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What is the purpose of break in? I have and been told everything from "There is no break in. It's a Porsche. Warranty doesnt change. Just drive it!" Quote from my SA.
To 500 miles, 1000 miles, 2000 miles.
On my Macan S i waited 500 miles until my first launch control. I have 41 miles on my Spyder and eying 500 miles for break in. What is the reason for the break in, in 2021? After all the first service isnt until 10,000 miles.
What are you thoughts and experience on break in? how many miles do you support for break in? Specifically for GT4's and Spyders.
there are already a LOT of threads here on this topic ... I believe the general theory/motivation is to "bed in" the moving parts of the engine to ensure that they are properly seated/sealed...
I personally do not "break-in" I just watch my rpms with cold engine oil ... YMMV
And I hate the term "Break-in". Run-In is a much more appropriate phrase IMHO. I'm a fan of the progressive procedures when you limit yourself to peak RPM's based on where you are in the sequence but otherwise drive it normally aside from not letting it sit at any one RPM for an extended period of time. For me Normal operating also means waiting until it's reached operating temperature before it's driven in anger.
I'm at 750 miles and pretty much drive it normally but keep it well south of the rev limiter. @1000 miles I'll change the oil and filter then drive it like I stole it.
0-500 miles slow and under 4-5k rpms and vary revs on freeway, 501-1000 lil bit faster up to 6-7k rpms still varying the speed and rev range, 1001+ good to go to 8k. I think this works. Thats basically what AP had to say in another thread. If PDK stay in manual mode to avoid sudden jumps in revs. Looking back after about 400-500 miles it was more for me getting used to the car than the car mechanically.... now at 2,000 miles Im beating the crap outta the car and she loves it! The GT4/Spyder do not seem happy at all puttering around.
0-500 miles slow and under 4-5k rpms and vary revs on freeway, 501-1000 lil bit faster up to 6-7k rpms still varying the speed and rev range, 1001+ good to go to 8k. I think this works. Thats basically what AP had to say in another thread. If PDK stay in manual mode to avoid sudden jumps in revs. Looking back after about 400-500 miles it was more for me getting used to the car than the car mechanically.... now at 2,000 miles Im beating the crap outta the car and she loves it! The GT4/Spyder do not seem happy at all puttering around.
That's the exact "Break In" regimen that I subscribe to to all of my cars that I have owned. No oil leakage/consumption noted on any of those cars. No CELs or engine warranty issues.
0-500 miles slow and under 4-5k rpms and vary revs on freeway, 501-1000 lil bit faster up to 6-7k rpms still varying the speed and rev range, 1001+ good to go to 8k.
+1. This is pretty much the sched I followed. Car is fine (from what I remember...has been a few months since I started it up!)
Yes another one of these threads. For anyone new to the matter. This is what Boss Man Andres Prueninger recommends. You can listen to a SA who really doesn't know anything about the matter, be unecessarily hyper conservative, or listen to the man who has been in charge of building these cars for over two decades. Who's opinion do you want to trust. This card is in my center console to remind me how high I can rev the car. Just hit 7,000 rpm. Looking forward to the full 8,000 here real soon.
Last edited by lovetoturn; 03-12-2021 at 07:37 PM.
Always a hot topic with these cars. I will be picking my Cayman GTS in Atlanta in a couple of months and plan on following the published guidance (<4,000 rpm for 2,000 miles) and it is supported with good source information in this article: https://yel.pca.org/porsche-engine-break-in/
If you think carefully, this makes no scientific sense whatsoever. Porsche specifies the same break-in for every engine it builds and every engine it has built in modern memory. Furthermore, a break-in based on miles driven says nothing for how many revolutions the engine has actually made in that time. 2000 miles at 2000 rpm is the same engine break in as 1000 miles at 4000 rpm. So which is it?
