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I just bought a brand-new 09 Civic LX about a month and a half ago. It's my first Honda and my first new car. After thumbing through my owner's manual, having already put 1,300 miles on it, I read about the 600 mile break in period, where you're supposed to avoid full throttle starts, heavy breaking, and rapid acceleration for the first 600 miles. Of course, this seems like common sense, but I've never heard of "the break-in period" before so I'm trippin' that my less than stellar gas mileage (27 mpg average) could be due to me not adhering to this break in period. I drive pretty conservative so I think I'm ok. Anyone have any comments? Should I be concerned? What exactly does Honda mean by "rapid acceleration"? Am I a moron?

 
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eh, just drive normally. to be honest, the car wont be fully broken in for another 20k miles and thats when you see the most power and gas mileage. rapid acceleration is basically flooring the gas pedal and revving to redline.

 
Rep Power: 277

The break in period is more for the mechanics of seating the rings and other internals properly so that you get good even lubrication and a properly running engine. If you didn't bag on it then I wouldn't be worried. As for the gas mileage, that's the way the ECU learns your driving style so if you're going to be driving it differently in the future than you did in the first 600 miles, then just disconnect the battery and reset the ECU. It'll learn your driving style all over again.