audi49

Zach L

I daily drive a B8 A4 2.0T quattro 6MT, which is in the year range of those known for oil consumption due to ring issues and I'm very familiar with the matter. I also own a 987.1 and did the same research you're doing before I bought. The oil consumption in the Audi's you're talking about is unavoidable and affects literally every car in the affected time range... my car has 120k miles and takes a quart every 950 miles (not bad considering people frequently will have a true ring failure and consume a court every 80-150 miles).

The 987.1 does NOT have the same issue as the Audi. Yes, the 987.1 can have some oil consumption (like any modern car) in rare cases, but according to expert engine rebuilders like Vision Motorsport and Flat Six Innovations it's from bore scoring and usually only on the "S" model due to larger/heavier pistons in the 3.4L engine. The bore-scoring is rare on the S models and virtually non-existent on the Base model you're looking at. I track my 2006 Cayman S, it has over 60k miles now, and no oil consumption. I did add a partial quart (of 10 qt. total capacity) at the end of 3 days tracking @ COTA, but that was after over 6 hours on track, it was still in the recommended range, and I just wanted to keep it topped off. I know many cases where these cars have been tracked repetitively up and over 100k miles without oil consumption issues.

The oil issues you'll hear about on these cars is related to oil pressure loss. That happens when tracking the car on R-comp tires around a long, high-G corner with a skilled driver. It's been extensively documented with charts, etc. and there's remedies available. You can get a 2qt Deep Sump Oil Pan, use the Porsche Motorsport air/oil crankcase separator, install the OEM 3rd center radiator, and run a high quality oil. Here a good thread, and some quotes from it, below: https://www.planet-9.com/987-cayman-...tml#post865936

Charles Navarro

Base model 2.7 engines seem to be the most robust. We just took one apart from a late model and it had close to 200k and looked better than than an earlier 3.2 engine that had only 50k miles. We rarely ever see those blocks for repairs and usually only when an IMS fails and the customer wants to increase their displacement. I've never seen a 2.7 or 3.2 with cast pistons have scored bores.

Zach L

Charles, what about 3.4L with scored bores?

Charles Navarro

They score too, just not as often. The 3.6 and 3.8 are worse as the rod/stroke ratio combined with factory pin offsets and the fact the pistons come out of the bore at bottom dead center by 7mm versus 2mm with the shorter 78mm stroke in the 3.4 do not help the situation.

To help with this problem in the RND Engines, we lengthened the sleeves and also increased the piston to cylinder clearance with the factory forged pistons which seems to have helped.

wizee

Bore scoring seems to almost never affect the 2.7L motors from what I've seen. I've never seen a single report online for the 2.7, while I personally know two people who have had bore scoring on 3.4L M97 Cayman S motors, and have seen countless reports online for 3.4L motor bore scoring. I myself own a 2006 987.1 Boxster base (2.7L) with almost 130 000 km right now. Based on my last oil change, it burned less than half a litre in 10 000 km of driving - practically no oil burn.

shus2006croc

I have a 2006 987 CS with a 3.4. It does not use oil. I change it every 5k miles and it has 88k on the clock.

Every once and awhile it blows smoke at start up after a longer sit. I try and drive it at least once a week.....to calm my latent fear of IMS problems but mainly because I love driving it!

willie hernandez

See my other post, but I have a 2007 Boxster S which uses 1 quart/1500 miles. It has 130k miles. You need to see it start up in the morning and check if it smokes and spits out oil droplets. Check the tailpipe for soot. This can lead to bilateral catalytic converter problems. The definitive (sort of) test is a bore scope and leak-down test to see what is going inside the engine. Even then, it's not 100% conclusive of engine, valve wear/damage. I have had reputable engine rebuilders tell me my oil usage is not uncommon (for my mileage) and just drive it, all the way to the immediate need for a rebuild. Heck, I've had one tell me life's too short to spend money on a proper rebuild and to get rid of the car!

GT4John

I had a 987 2008 Base Cayman for a couple years. No issues with it. I changed the oil once a year and never had to add more. Now that said...I was only driving around 3500 miles a year.

audi49

thanks everyone for the comments. I did end up buying the 2008 (base) model. Have driven it about 500 miles thus far and oil is at the top. Plus the oil was changed about 5k miles ago... so looks like all is well in this department.

Regarding Zach L's comments on his Audi. I had a B5 Audi... burned oil but was manageable. Had a B7 S4... great car but when from burning about a quart every 1500 miles ('normal' per Audi) to a quart every 500 miles...so got rid of it a couple years back. Looks like B8's also had issues. (Just to complete my history, my parents had a '75 Audi Fox that burned oil due to valve stem seal issues... luckily Audi replaced them under recall or class action lawsuit back then). Used to be an Audi guy but why can't the make a car that doesn't burn oil??? I know all don't, and Audis are overall great cars.

JimV8