Slip

I did the Porsche masterclass at Spa and the Ring last year, both times in a brand new RS. The RS at Spa had 807 miles on it and the RS at the ring had 310 miles on it from new. We were told by the Porsche instructors and staff to do one easy out lap to warm everything up to temp and then it was game on for as many laps you could do until you either needed a break or fuel, whichever came first. Mostly WOT where possible and redline changes so it's very hard to swallow the mega mile break in when Porsche themselves don't even do it on their own cars.

It seems like a litigation insurance policy for the US more than anything else.

rk-d

Good point.

There is no good science here. Supposedly mating of surfaces is optimized at 2000 miles? To what end? Better long term reliability? Has there been any meaningful effort to compare test and control cars with a rigorous design and statistical analysis?

Of course not. Break in suggestions are necessarily broad and nonspecific, because it's an in-exact science. Nailing this down to a specific mileage is a phenomenon of the US marketplace mentality.

Common sense rules here, IMO. What does Ferrari recommend - something like 600 miles or so? I know BMW is ~1000. 2000 miles just seems excessive and, on a car with relatively low mileage use, unrealistic.

fxz

Porsche training cars can be restored at Close to zero costs for PAG
same as you have to do it yourself
after x hours on GT3 Cup
but with costs 10xmore (and not being PAG)

the easy and best way to test a car engine reliability
is to jump to the track, car warmed, WOT
in a 200miles brand new gt car if you are Porsche

if you aren t Porsche then pretend to sell it later
at 10k or more miles without totally restoring engine and
trasmission just pretend this car "Never seen the track"

i won t buy none of these used GT without a proper break in
checking the car stored datas and overall deep and qualified inspection and if track evidence indeed
opening and restoring at seller costs
engine trasmission and suspensions

disden

When I did Euro Deliv a few years back on a 991 Turbo, I asked about break in. I was told to take it easy for the first few hundred miles to be sure all was working as it should. After that, "wait until the engine is warmed up and then enjoy!"

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DrJupeman

So here's my brain's problem with the 2000 mile break-in... I read somewhere (in this forum, I think) that the average speed people drive around is about 35mph. So for break-in, let's assume as GT3 owners we are a little faster than that: 37.9 mph (that's 4th gear at 2500 rpm). So if we average that speed for 2000 miles, the pistons will have moved up and down 7,920,447 times. I can't wrap my brain around why almost 8 million piston movements are needed... Let's say you go easy for 500 miles, that's almost 2 million piston ups and downs. Why isn't that enough? If Ferrari really sets break-in at 600 miles, I suspect it is based on numbers like this. If parts aren't settling in after MILLIONS of movements, I don't think they are going to set... Just how my brain thinks of it... (I also am no metallurgist, but I would think if you heat a metal to X degrees, the metal will expand some amount and shrink again when cooled. I am guessing that thermal expansion and constriction are constant with temperature and don't change with heat cycles. Thus if the metal expands Y at X temp, each time you heat to X it will expand to Y, not Y+Z with each subsequent heat cycle to X. I'm happy to be educated on this part...)

Macca

I don't know how to do multiple quotes but if I did I would quote SLIP and the two posts above....bingo!!

And now we truly have a "break in thread" debate :-)

My tech at Stuttgart pointed to the sea of brand new Porsche executive employ cars parked behind the Zentrum opposite the Museum and said to me "do you think Porsche employees break their cars in slowly".

Most of them apparently live miles away in the next suburb and within 600m of the factory are on the Autobahn - go figure?

Ceepe

Isn't the 2000 mile break-in recommendation only for North America? From what I understand other regions don't come with a manual that states that guideline.

They also lose me on Mobil one being a superior oil. That's just plain wrong. I think the procedure AP has described in the past is intuitive and makes a lot more sense than staying below 4k for 2000 miles. Of course you want to be thermally sensitive to an engine during it's break in, vary RPM's, slowly work the engine in, but not seeing any mid range or higher revs for 2000 miles does not seem like a great idea to me. Doesn't a stepped up scale make more sense?

qbix

And one more point... How can parts get mated-in if they never reach their temperatures while lagging the car around at 1500-4000rpm?
Then boom! 2000 miles done and revving to the red line. I think that hurts the engine more than gradually increasing rpms in the first whatever miles.

And talking about authorities... Do you really think that guys who are involved in designing and developing engines at Porsche are bothered with factory tours?
Those that we have a chance to speak to don't need to be as knowledgable as one may think. The fact that they do engine tests and hang around engine production lines doesn't necessary mean they are real experts. Those bench test might be also conducted by robots

WSH

I think Trackcar (and others) said it best.....warm the car properly (i.e. under load, not idling) before spirited driving; can't stand it when I see people (including dealers) hammering the **** out of a car when cold.

I've owned 12 Porsche's over the past 36 years, and have always followed a graduated break-in (slowly increasing rpm's) but ALWAYS warm the car slowly to 180+ oil temp before going anywhere near redline.

Bill

alaint101

I asked that question of one of the product managers in Atlanta. His answer: additives in gasoline. The US requires certain additives that aren't commonly found OUS he said, and they aren't friendly to the process.

I haven't verified the statement with the cleaning lady so this isn't strong evidence, I admit...

rk-d

Dubious

Mike in CA

Earlier in this thread (post #32) alpine-al provided a link to an excerpt on break-in from the UK owner's manual. Aside from the specific 4K RPM limitation it is very similar to the US manual. For the first 3000 KM (1865 miles) it says to engage in no track events, limit RPM, limit cold starts, and take longer trips.

That said, I agree with your comment about a stepped up scale and that's what I did when I broke in my engine. Keeping revs under 4K RPM for a full 2000 miles is probably overkill. OTOH, I think that doing a race-engine or executive car "break-in" on a vehicle that I paid for myself, and from which I expect a long service life, is inappropriate.

Peterfirst

Hi Mark: You probably do not recall but all the Autobahn around Zuffenhausen are either limited to 120 km/h or full with cars. So now way the can go fast right away

It is not so easy (anymore) to find a unrestricted Autobahn free of trafic to go fast. Around Stuttgart it is especially a nightmare (or you have to drive at 3 AM) - how do I know .....

Peter

Jimmy-D

I believe in the step up after 500 miles keeping it under 5000 revs and longer drives with varying speeds. After 500 miles slowly step her up and by a 1000 miles we are all done.

Never do I ever rev her up until she is properly warmed up(180 plus)

mcsmcs1

Mike- fix that conversion, you have a reputation to uphold.