I looked through the Prius owners manual, and can't find any reference to a needed "engine break-in" period. Previous new cars I've owned have all recommended not driving at or above certain speeds for prolonged periods, stuff like that. Any need on the Prius?
welcome! tough to do unless your on the highway. at highway speeds, i would keep it at or below the speed limit if at all possible and try to vary the speed a bit as your driving the first 500 miles. don't know if it's totally necessary tho, the engine tends to do it's own thang. all the best!
500 miles is a good number. Just drive it normally and you'll be fine. Even with cruise control on your rpms will vary greatly. Hills, wind, and even gusts from other vehicles make the rpms jump around. I can't see how you would be able to keep a certain rpm for very long even if you tried. Brakes will take care of themselves. Don't do any high-speed-to-dead-stop,-repeat episodes and you should be alright.
The 2010 manual had 600 miles with instructions to limit speed and to try to vary speed and not run one speed for extended time. As Mr Incredible explains even with cruise the engine speed will vary so no problem.
Welcome to the Prius family. You have an incredible automobile and all the advise given so far is everything you need to know about breaking in the new engine. What is so amazing about this car is the minimal maintenance required and the small amount of fuel it uses. Just read this blog and you will learn everything you need to know about your new Prius. The knowledge base here is unbelievable. Good luck and happy motoring!
Take it steady for the first 1,000 miles. You'll find that it'll take until about 5,000 miles before the car is fully run/bedded in and you'll then start to get your best fuel economy. Enjoy your new, smooth ride.
With various Honda's we've had the manuals always suggested to avoid long periods at steady rpm when the car was new, for more even engine wear I guess. In practice (as mentioned above) this is very easy to achieve: with grade variations, intersections, traffic and so on. Also (and this applies after any brake job where the pads are replaced), try to avoid hard breaking for the first 100 miles or so, to allow the pads to "seat" better. I don't recall ever seeing a caution about max speed during break-in period. Abide by the posted limits and you'll be fine.
Prius 2012 manual page 181 under Breaking In Your New Toyota. I just got mine yesterday and being the geek that I am, have been reading through all the stuff.
Since you probably didn't buy a new Prius for the purpose of driving at extremely high speeds or accelerating suddenly, you'll be fine. (I think that "extremely high speeds" is defined as over 140km/h (over 85mph).) As with any car, the running-in period applies to the whole thing, not just the engine. There's tyres, brakes, steering, door hinges to settle in too. Take the first 1000km (600 miles) to learn about the car; take it easy and take your time.
