I had the same experience with the 981 GT4 in the first 4-5K miles....after that the oil consumption was gone.

 

I have never needed to add oil between annual oil changes in any of my Porsches, or any of my cars or trucks, for that matter. Would be very disappointing if this new 4.0 turns out to be an oil burner.

And, guys, change the oil after the first 1-2k mile break-in. Gets rid of all debris resulting from said BREAK-in inside.

 

718 Spyder with a little over 3000km, oil level was still green (and hence no alert on display) but when checked was about 500ml down. No evidence of leaking. Topped up by dealer for free without any comment that this is an issue.

 

Two things:

1. Changing the oil after break in isn't going to help in any real way. It is more a theoretical idea to get rid of "break-in debris". It will not increase engine longevity by any meaningful amount. The caveat here is if you have seriously tracked your car for any amount of time, you should change the oil more frequently than every 10,000 miles or every year.

2. Following the recommended break-in in the manual is the worst thing can you can do in terms of oil consumption, as this is not the proper way to get the piston rings to properly seal. The break-in recommendation in the manual is put forth by the legal department, is completely unscientific, and is the same for every single Porsche engine, all the way from a turbo-4 to the highest revving NA motor. There is actually a very good, engineering based break-in recommend by Andreas Preuninger that is somewhere on this website, if you want to do a search. It basically involves increasing the allowable maximum revs every few hundred miles. Even within the rev limits, you should be driving at the top of the rev range.

 

and do not forget your transmission oil and brake fluid...

 

What's the basis for this statement? Nothing theoretical about break-in debris. Stuff comes off as moving parts with varying imperfections bed themselves in against each other for the first time. No good reason to leave that debris sloshing around the engine for too long.

 

+1 - I dont see any harm in doing such an oil change, I did this for my GT3 as well as the transmission oil ... but then 1/2 of my breakin period was on the track!

 

I was going to do the "break-in" oil chnage for the engone my self, sort of bonding with the car...

Problem is locally I can't find a source for the C40 spec Mobil 1 (my only desired choice for oil)!

 

The basis of this statement is that in theory it makes sense, but in terms of real world performance and engine longevity, for the amount of miles most people will actually put on these cars, it doesn't truly matter. I am also basing it on the 18 cars I have owned, many high performance, some highly modded or tuned, in which I never did this and never had any issue whatsoever. There is a lot of theory (and some drama) with automotive performance that, in my experience, doesn't play out in reality.

 

Just looking to frame your reply, 18 cars, do you still own them, if yes how many miles on them now? Or of the cars you no longer have and did not change the oil early, how many miles before you sold them?

 

Then what's the filter for? Its down to microns. Just asking.
Personally I think the whole break-in oil change is obsolete. Maybe a couple of decades ago yea. And before you say it, yes its cheap insurance..lol

Mine will get a change just before it hibernates, just as due process. Every other new vehicle I've had ran the standard interval and I've had Audi's north of 300k km w/o issue.

 

I also advocate for any of you looking to store your car for the winter to get an oil change done before going into hibernation. I was surprised by how much debris there was from the manufacturing/break-in process.

 

That's a lot of info to compile and present. I have kept cars for anywhere from 13,000 miles to 135,000 miles and over a period of 37 years. I do not own them all now. We only keep 3 cars at one time. I have bought mostly new, and sold most with between 60-80k miles. Never changed the oil early on any car ever. Most were modified to a degree. Two had over $35,000 in mods. We currently have an Audi S3 with 87000 miles and running perfectly with nothing more than factory recommended maintenance. My Macan GTS has 30,000 miles with a Cobb tune and intake upgrades, also with only 10,000 mile oil changes and now my Spyder. The daily drivers have seen some real heavy duty use, including New England winters. I drive in a manner consistent with being an avid car enthusiast.

My Spyder will go into hibernation probably by mid-November with a little over 3000 miles. I will change the oil next spring when I take it out and start driving it again. This is what I have done on all my lower usage "toys" that don't see winter driving, and it has worked just fine for me. I prefer to do the oil change so that I have fresh oil before I start the driving season.

People can do what they want. I am just sharing my experience and letting people know that I have encountered no problems with my methods.

 

That assumes the engine needs to be broken-in

 

No, that assumes that the engine will be broken in, whether you follow the break in protocol or not. Imperfect moving parts rubbing against each other for the first time will experience some “smoothing” and “adjustment” as they bed themselves into a steady state for the long run.