My own personal Lotus lust will likely go unsatisfied for another year or longer. This story is about someone else...

My brother lives in another state. His boss/buddy has a new Elise. Not to pass judgement, but he seems somewhat out-of-the-know (Didn't know what LSS option was and didn't know he had it - for example). Brother calls a few days ago to say he got a ride in the Elise. Tells me how cool it sounds and the punch when the rpms hit 6,500. He also mentions that the car has 800 miles on the clock.

Now I haven't been hovering around these forums for a while, but I seem to remember something about dealers checking max rpm from an ECU download at the first service and that you could void your warranty if break-in wasn't followed properly. Is that the case, and did this guy hose his warranty?

-Ben ask him if he would like to trade his wheels for my "touring" wheels . I'll pay shipping..

ohh and the ecu dump, yes they print out how you drive.. as for warranty I've been told it only comes up if you have a problem later on down the road... Before 1000 mile service, occassional blips above 6,500 are not necessarily evil, so long as the car is warmed up and he doesn't readline it, so I have been told. Another thing that is discouraged is gasing it then dropping the clutch from a standstill.

I agree, it's mainly an issue only if warranty work is required later on.

Your friend will definately void the warranty if he does not get the ECU printout, so I think it's better to tell him to go easy now and get the service done at 1000 miles. As I recall, once you get past 600 miles, the driving recommendations in the manual are a little more liberal, but I think that you were supposed to hold off on flogging it until after the first servicing (1000-1500 miles). Taking the engine to redline is permissible during the late stages of break-in if done briefly and in moderation. The critical thing they will look for at the 1k dump is whether or not the car was launched hard from a standing start. From the manual:

Engine Break-In
Although the Elise powertrain is built to close tolerances
using modern technology, the progressive and sympathetic
breaking-in (or bedding-in) of a new engine and transmission
remains a major factor in attaining efficient operation with
smooth, durable and economic performance to last throughout
the life of the car.
NOTICE: Failure to comply with the following break-in provisions
could invalidate the terms of the car warranty:
It is important during the car’s early life to limit the workload on
the engine and thus control the heat generated within it, which is
primarily a function of throttle opening and rpm. However, being
too sympathetic on the car will not allow the piston rings to bed in
satisfactorily, so a balance of spirited and gentle use is required.
For the first 600 miles (1,000 km), use no more than moderate
throttle openings (about half of the available accelerator pedal
travel) and do not run the engine continuously at engine speeds
over 4,500 rpm. Occasional short bursts at wider throttle and
higher rpm will be beneficial, as will a constantly changing cruising
speed and making full use of the gearbox. Do not allow the
engine to labour in too high a gear ratio, but change down and
let the engine operate in its natural power band.
When changing gear, use only a light touch on the gear lever.
Forcing the change will cause unnecessary wear on the system
components and result in higher shift efforts being required. Allow
the brakes to bed-in by avoiding needless heavy braking for
the first 100 miles (160 km). Both gearchange and brake pedal
efforts are likely to reduce during the break-in process.
After 600 miles (1,000 km) have been covered, full throttle
and/or maximum rpm may be used for short periods, but not
until the first ‘After Sales’ service has been carried out should
full car performance be exploited.
Note that various operating parameters are continuously
monitored and recorded in the engine electronic controller. This
data may be downloaded by Lotus dealers on demand to assist
fault diagnosis and identify vehicle misuse.
Tires: New tires also require a short ‘break-in’ period before
providing optimum grip. my "touring" wheels .

Sorry, had to do it, even if it was in jest... it's funny... i was trying to search for something like this earlier today... i don't have an elise so dont' have a manual and someone mentioned that the instructions for the break in process was in there... after reading it... i think i'm even more confused...

"For the first 600 miles (1,000 km), use no more than moderate
throttle openings (about half of the available accelerator pedal
travel) and do not run the engine continuously at engine speeds
over 4,500 rpm. Occasional short bursts at wider throttle and
higher rpm will be beneficial, as will a constantly changing cruising
speed and making full use of the gearbox. "

is this saying that you shouldn't step on the pedal to the metal... no more than half throttle...

how do you do a short burst?

how fast will the elise be going at 4500rpm in 6th gear?

what if you wanna take a road trip to help the break in process along... what should you do and avoid...?

i'm all freakin out as you can see... i don't have an Elise so don't' have a manual
You might want to check


is this saying that you shouldn't step on the pedal to the metal... no more than half throttle...

how do you do a short burst?

how fast will the Elise be going at 4500rpm in 6th gear?

what if you wanna take a road trip to help the break in process along... what should you do and avoid...? Yep, you shouldn't "pedal to the metal" all the time. Basically don't abuse the car. Take it easy at first, and gradually increase the revs and load on things.

