Alan C.

1/2 to 1 quart in 3000 miles.

kev718gts4.0

My dealer told me no need to break in the car what so ever lol. He even told me there's no need to change the oil until the first year service , I was like are you sure not even the oil? I know the break in period is debatable but the oil change, to my knowledge the oil definitely need to be changed after 2000-3000km when the car is brand new.

slilley

I'm in the middle of my engine break-in right now in my CGTS, so this topic is near and dear to my heart! First off, it's not like there's a magic switch that flips when the engine crosses 2,000 miles. If you do a lot of highway driving, 2,000 miles can come up quickly but I'd prefer to ensure lots of varied engine RPMs, which to me means lots of back-road driving.

That chart above from Andreas Preuninger, Director GT Model Line at Porsche, though widely distributed, is slightly inaccurate in my eyes. This is what he actually said: "I can only tell you how I personally do it, or how we do it at Weissach – for the first 500 kilometres or 300 miles, we don't drive that car car ever over 5000 rpm, never. From then on, every 200 kilometres, we up the rpms by 500, so we end up at 1300, 1400 kilometres at the threshold before we can really go full throttle, at 800 or 900 miles."

So...this is the accurate chart of what he said:

• Less than 300 miles: 5000 rpms
• Starting at 300 miles: 5500 rpms
• Starting at 420 miles: 6000 rpms
• Starting at 540 miles: 6500 rpms
• Starting at 660 miles: 7000 rpms
• Starting at 780 miles: 7500 rpms
• More than 900 miles: redline

slilley

Here's the break-in that I'm actually following:

• First 300 miles is critical.
• Don't use more than 50% throttle (i.e. don't floor it) (note, some disagreement here)
• Vary your road speed as much as possible
• Vary engine RPMs
• No highway driving; use all secondary and back roads if possible
• No cruise control
• Don't lug engine
• Always wait for engine to be fully warmed up before using more than 25% throttle or getting into upper RPM ranges
• Always disable engine start/stop, so that cylinder deactivation is disabled. It can be deactivated via the button, or automatically turns off in Sport and Sport Plus modes.

I wanted to be a little more conservative than what AP (Andreas Preuninger) said, so this was what I started using in my PDK-equipped Cayman GTS:

• <400 miles: 3500 rpms
• 400 miles: 4000 rpms
• 500 miles: 4500 rpms
• 600 miles: 5000 rpms
• 700 miles: 5500 rpms
• 800 miles: 6000 rpms
• 900 miles: 6500 rpms
• 1,000 miles: 7000 rpms
• 1,100 miles: 7500 rpms
• 1,200 miles: 7800 rpms (redline)

However, unless you control the PDK in manual mode or with the gearshift pedals, I've found that I primarily use the throttle to control shifting and RPMs (based on how much of the gas pedal I use...20%, 30%, 40%, etc.) So at this point, that chart above is what I'd be using if my car had a manual transmission or I was shifting gears manually. Since I don't find myself doing that with the PDK, I'm using a simplified version of the chart above:

• <400 miles: 3500 rpms
• 400 miles: 4000 rpms
• 600 miles: 5000 rpms
• 800 miles: 6000 rpms
• 1,000 miles: 7000 rpms
• 1,200 miles: 7800 rpms (redline)

I've graphed out the three options below so you can see them in comparison:

lowbee

If heat is the major concern then theoretically one can drive up to 7000 rpm a few minutes after cold start during break-in then drive below 4000 rpm after the engine has warmed up to operating temperature without any issues.....

I don't know what I will do but most likely follow the below with the occasion rev to 6K when the engine is warm (but not hot)

• Less than 300 miles: 5000 rpms
• Starting at 300 miles: 5500 rpms
• Starting at 420 miles: 6000 rpms
• Starting at 540 miles: 6500 rpms
• Starting at 660 miles: 7000 rpms
• Starting at 780 miles: 7500 rpms
• More than 900 miles: redline

Larry Cable

drove my GT3 from Stuttgart to the 'Ring and was doing 7k by Tiergarten - no issues either.

changed engine and tranny oil at 1st service.

Zhao

My problem with the KM limit is say you’re running an average of 2000rpms at an average of 100kph for 1000km… that is not the same as running an average of 3000 rpms at an average of 30kph for 1000km.

My engine time is at above 10 hours right now, and my mileage is just over 400 with each drive being about an hour. I could go put 1000km on it in 10 hours with less engine revolutions. By the time I hit 1000km I’ll be at 25-30 hours on the engine.

So my opinion is someone just picked some KM/mile limit that seemed good. The Canadian manual says 1875 miles (3000km) or 2000 miles (3200 km) so right there is a bit of proof of that I’d say. 2000 miles is obviously overkill.

lovetoturn

You definitely don't want to run to 7,000 rpm on a cold motor. An occasional burst of rpm over your stage of break-in on a warm motor is likely not going to hurt anything either. After all, some people drive it like they stole from day one and do just fine. For those who want the optimum performance and longevity, they will figure how one of the above break-in schemes will work for them.

I later realized after typing this up that it was off a bit as mentioned above. So I just hovered up to 7500 for an extra 100 miles to hit the 1K mark.


So, an extra 100 miles for 7500 rpm limit

TRZ06

Engines are the LEAST to concern yourself about for longevity. Engine oil is so good now that, everything else on the car will fall apart first... The bushings, hoses, tranny, clutches, bearings, shocks, etc.

It's all the "other" stuff that you have to worry about as a new car ages. It also needs to be driven, cars that sit deteriorate faster than those that get driven. That is why I would NEVER buy a garage queen.

daaa nope

I followed the AP method. Figured he can't be totally wrong. Changed the oil a little past 1000 miles.

That said - past racing motorcycle engines I have done? If it was a factory-new motor... 100 miles gentle, change oil, 900 miles beating the **** out of it, change oil... all done. Freshly assembled engines? Broken in on the dyno, more important was heat cycles.

None of my bikes ever had issues. I plan to be buried in my Spyder so if there are issues, I'll know about them

UncleDude

Why do you guys think Porsche doesn't recommend changing the oil after break in? Doing so seems to be the prevailing opinion on this forum. It seems like a habit / standard from a by-gone era, and yes I understand there's no downside to doing it.

RoadrunnerGTS

Likely because modern filters & oils are sufficient, although BMW ///M cars still require rear diff & engine oil change post break-in. I definitely do it at around 250-500km on my vehicles... probably overkill.

Larry Cable

I usually change engine and tranny oil after break-in period.

lovetoturn

My first oil change was at about 1800 miles. The 1000 mile AP break-in and about 3 track days. The oil condition will be fine for longer in cars that do not see track time.

StormRune

I remapped that to a slightly more conservative break-in that has the advantage of being easier to mentally track in the US at 100 mile intervals and 500 rpm increments.
I don't really understand the binary nature of the official recommendation, it just doesn't feel right to stay low for 2k miles and then suddenly just let it rip.