TT Gasman

When I picked up my Turbo the salesman told me, as told to him by PCNA techs, to break these cars in HARD. He told me the reps told him that Turbos and GT3s are using a much harder piston ring that requires a harder break in for proper sealing. He was suggesting that I run it hard and often otherwise the car will use oil. The factory suggestions are meant for the M96 based 997s which have a much "softer" piston ring.
Does this sound right? I mean these engines are run hard on the engine dyno at redline before they ever see the car. So I plan to take it easy for the first couple of hundred miles for the drivetrain, then continue with the hard break in.
Also the service intervals have changed to once a year oil change, which I do anyways.
Thoughts??

mastiffdog

I just followed the owner's manual and kept it at 4200 RPMS and under for the first 2000 miles. It is hard to do and you will exceed 4200 at times, but for the most part, I just followed the manual. My car is about 1 year this month and I have added about 2/3 of quart at various intervals over the entire year (2750 miles).

I just had the dealer perform an oil change. It was probably not necessary because the manual says 20000 miles, but after 1 year I thought it would be a good idea to change all of the fluids and filters.

AAHTT

Mine is turning one in a couple of weeks and I have close to 16k miles on it. I have broken it in pretty hard and have averaged 1 quart of oil per 2500 miles. The consumption was more during the first months and seemed to decrease afterwards. I also noticed that oil consumption depends a lot on your driving style. I changed the oil at around 10k miles and plan on doing it every so often.

LastMezger

Follow the manual...Porsche knows best.

phojes

I just got my Turbo last week (only 350 miles so far) and I've not been getting on it too hard yet e.g., I've been up to around 5000rpm a few times but I haven't gone near the red-line yet. It's not that I'm babying the car, it's just that I've never had such a powerful car before, so I am considering the early days/weeks to be "my break-in time", not "the car's break-in time".

I like that the Turbo has an oil temperature gauge. My previous Carrera only had a water temperature gauge. I had always assumed that things were warmed up fine when the water reached 180°F or so, and that's when I would drive harder. Now I wait for the oil to get up to 200°F before considering the car to be warmed up.

gmoney99

I prefer to change the oil yearly, I dont put many miles on my cars and Im not going to wait 4 yrs for the 20k oil change

As for break in, many people have their own opinion. On the Turbo or GT3 I would drive it normally from day one, occasional redline here and there and a full blast through a few gears each drive as safety and opportunity arises.

eclou

I scrubbed the tach to redline slowly a few times upon delivery and then let it engine brake. Took it to the track by 700 miles and it uses no oil on street driving, and perhaps half a quart on a track weekend.

Dr. G

Here's a question - if Porsche is so adamant about the break in process, why isn't there a program in tiptronic cars to limit rpms for the first 2000 miles? It seems like this would be a pretty simple program for the ECU.

eclou

The engines are run upon assembly for 25-30 minutes at full power in a test room. All motors produce at least 103% of rated power or they are torn down. They basically are already broken in at delivery

Carcam

I've posted this before since this question comes up a lot. I wish the Porsche engineers would comment specifically why the exact break-in is recommended then it would be easier to decide if we should follow it. Anyway, a good friend picked up his car in Stuttgart and was eating lunch in the staff cafeteria. He overheard some engineers and tech guys talking partially in English so asked them about the break-in. They laughed and looked at each other and wondered how much they should say. This was about the time when the 997 just came out. They said that their research showed that most adhere to the recommended break-in about half way. The 996's had a break-in of 1,000 miles so to get people to behave for 1,000 miles they recommend 2,000 miles now. It is true that the engines are well worked out on the bench before they get in the car but there are extra stresses on some critical parts under load in the car that will last longer if a conservative break-in is followed (at least for 1,000 miles). It's more than just rings seating and oil consumption. They all agreed that most importantly was getting the oil temp up before jumping on it, then not lagging the engine (lots of stress with too low a rpm), varying the rpm was important but only to the extent that one should not set the cruise and stay there, hitting the redline briefly after a few hundred miles after it's warm is harmless. It's hard to argue with science and engineering and there must be a reason for their recommended break-in. I can't tell you how many times I've been on demo rides where the salesman gives me a ride first and jumps on a cold car to redline right off the lot- not a car i want to buy even if the engine has been bench tested for 30 minutes. To each his own. If you flip cars every year or so- drive it like you stole it. If it's a keeper, I'd stick a little closer to what they want.

mastiffdog

Nice write up - I think you are on the money.

whyb2nd

I second that but still believe the first 500 mi. is for drive line components, brakes, steering etc. to break in with out stress. Plus giving a first time performance car owner a chance to learn the car rather then bend the car around a tree.

Gasman, I'm glad you started this thread...very much needed as you see.

eclou

When I picked up my GT3 in Stuttgart, the delivery specialist told me to take it easy for the first 600km. In Europe the same cars have a different break-in recommendation than the US. They are compensating for our driving styles apparently

TT Gasman

So I'm going to continue taking it fairly easy the first 500 miles, then continue to run it harder and harder (trying to keep it under 5000 rpm) the next 500 miles. After 1000 the break in will be complete and the training wheels can come off! This is about what I did with the 996 and it never used oil or had a major breakdown.

eclou

Doug, scratch the itch. Just do it