Carrera2RS

A few cars in the past. Porsches only a 3.2 Carrera and 964 RS which I had for 10 years. The RS I did modify quite heavily, headwork, Cams individual throttle bodies, race exhaust, Cams, Motec engine management etc. I was younger then !
The other cars I have had have been M3's and M5's. I have always need changing the oil at 5-10k miles or 2 years or so. I usually take it to the dealer and pay seperately if the car has a service pack etc. Why because I think/hope it keeps things in better condition and it's not huge financial investment

I am only doing this because it makes sense and 25 years ago I did read some very interesting SAE papers looking at engine wear and oil change frequency. BMW did some work with a 2.0 litre engine at the time (Well several) where they changed the oil at the current interval (9k miles from memory) then did the same exact dyno cycle changing twice, then 4x as frequently, also investigated the drained oil. Anyhow the reality was that changing twice as frequently as recommended pretty much 1/2'd the engine wear, changing twice as often again made very, very little difference. Given cars are leased and sold more as commodities these days, manufacturers have to get the balance of service costs and engine life right.

Today we have much better oils and better filtration systems, but I am applying the same logic here. I did ask my OPC technician why the US is 10k miles and the UK 20k miles (30k Kms). He was surprised and didn't have an answer. The GT3 is at every 12k miles, I assume you're asking more of the engine and expecting a little more driving exuberance ? 9k revs etc. I also think if you do track days it is every 4.5k miles

I should probably read the manual as well, most modern cars work with computer based calculations to assist in making the decision as to when, not sure if Porsche's engine management does this ?

Wing Commander

Hi Carrera2RS.

A query from a fellow UK resident. (I'm in Swindon.)

I currently run a 2017 Panamera 4 (3.0 V6 engine) and the 'car' seems to want an oil change every 10k miles. Fair enough. As you say, it's a small cost in comparison to the value of the car.

I've ordered a new Carrera T. My mileage will be 12k to 18k miles per year.

In your view, in that car, with that mileage, would you tend to change oil every 10k miles or wait for the 20k miles, which in my case might be about 14 months based on current mileage?

Many thanks,

Simon

991carreradriver

The UK service documentation on the Porsche UK website is 20,000 kilometers.

Bud Taylor

Many years ago one of the guys on the 928 list did a several year study of oils and even had others participate with the sane testing company. His results showed no significant change in the key ingredients of mobile 1 until 14k miles so your advice seems dead on...(im sure you can sleep better now)...

QUOTE=Carrera2RS;14726696]I was an automotive Engineer, have degree in automotive engineering and used to build F1 engines, so have some understanding. Most modern oils are superb at managing moisture, retaining carbon, avoiding breakdown from petrol, other gases etc, etc. But there comes a point where the amazing filtration system and the stellar oil are getting a little stretched. If Porsche are happy at 20k, 2 years I bet the last 2,000 miles in the last 3 months will be the hardest. Just not sure how much headroom there is. I feel much more comfortable changing at 10k miles or 2 years. Modern synthetics will be fine after 1 year, I have no doubt. Worst case I have waisted a few hundred pounds every 10k miles .....[/QUOTE]

Carrera2RS

Hi all, whilst I have a tiny bit of knowledge, current oil chemistry and material science is way beyond my understanding, all I know is the pressures, temperatures and forces in an engine are significant so good lubrication is essential. Porsche definitely have all the answers, I have no doubt. It's just a case of acceptable wear vs less wear and how that curve looks. I will stick to 10k miles or two years, which is similar to the US guidelines, if I was in the US I wouldn't see any advantage changing more frequently than that.

Carrera2RS

I think that is for a GT3 ?

Carrera2RS

Please take my 'advice' with a pinch of salt. I'd change somewhere in the middle of the Porsche oil change, I'd change at 10k and then the normal service at 20k, but that is just me and I really don't know if that's a complete waist of time and money. The thing is Porsche must be forcing the whole of the US market waste money or changing later than ideal in the UK . I can't see any other explanation ! Possible the oil spec and filtration has changed between UK and US see cars. But I seriously doubt it.

Wing Commander

Dude174

The oil change is super easy, definitely DIY

CSK 911 C4S

This is the service interval published in the US if you want something to follow.

Oil is pretty inexpensive (DYI'ing)..... I drive pretty hard in all seasons and I don't do any oil sampling to give me that warm and fuzzy for extended oil use...... so I change oil at 5K Mile intervals.