Maintain light to moderate throttle for the first 600 miles or so and keep the revs down below 4,000 - Don't do drag race starts, and keep it planted all the time. Drive it like you are a teenager and your mother is in the passenger seat (unless your mother is a speed freak like my mother was).

It's okay, to rev it up onto the cams (above 6,200 RPM) , or near red line - occasionally. Not all the time. And avoid doing it at full throttle.

The idea is to not put things under too much load. But don't put it under too little load either. Vary it a lot. Start out gently, and as the mileage increases, ask a bit more of the engine. But don't abuse it.

If you are going to take it on a road trip to break it in (several have done just that), try to avoid the interstates. Try to drive a various speeds. go through town where you will actually encounter stop signs and red lights.

DO NOT maintain a steady speed and/or RPM for long periods of time. I may drive my Honda cross country with the cruise control set, but that is not the way to break in the Elise (or even the Honda).

When I brought my car home from the dealer, I had to drive maybe 30 miles on the interstate. Even then, I varied the speed. I didn't drive in the fast lane, but one of the slower ones where I could slow down and speed up. Even then, I would shift up and down the gears - driving along at 60, in one gear, then shift down a gear and do the same speed. Slow down. Shift up. Speed up, Shift down... You get the idea. I put the rest of the miles on by taking Saturday morning drives on the back roads into the country side...

Just don't abuse it. What Lotus looks for in the 1,000 miles data dump is things like standing starts (max throttle, dump the clutch), and the amount of time the engine has spent at each RPM range. And the amount of time the throttle was in each RPM range. It's all recorded by the ECU. If they see 35 hours on the engine, and 27 of those hours was above 4,000 RPM and/or at or above 80% throttle (these numbers are just guesstimates grabbed out of thin air), then it may be considered abused. If however, you spent 10 minutes of the 35 hours above 6,000 RPM, you probably just did "short bursts" and broke the engine in properly.

One warning however. Once you get "on the cams" a few times, it's hard to resist doing it all the time... Thanks for the great info guys! I'm glad to hear they didn't do anything wrong. My brother was very impressed with the car. He knows how bad I want one and made a point to critique everything since I haven't driven one yet. He said the build quality is very high and the car feels more solid that he expected. He expected it to feel a bit flimsy (light doors, squeeky pannels, etc.) but he said it feels as solid as my M3. I hope you guys are enjoying your cars. Thanks again.
-Ben You might want to check


Yep, you shouldn't "pedal to the metal" all the time. Basically don't abuse the car. Take it easy at first, and gradually increase the revs and load on things.

Maintain light to moderate throttle for the first 600 miles or so and keep the revs down below 4,000 - Don't do drag race starts, and keep it planted all the time. Drive it like you are a teenager and your mother is in the passenger seat (unless your mother is a speed freak like my mother was).

It's okay, to rev it up onto the cams (above 6,200 RPM) , or near red line - occasionally. Not all the time. And avoid doing it at full throttle.

The idea is to not put things under too much load. But don't put it under too little load either. Vary it a lot. Start out gently, and as the mileage increases, ask a bit more of the engine. But don't abuse it.

If you are going to take it on a road trip to break it in (several have done just that), try to avoid the interstates. Try to drive a various speeds. go through town where you will actually encounter stop signs and red lights.

DO NOT maintain a steady speed and/or RPM for long periods of time. I may drive my Honda cross country with the cruise control set, but that is not the way to break in the Elise (or even the Honda).

When I brought my car home from the dealer, I had to drive maybe 30 miles on the interstate. Even then, I varied the speed. I didn't drive in the fast lane, but one of the slower ones where I could slow down and speed up. Even then, I would shift up and down the gears - driving along at 60, in one gear, then shift down a gear and do the same speed. Slow down. Shift up. Speed up, Shift down... You get the idea. I put the rest of the miles on by taking Saturday morning drives on the back roads into the country side...

