skipp

I was wondering what you guys feel about the balance between mods and engine life.

In other words, how do the mods, (larger turbo, wastegate spring, etc) effect the life of these engines.

It seems that you hear about a lot of engine rebuilds to cars with less than 100,000 miles on these forums.

Mine is a late 80s with 55k miles, stock.

Thanks in advance.

The Baron

The formula is fairly simple ...........

With ANY engine, the more horspower you add, the more longevity you will loose !

You need to find the sweetspot for your needs (street or track) and try to balance the fine line of HP vs. lifespan.

Mark Houghton

So true. Driving habits have a large part in engine wear; i.e., if you're always going full-tilt-boogie at every opportunity - on the track or street - you'll wear out a stock engine sooner as well.
The mods are great to give that added level of performance when you're in the mood for it. In and of themselves, mods don't cause abnormal engine wear. Either way, these and any cars don't last forever and it's the price we're willing to pay for a little more enjoyment factor.

Last930

I would argue that some mods actually increase engine life. For example, pulling the thermal reactor exhaust sytem off an early 930 and replacing it with a header system (B&B, others) reduces the heat radiated into the cylinder heads on shutdown and increases the longevity of all the head components (valve guides/seals, etc), while increasing performance. Adding an upgraded intercooler reduces detonation potential; a replacement oil cooler will dramatically improve cooling over the original 'trombone ' style cooler.

I do agree with Mark H that driving habits can greatly affect longevity - take the time to properly warm up and cool down your engine. Keep clean oil in it, and probably more important - drive it often! They corrode when they sit.