RLJ3RD said:
FWIW ... working in a shop that built dirt trackers as a kid they would push a car with a new motor outside warm it up and set a brick on the gas peddle. If it was still in one piece after 30 minutes it went racing. I still won't do this with any of my stuff but I think you get the point.
Those engines' life spans are also measured in hours. Racing mentality is the antithesis of longevity.
The motoman break-in article has some serious flaws in his justification. Not saying that his approach is wrong, but the supporting reasoning he uses is totally off-base. For example, he claims that:
Nowadays, the piston ring seal is really what the break in process is all about. Contrary to popular belief, piston rings don't seal the combustion pressure by spring tension. Ring tension is necessary only to "scrape" the oil to prevent it from entering the combustion chamber.
If you think about it, the ring exerts maybe 5-10 lbs of spring tension against the cylinder wall ...
How can such a small amount of spring tension seal against thousands of
PSI (Pounds Per Square Inch) of combustion pressure ??
Of course it can't.
How Do Rings Seal Against Tremendous Combustion Pressure ??
From the actual gas pressure itself !! It passes over the top of the ring, and gets behind it to force it outward against the cylinder wall. The problem is that new rings are far from perfect and they must be worn in quite a bit in order to completely seal all the way around the bore. If the gas pressure is strong enough during the engine's first miles of operation (open that throttle !!!), then the entire ring will wear into
the cylinder surface, to seal the combustion pressure as well as possible.
Um, last time I checked, the forces of physics still apply, and
the PSI in a cylinder is exerted in all directions and at the same time. The gas pressure does
NOT passes over the top of the ring, and gets behind it to force it outward against the cylinder wall without the same pressure applied to the top of the ring, to the gap between the outer side of the ring and the cylinder wall, etc.
He makes it sound like hard-running applies special powers to the laws of physics to break you engine in. Sorry, but not on this planet. On the same concept, you cannot fill one "side" of a balloon up by "blowing it up hard".
Moreover, the wear between the cylinder honing and the new ring mating surface will wear down due to friction between the two surfaces no matter what rate you do it at. Faster does not make the parts mate any "better".
Oh, and the kicker to all of his theory? Rings float. Rings rotate. He makes it sound like a fast and hard wearing helps the surfaces to mate specifically for each other. Well, that's all out the window as your ring(s) rotate over time.
Only thing you really want to avoid in a break-in activity is glazing. Glazing will not happen if you follow the manufacturer's recommended break-in style.
Speaking of style, Motoman's style reeks of snake oil tactics. Same style claims are made on those little magnets you clamp on your fuel lines to "orient the gas molecules" for a 50% increase in gas mileage. Or the throttle body spacers from Airraid, etc. :

Like the auto manufacturers aren't going to use a .39 spacer to increase their MPG:horsepower ratings when they spend millions on it as is.
Bottom line, these are your rides; treat them how you want. I've never had an engine failure or problem breaking in vehicles without thrashing it from the get go.