Why no Sport Mode during 1,000 mile break-in?

[RSW]

Hi all. New member here. Was lucky and quickly was able to get an orphaned Emira, FE2.0, Nimbus, tan leather, V6, manual that was very close to the car I would have ordered. I've read the various threads about break-in period (not trying to re-hash all the pros and cons), but, unless I missed it, I didn't see any discussion of the reasoning for the "ban" on Sport Mode (and Track Mode) during the 1,000 mile break-in period. I guess I can understand Track Mode, as the manual states that mode should only be used for tracking in dry conditions, etc., but, since probably the majority of drivers would constantly be driving the car on the streets in Sport Mode, I'm wondering why Sport Mode wouldn't be allowed (or perhaps even preferred) during the period of solidifying and sealing up the car. Any thoughts on this? Are people "honoring" this? Thanks.

 

[EZcheezy]

the answer is it probably wont matter. if something horrible goes wrong Lotus will know you used sport or track mode, will it matter? probably not. will they refuse to honor the warranty? probably not.

I honored the no track mode rule, but I used exclusively sport while I was under 1000 miles.

 

[patrickramdial]

I literally switched in to sport mode leaving the dealership. Then read the same thing on facebook and on here about not using sport mode. I don't see why you wouldn't be able to use sport mode as long as you stay under the 4000rpm break in limit.

 

[scc.131.fe]

Nice job on the find, and welcome!

Someone made an earlier comment about this likely originating with a concern about the V6 Auto, in that Sport mode would increase the likelihood of spending more time above 4k (higher shift points in the programming). That's the only thing that made sense to me.

I used Sport for maybe 20% of break-in miles, but not doing snap-accelerations or anything stressfull, just casually rowing through the gears.

 

[Rapture]

There is no 4K rev limit during the break in period. You are just not supposed to have sustained higher revs. It's good for an engine to have variable revs during the break in period including some higher rpms.

 

[Sandalwood]

Hi all. New member here. Was lucky and quickly was able to get an orphaned Emira, FE2.0, Nimbus, tan leather, V6, manual that was very close to the car I would have ordered. I've read the various threads about break-in period (not trying to re-hash all the pros and cons), but, unless I missed it, I didn't see any discussion of the reasoning for the "ban" on Sport Mode (and Track Mode) during the 1,000 mile break-in period. I guess I can understand Track Mode, as the manual states that mode should only be used for tracking in dry conditions, etc., but, since probably the majority of drivers would constantly be driving the car on the streets in Sport Mode, I'm wondering why Sport Mode wouldn't be allowed (or perhaps even preferred) during the period of solidifying and sealing up the car. Any thoughts on this? Are people "honoring" this? Thanks.

I followed it to the letter, and did not hit sport mode until 1001 miles. It's probably silly, but I figured perhaps it had to do with fuel richness for the exhaust pop mapping or something similar and it would be better not to risk it if they went to the trouble of specifying it. So I did the "momentum car" driving style and belted around mountain roads at 3k rpm and up to 1.1G laterally (per the dash). That was a pretty difficult way to drive and required frequent shifting.

 

[Emira Fan]

Powertrain driving data is likely highly logged for key metrics. By running in Sport or Track while in the break-in period opens you to the risk of a warranty repair denial.
It's just a wallet decision, do it; if you can afford a powertrain repair outside warranty (some can others may not). There are several threads about break-in if you search for them