Quick question here for you all to see what you guys think. The HHR is my first new vehicle and I still haven't broken 7,000km's yet. I was thinking about my driving habits with the HHR vs. with my previously owned used vehicles and the difference is night and day. Where before I would gun my car on highway on-ramps and generally get up to speed quickly everywhere I drove I find that with the HHR I drive it in a smooth and steady (albeit slower) speed. Heck, my RPM's have rarely broken 3,000-3,500 as far as I can remember.

Apart from the obvious fun factor, am I harming the HHR by driving it this way? I appreciate your thoughts on this. Thanks!

 

I think that is called maturity

 

1.You can safely accellerate now up to redline.
2.You will seat your rings better by putting the engine under a load once in a while.
3.Why wait for warranty to expire before driving like you stole it?

 

and he could change his name for JDGOODBOY now

 

I gotta admit, my driving hadits have changed too in regard to my HHR. I seem now to be perfectly content driving at 100kms on the highway . Mind you I've got my 1970 Chevelle SS collecting dust in the garage to get my speed fix. Yea getting older is probably the reason, but its hard to admit it

 

The mileage window for seating the rings is very narrow-- usually the first 600 miles. It is not high rpms that seats the rings it is high, preferably maximum, cylinder pressure that does it. You can only develop maximum cylinder pressure by strong hard acceleration runs. However, @ less than 600miles you should keep rpm at or below 75% of tachometer redline. Jack rabbit launches without wheel spin putting foot into it hard and let off at 75% of tachometer redline. Plenty of these the first 600 miles and the piston rings tend to seat optimally, which should pay off in maximum power and minimum oil consumption for the life of the engine.

If the rings aren't seated optimally within the first 600 miles they probably never will be (optimally).

Of course there is always the position that the current state of the art engine manufacturing processes produce such close tolerances that new engine break-in is no longer needed or at least should not be considered in the same light as it used to be.

Take your pick.

I performed the "whip schedule" (credit to Snoopy for that term) outlined in paragraph 1 on Cobbs and on the wife's 2005 turbo-diesel Volkswagen TDI and they both run strong and oil consumption is none to minimal (although it is early in Cobbs' mileage to talk about oil consumption, the oil level has not noticeably moved on the dipstick from 1000 miles <first oil change> to current 3300 miles). The TDI gets 10,000 mile oil change intervals and maybe uses 1/4 quart during that interval.

 

I don't think you can hurt the car by going easy on it.

You will notice that fuel consumption should be lower when you go easy on it.

As a side note, it seems that the HHR is very content cruising at 100 to 110km/hour. On a recent trip from Calgary to Saskatoon to help my brother move I was using, just under or, right around 8L/100km. The next day on the drive from Saskatoon to Regina I was using 9L/100km at about 125 to 130km/hour.

 

It's nice when a topic is being discussed by fellow Canadian owners becuase they actually understand the numbers without having to convert!

 

 

Nah. I do the same. I always drive my cars like limos. If I wanted neck breaking acceleration this is not the car I would buy LOL. It has enough to get to speed. Your engine and associated parts will last a lot longer if you don't stress them at every light. I am meticulous about driving and maintenance.

Not so much about the outside. I run it through the car wash once a month and will have it detailed once a year. Trying to keep a car or bike looking like I just came from the dealer or on the way to a car show is too time consuming and I don't need the anxiety or worry about seeing a swirl or a door ding.

It's black. Therefore dirty. LOL But its functional and gets great fuel economy.