what do you guys think is the best way to do it? i hear that the first startup and the first few minutes a brand new engine is pretty critical. some say that i should disconnect my wastegate so i can't get any boost, others say just leave it the way it is. what about engine oil? should i just dump in the good old Synthetic 15W-50 Mobil 1 in?

as for after the first few minutes, i've heard a few different things like "i took it to redline within the first 10 miles" and "don't go over 3000 rpm's for a few hundred miles" and stuff like that... just trying to get a general consesus.

2016 WRX STi Limited (current)
2001 A4 1.8tqms (donated)
1991 GVR4 #1933 (sold)
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Using natural oil is better because it absorbs into the metal better.

Do a quick search on this topic.. I typed in "breaking in engine" and found alot of interesting posts.

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do NOT use synthetic..period. you need a little bit of friction between the cylinder walls and the rings to let them seat well. start your car up, let it get to operating temp. go for a drive on a long straight road, with as little curves as possible. get in 3rd gear, and accelerate from 30-55mph fairly quickly, putting load on the engine being the main purpose, once you get to 55mph, let off the gas, and let the car slow itself back down to 30mph. do this a bunch, maybe 11-15 times. you are seating the rings. shut the car off and allow it to cool all the way back down. start it up, let it warm to operating temp, shut it off again. now, you are free to drive your car . be easy the first 500 miles. change the oil, and then drive it normally. dont beat the shit out of it just yet, but a few good 3rd gear pulls here and there will do it good. at 1500k miles, change the oil again, NO synthetic yet, and consider the thing broken in. i wouldnt use synthetic util about 4k miles are on the engine, but thats my opinion. some people will tell you to start the car the first time, then immediately beat the shit out of it. this works for top fuel cars and dragsters, but they rebuild every time down the track just about. ive built about 15 420A engines(or been a part of the rebuild, i should say) including two of my own, and have never had problems eith this method. you wanna be SURE to get the rings seated properly though, if they arent, the engine will always smoke a little and there isnt much you can do about it other than replace the rings again.

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440's

Good post man... that is EXACTLY how to break in an engine. Follow those directions explicitly and your rings will seat perfectly. Don't baby the engine, the rings will not seat properly.

That's almost exactly how I'm breaking in mine too.

Kaiser and myself are doing an unscientific test on the two methodologies. He's taking it fairly easy, not slamming on the engine or anything. I'm doing the opposite- I took mine to redline the first 10 miles, been revving up and down all over the place. I disconnected my wastegate, Kaiser didn't, he's just being careful not to boost at all. Had mine up to 80mph so far just to make sure.

We're both using cheap Chevron oil (me 10W-30, him 10W-40), both have the same turbokit, same howell rebuild kit (je+totalseals), rings gapped within ~.004 of identical, same auto tranny, same motor obviously. I'll post who gets less blowby and better compression when we're done breaking in.

I've gotten NO blowby and no smoke at all yet, going on 600 miles, and driving to work every day.

Awesome! Keep us posted on that! Maybe do a nice write-up for people doing rebuilds in the future.