Black51

Someone also mentioned earlier that the balance shaft belt would still be stock. With that in mind, you'd still need to do belt changes at regular intervals anyway, at least on the balance shaft belt. So my mindset would be, since I'm in there...

Over $100 for a belt just doesn't seem feasible to me. Plus, I can't remember what the service interval of these kevlar belts are, but consider if it's every 60000 miles. So that would be say ~$100 plus shipping/taxes every 60000. With an OE belt, that's 2 intervals. So ~$50 plus shipping/taxes. If the interval is less on the kevlar, then it's that much more expensive.

Given proper care and maintenance, I've got piece of mind running OE belts. And I'm pretty sure Porsche knew what they were doing. So like Mark has stated earlier, without the testing and whatnot, what are you paying extra for?! Doesn't have me convinced.

hacker-pschorr

Every Mercedes for starters.....

A tensioner maybe?




Wow, the FAIL is strong with this one.......

Reimu

What cars come stock with kevlar type belts?

sebastian944

Why do you have to change is every 3 years if your nowhere near using the car 10k a year? it seems pretty crazy.

carlege

like any material belts age and become less mailable with heat cycles and time. Now im not sure i agree totally with that either since newer compounds have come out and they last much longer. say 5 year / 100 k like a belt on my other car

CPR

YES, the Kevlar belts are WELL worth it.

Anyone who honestly thinks the OEM belts are ~OK, fine, acceptable,etc...~ are uninformed to say the least. Further, if the bitch point is "I don't want to spend and additional $75/$100 is too expensive", then I would say sell your Porsche, get a CiViC and hit the HotRod Honda forums......

carlege

why? (im pretty sure thats the whole point of this thread)

minho78

I actually think that the Kevlar belt is worth it. And for those stating three years on a T-Belt I would like some proof for that. I Think most belts should last at least 5 years Or 60K. My VW turbo Belt was recently replaced at 100K, and the factory stated 105K. My sister has another one and it has 100K now and it's still the original one. It's always better to be on the safe side but 3 years 10K miles seems like you are throwing money out. Just my 2 cents.

Travis - sflraver

People have factory spec timing belts fail at the 35k mile mark all the time (search). It is not uncommon to be missing teeth or to just have them fall off when doing a change. This is always passed off on rollers, water pump, leaky seals or any number of things. This is all because your factory spec belts are still being made to FACTORY SPEC... 1980s technology.
In 30 years time, Gates (who is OEM for Porsche) has made leaps and bounds in the area of timing belts. 30 years of real life research and improvement give you the Gates kevlar belts. They have superior tinsel strength, tooth strength, heat resistance, oil resistance, etc.. This is the toughest automotive timing belt that Gates has ever made, period.
So, if your sticking up for the original belts because their somehow better ?Mark? just call yourself a purest and move on.

Chris White

Rubber ages/fatigues with age and heat cycles (along with exposure to Ozone and other elements) – so its not about miles. If you just want to base your maintenance on miles than I have some nice low mile 10 year old track tires that I can give you a hell of a deal on!

The Kevlar part of the belt doesn’t get me all excited, its plus but not a huge one – now if there was some info about the improvements in the rubber composition - that would get me interested. BTW – the original factory belts were really crappy – they stretched a lot and the rubber teeth were not very strong, everybody has made advances since then, I use the ‘regular’ Gates belts on many things including the twin cam drive system for the 16v engines. – Travis – I know the Kevlar belts are a difference color – it this an ‘improved’ rubber material? That would interest me!

And just to add my usual comment – 90% of all belt failures are really tensioner / roller / pump failures.

F18Rep

All I know is that I have no reason to change, I've never had a problem with the Conti, Fleenor or the regular Gates belt, maybe if I were selling belts I would feel differently. Bruce

teamcrossworks

I’ve been on the sidelines just taking it all in... It seems I started a very interesting yet debatable topic.

I appreciate everyone’s input to help me make the decision that is right for me.

My overall take:

I’ve ordered product from Rennbay and have always been happy with the product received, customer service and overall experience.

I don’t think Mark is a “tool”.

I love overkill and believe anytime you can build something 10 times stronger then it needs to be…do it.

“In 30 years time, Gates (who is OEM for Porsche) has made leaps and bounds in the area of timing belts”(a statement made to promote the Kevlar belt)… I would think and hope, as Chris implied, they also improved the materials and construction of their standard belts.

For me and my car (that is driven less than 2000 miles a year on sunny days, has no leaks and is garage kept), I will be ordering the standard belts. Although I love “overkill” I don’t feel it is needed in my situation and I would rather spend the extra $100 on something else shiny. If it was a DD or track car maybe my decision would be different (maybe) but since it looks like I’ll be “in there” every 3 years anyway for me it doesn’t make sense…

Thanks to all again!

hacker-pschorr

+1

Like when the oil pump locked up tight on my 928 and proceeded to shred all the teeth on my timing belt. If this belt is 10%, 20%, 30% etc.... stronger than the OEM, could buy you some time to shut down the engine in the event of a failure before the belt snaps killing the valves.

I got lucky, the pump gear ripped every tooth in half, leave just enough "meat" to keep the cams in time.
It was a brand new belt, so that helped I'm sure.

elargentino

Well, I am not selling belts, but how can a more modern belt NOT be worth the trade?
You guys like changing belts? Its not that much fun.
I don't understand why this thread is 3 pages long.

carlege

You mis-understand..... your going to have to change the belt anyway. Didnt you get that from the argument?