Just don't abuse it. What Lotus looks for in the 1,000 miles data dump is things like standing starts (max throttle, dump the clutch), and the amount of time the engine has spent at each RPM range. And the amount of time the throttle was in each RPM range. It's all recorded by the ECU. If they see 35 hours on the engine, and 27 of those hours was above 4,000 RPM and/or at or above 80% throttle (these numbers are just guesstimates grabbed out of thin air), then it may be considered abused. If however, you spent 10 minutes of the 35 hours above 6,000 RPM, you probably just did "short bursts" and broke the engine in properly.

One warning however. Once you get "on the cams" a few times, it's hard to resist doing it all the time...
omg... that is some hardcore stuff... a lot to think about while taking a drive... i live in dallas and i plan to either take a trip to austin (NATIONAL CHAMPS!!) and maybe san antonio and houston to visit friends and also get to break in the car... but how am i supposed to avoid interstate 35 when it goes right to austin?... it's like 200+ miles...

shift from 5th to 6th to 5th every now and then... try not to go over 4000-4500rpm... don't cruise at the same speed... meaning i shouldn't go 80 the whole way... 60, 65, 70, 75, etc... don't worry... the numbers won't keep going up

so with this in mind... how would i go about taking this trip... ? i appreciate all the help...

oh yeah... and i'm assuming the break in process should be the same for the exige as it is for the elise...

what does "When changing gear, use only a light touch on the gear lever" mean...? a light touch... let's say you're changing from 1st to 2nd... is this saying to just gently shift it in? why would you shift it hard unless you're racing or something? what does "When changing gear, use only a light touch on the gear lever" mean...?
The way it was explained to me, use just two fingers to shift. omg... that is some hardcore stuff... a lot to think about while taking a drive... ...so with this in mind... how would i go about taking this trip... ?

This isn't really any different than the break-in process for any other car...it's just spelled out in more technical terms.

what does "When changing gear, use only a light touch on the gear lever" mean...? a light touch... let's say you're changing from 1st to 2nd... is this saying to just gently shift it in? why would you shift it hard unless you're racing or something?
Their point exactly. They're just trying to avoid working the synchros too hard until they get broken in.

Break-in isn't anything to freak out about, just drive it with respect adding some aggressiveness as the miles build up. The way it was explained to me, use just two fingers to shift. You can always just stick your left foot out and let it rub the
ground as you drive, ah la Fred Flintstone. The only real
downside would be having to re-sole the shoe frequently. The way it was explained to me, use just two fingers to shift.
really??? using the V for victory... push it forward... and then make a hook and pull it to 2nd... and then push it diagonally to 3rd... i guess i am freaking out too much... but this is my first really nice car... so i'm a little nervous No where in the manual it states not to go over 4000 rpms, it mentions not to maintain rpm's over 4500 for a long period of time (i.e. highway), occasional bursts of wide open throttle and higher rpms are actually beneficial.

Read the thing and don't worry too much about it. It asks to have a balance between gentle and spirited driving.

I would avoid long highway trips at the begining, what I did on mine I drove around town and back roads with some highways in between as well on the 1st weekend. It's amazing how fast you can put miles on it.

One thing, take off your wallet from your back pocket and do regular stops to strech your legs and drink water.

Now well a year after that I don't think my driving style now will void the warranty either because I still drive spirited at times but gently as well. The only difference is that before the 1st 600 miles I didn't get on the high cams too often and only for short bursts.

I guess I'm trying to say not to sweat it that much. omg... that is some hardcore stuff... a lot to think about while taking a drive... i live in dallas and i plan to either take a trip to austin (NATIONAL CHAMPS!!) and maybe san antonio and houston to visit friends and also get to break in the car... but how am i supposed to avoid interstate 35 when it goes right to austin?... it's like 200+ miles...
That's easy - take backroads. Sure, your trip will be longer in both distance and time, but what will you miss? One of the most boring drives in the state.

I figure I'll be ready for first service by the time I make it back from Austin. Most of my driving will be on roads prefaced by 'FM.'
really??? using the V for victory... push it forward... and then make a hook and pull it to 2nd...
Literally yes. The point is, if you're not pistol gripp'n the stick, you're more likely to be gently. Don't freak out about it, but be aware of it until the break-in period is over.