was thinking about some merch like a shirt or mug that is FF centric for our Dark Horses 

Since a lot of my miles tend to end up being highway miles, there were quite a few times within the 1000 mile break in period where the cruise was set and RPM's maintained a fairly consistent number for up to 100 miles at a time.  There were, of course, also a few hard pulls where the engine was run all the way up to 7k, followed by an aggressive shift, for a gear or three while I was getting acquainted with the 'no lift shift' feature.

The car now has nearly 7k miles on it and I have experienced no ill effects or what I would consider to be excessive oil consumption.

Back in the day there were basically two different schools of thought when it came to break-in.  Some people said you should take it easy for the first 1000 miles or so, essentially following the manufacturers recommendations; while others said you should 'drive it like you stole it', claiming it would be a faster motor than one broken in conventionally.  The biggest thing I was always told was to avoid full synthetic oils for the first couple of thousand miles or you'll never get the rings to fully seat.

THE FIRST 1,000 MILES (1,600 km)

Ford asks you to take it easy in this window:

- No sustained high speeds, no heavy braking, no aggressive shifting, and no towing.

- Cover at least ~100 miles before any wide-open-throttle pulls.

- Vary your speed and RPM — don't sit at one steady rpm for long stretches. That's also why Ford suggests skipping cruise control during break-in.

- Go easy on the brakes and clutch (manual cars) where you can.

- The car may feel slightly "off" or show minor odd characteristics early on. That's normal and tends to settle.

TIRES

New tires have their own break-in of roughly the first 300 miles. Grip and feel change as the release agent wears off the surface, so leave extra margin until then.

BRAKES

Fresh pads and rotors benefit from a gentle bed-in — a series of moderate stops rather than one hard panic stop — before any track or spirited driving. Headed to a track day soon? Look up a proper bed-in procedure for your specific pad compound.

OIL & FIRST SERVICE

- Spec: Motorcraft full synthetic SAE 5W-30 (Ford lists 0W-30 for extreme-cold climates).

- Capacity: around 10 quarts on the 5.0 Coyote — confirm the exact figure for YOUR model year in your manual, as it has varied slightly year to year.

- Filter: Motorcraft FL-500S.

- Interval: follow the Intelligent Oil-Life Monitor / your manual. Many owners also choose an early "break-in" oil change to clear initial assembly debris — that's a personal-preference call, not a Ford requirement, so don't let it lapse your scheduled maintenance.

A FEW NOTES

- Always defer to your owner's manual and your selling dealer for anything warranty- or safety-related. Printed specs can vary by model year and market.

- Already done your break-in? Drop a reply with how the car felt over those first miles and when you did your first oil change. Good data for the next new owner.

Take it easy for the first 1,000 — then go enjoy what this car was built to do.

This forum is brand new, so let's build it into something genuinely useful. Two asks:

1) If you're having an issue, post it. The more detail, the faster you'll get a real answer. A simple template that works:

- Model year & mileage

- What's happening (the symptom)

- When it happens (cold start, highway, hard braking, etc.)

- Any warning lights or stored codes

- What you've already tried

- Anything your dealer said, plus any TSB or recall numbers you have

2) If you've already solved something, post the fix anyway. Your five-minute write-up becomes the answer the next owner finds on Google at 11pm.

One note: owner advice here is shared experience, not official guidance. For anything safety- or warranty-related, follow Ford and your dealer first.

Post away — let's make this the first place a Dark Horse owner looks when something isn't right.

• revised piston ring and cylinder finish strategies to reduce the oil-consumption complaints some 2021–2024 owners had
• quieter cold-start behavior and improved cam-phaser control
• ECU/transmission calibration tweaks that shift more torque lower in the RPM band
• small oiling-system refinements
• transmission logic changes for the 10R80 auto
• smoother midrange torque delivery around 2500–3500 rpm
• revised shift schedules
• less startup valvetrain noise
• fewer complaints about oil use compared to earlier Gen-4s

Again just rumor but what I have been seeing

I was wondering if anybody heard or knew further details on what that was about.

I was glad to find this forum as a resource of easing into and learning about owning this car.

I currently own a C7 Corvette and absolutely love the car but wanted to own a manual transmission sports car again that has the feel with a little more bias towards a muscle car.

I look forward to reading your contributions.