I am 55 years old and have been an avid car enthusiast my whole life. I have owned many performance cars, some very highly modded, and 5 Porsches. I have NEVER done this kind of ridiculous break in and have never had any problem whatsoever. Progressively increase your rpms for about the first 800 miles. Then do whatever you want. Do vary the rpms a lot. The recommendations from Porsche as stated in the manual are purely a corporate/legal party line.
The main purpose of the factory break-in guidelines is to give armchair quarterbacks something to argue about on the internet while they are looking at their car instead of driving it. Don't want it dirty, don't want to damage the ppf, don't want to add miles, don't want brake dust, don't want creases in the seat, don't want to chip the windshield, don't want wear on the floormats, so I'll argue on the web instead.
Don't forget also to wear a condom when you drive so you don't "spill" on the seats from the orgasmic driving experience.
Yes another one of these threads. For anyone new to the matter. This is what Boss Man Andres Prueninger recommends. You can listen to a SA who really doesn't know anything about the matter, be unecessarily hyper conservative, or listen to the man who has been in charge of building these cars for over two decades. Who's opinion do you want to trust. This card is in my center console to remind me how high I can rev the car. Just hit 7,000 rpm. Looking forward to the full 8,000 here real soon.
By the book. Under 4000 rpms until 2000 miles. Did a track day after getting over that 2000 mile mark, but short shifted, no redlining. Then had oil and tranny fluids changed after my track day. At 7000 miles now and not an ounce of oil burned since.
Honestly, I rarely tap 6000, So if your burning oil consider your use against that.
By the book. Under 4000 rpms until 2000 miles. Did a track day after getting over that 2000 mile mark, but short shifted, no redlining. Then had oil and tranny fluids changed after my track day. At 7000 miles now and not an ounce of oil burned since.
Honestly, I rarely tap 6000, So if your burning oil consider your use against that.
Cheers.
Please explain to me how 2000 miles at 2000 rpm or 1333 miles at 3000 rpm or 1000 miles at 4000 rpm are any different in terms of engine break-in. Why do people keep insisting that any break-in recipe based solely on miles driven makes sense?
a lot of Porsche cars/SUV other than GT cars get test driven on multiple occasions before sale. A lot of people and SA push these cars hard during these test drives even without proper warm up of engine.
Just two recent examples at two different dealers. Most dealers need SA to drive the car of the lot
and on both occasions the SA did LC immediately after leaving the lot before handing me the keys . I was checking Panamera T and I did not ask for that
so bottom line this happens a lot repeatedly
and we have not heard a lot of chatter that a lot of engines are failing on these cars
so to me 2000 miles break in is way excessive ,
but everyone does what they are comfortable with
There was a long paper on one of these threads by a Porsche engineer talking about the reason for 2,000 miles under 4K RPM's. He said it was to allow the moving parts to bed in without excessive heat caused by higher RPM's.
My Spyder runs hotter when driven gently however (i.e. under 4k RPM's) and the additional radiator only kicks in when you push the engine so there goes that theory, at least with this car.
Last edited by clutchplate; 03-13-2021 at 11:30 AM.
Its just what I chose to do and my experience since @VVG . @dnimi123 above gives a good outline and suggestions. There are lots of threads in here on this. Find something you feel makes sense and go with it.
Please explain to me how 2000 miles at 2000 rpm or 1333 miles at 3000 rpm or 1000 miles at 4000 rpm are any different in terms of engine break-in. Why do people keep insisting that any break-in recipe based solely on miles driven makes sense?
Higher RPMs create more frictional heat in surfaces that haven't been fully burnished, and that can cause damage to the faster-spinning engine components like camshafts before they're fully burnished. As with all general guidelines, the authors make big assumptions about the average speed and gear choice that's used. That can then translate into average RPMs, and they can then figure out how many RPMs it takes for all the parts to wear-in. Add some corporate general counsel input, and you end up with the recommendation in the owner's manual for a certain number of miles for a "break in" period.
03-12-2021, 01:12 PM
