I'd stay on the main road and not give it
a second thought.

We've never really worried about break in
other than being meticulous about the first
couple oil changes.  Moderately hard running
should seat the rings better than babying
it.

The last new car we bought was my wife's WRX.
Since it had been on the lot as a demo for
a couple hundred miles, we can only guess
how it had been driven (:

AFAIK the procedure continues to be the same.

I would jump on the interstate but would change the speed up and down
from the 40 or so interstate minimun speed all the way to 70 or so,
avoiding a constant speed.

I continue to think that the initial 1000 miles are critical for all
components, including pistons, bearings, rings, cylinder, transmission,
etc etc., so I would baby it as specified in the owners manual.  The
surfaces of all materials that slide over something else will be lapped
during the break in period.

Congrats on your new car

Good luck

Short and sweet;

I understand some people's dislike of ABS, so I leave that to you.

I used to be involved in car crash testing and structural integrity.

In an accident with another car or object, there are two collisions, the "primary" collision
and the "secondary" collision.

In the primary collision, there is usually no damage to the occupants of the car
(there are exceptions of course like legs being crushed, etc.). But in most accidents,
it is the secondary collision which causes most personal damage or death.

Secondary collision is when the occupants of the vehicle continue moving forward
at the same speed the car was traveling before the car was slowed down or
stopped by the collision and smash into the part of the car in front of them inside
the car. The dashboard, the windshield, even the seat belts.

Seat belts help, but if you imagine being held in the air suspended by your seat
belts with you facing downwards, imagine how your body would start to feel and
sustain damage when your weight is multiplied by 10 to over 40 times. At a
deceleration at 10G's (10 times your weight), a 175 pound person feels like
they have almost 1600 pounds crushing them into the seat belts. At a higher
speed collision producing 40G's, the force is almost 7000 pounds against
the belts. Not a healthy situation.

One of the men in our company was in an accident which was later computed
to have produced almost 50G's. He had his seat belts on and sustained, among
other things, 2 completely crushed and broken hips from the seat belts.

Air bags work because they provide a barrier between the car interior and your
body and they spread the impact forces over a larger area of your body, rather
than just the contacts points of a seatbelt.

If you total your car because of the air bag costs, then at least they probably
saved you or a passenger from being seriously harmed or even "totalled".

Before disconnecting the air bags, consider that you may have passenger(s) or
have loaned the car to another person when an accident might occur. You are
making a choice about their safety as well as yours.

If you have an accident, you don't have to install new air bags (as far as I
know, legally?) and then you can decide what to do with the car. Just please
don't sell it to someone else without their knowing that the air bags have
been blown.

Just my two cents worth,

The Ole Factory Rep (not Subaru)

P.S. I won't even go into the story of an acquaintance down in the South who
said, when seat belts became mandatory, "I'd rather be thrown clear" (of the car
in an accident). I think they are still looking for his body<g>.

On 23 Aug, 18:28, hound...@phonom.net wrote:

Bought the 2.5i 5M wagon yesterday but not 120mi away. Hadn't driven
one on a highway, so wanted to before I paid. Had it out for about 2
hrs, driving on all kind of roads and speeds. Pushed it a little at
times. Too much happening to watch the revs. Car had the armrest
console that Had to go, unless I wanted to rest my arm on it, and
shift the 5sp with my wrist. Opened the lid which helped a little, and
then saw the whole thing tilted back, so tilted it.. Will take some
time getting used to visability restrictions. Back seat head rests
blocked some view, so seat backs have to go down.

Brake pedal was soft, and clutch grabbed low. The clutch pedal saftey
switch was annoying, since the pedal had to be depressed all the way.
The clutch grabbed abruptly sometimes, and wondered if the AWD had
something to do with it? Haven't driven a manual in 25yrs, but it
doesn't take long to remember. I didn't notice the pedals working the
same, in 2 others I tested about 7 weeks ago.  the brake pedal was
soft, and a tech in the showrrom said ABS is like that... If they tell
me they All work like that, I'm gona ask to drive another one. The
dealer still has it to check the items.

VF