car a long distance at the same speed during the first 1000 miles and its also in the owners manual. First of all why is this? And secondally when they say long distance what do they consider a long distance? I was planning a trip that would require me to drive about 90 miles on the thruway, is this distance too long too soon?

Answer 1

When you drive at constant speed it only uses ONE of the gears.  Depending on your car it can have as much as 5 or 6 gears.  So you would not be breaking in all other gears beside that one gear you would be using.

Yes 90 miles would be considered long distance.  Let's just say that anytime you CAN use a cruise control, that would be bad (even if you don't).

Good Luck...

Answer 2

You need to develop your car so it can be used for long distances and  at high speed and because the development of a car it could affect the performance of your car and it could have a break down ok?

Answer 3

You didn't mention what make of car you bought. Having worked for Honda and being associated with the people that write the manuals, I can assure you that frequently, they print errors and old wife's tales. Driving your car at a reasonable constant speed won't hurt it. "Wear in" or "break in" was something extremely important in the earlier days of automobiles when machine tools were not as precise as today. The closer the machine tolerances and the better the finish, the need for allowing the parts to mate one to another through wear decreases. Your rings need to seat, but that can take place at a constant (reasonable) speed. Take your trip and don't worry about it. Remember to change your oil and filter at the specified interval.