BSO

My usual procedure is easy for till around 2k, oil/filter change at around 1k. As soon as the break-in is done, accelerate hard to redline whenever possible over the subsequent drives.

I done this and never had a need to add oil between changes to my cars. I also will accelerate hard on a regular basis. The engine does feel more alive now with 14k miles.

What it boils down to is this, I'll do what I want in my car, you can do what you want with your car.

Russian Mafia

Now in my first week of ownership I get why it’s so tempting to forget about any form of break-in and just drive it. It’s like when a plutonic female friend made me promise to wait 10 dates before getting it on with my current gf. I got seduced on the third date.

BSO

The powers of seduction. BTW, if you have a plutonic female friend, she's must be hard to be around, 'cause Pluto is the mythological god of the underworld, anybody who's plutonic may raise heII!

Platonic is what you meant, related to Plato from way back when, same as the name Pluto.

Russian Mafia

Wait, the gf is plutonic the friend is platonic. Just goes to show how difficult I find it to have a platonic relationship when I can have a plutonic one.

PorscheObsessed

for the average schmo, Plato’s Socratic methods were no match for Pluto’s aggressions. For the mafia however....😀

ilian11

Best way to “brake-in” your modern car is to drive her. So simple anyone can do it.

gatorfast

I always see the notion of a break-in period being specified in the manual because the "lawyers want it in there" thrown around in threads like this (not just a Porsche forum thing). Theory being that Johnny Racer floors the car right off the lot, doesnt realize how powerful it is, crashes the car and then sues the manufacturer for not warning him of the dangers. This make absolutely no sense to me from a rational standpoint. Aside from a lawsuit like that have probably 0% chance of being successful, the break-in procedure is fully centered around the mechanical components and not the skill of the driver. If Johnny Racer crashed his car, would the break-in language somehow absolve the manufacturer from liability? What does mechanical break-in have anything to do with driver skill and caution? Also, do you think the average person reads their owners manual from cover to cover and that there is a reasonable expectation for a buyer to do so? If Johnny Racer needs to be protected from his own stupidity, wouldnt the manufacturer put a much more stark and noticeable warning somewhere instead of burying it in the owners manual under the guise of a mechanical break-in?

Sorry for the rant, but every time I see the "lawyers want it in there" argument I am always baffled as to what a silly notion that is.

But anyway, I am with those saying to follow the owners manual. Porsche obviously has a reason for spelling out a specific break-in procedure (and it has nothing to do with absurd law suits) so you may as well listen to them.

Quadcammer

I guess the mechanics of the car change from country to country?

Its 1) a liability reduction method, 2) a get you familiar with your car method and 3) considers that you also have new brakes, a new differential, and a new transmission.

In terms of the engine revs, warm it up at low revs then do what you want. The whole "its gonna be so tight that it overheats" is bs. Ive built several motors and broke them in either on the dyno or racetrack. All made excellent power for the combo and did well on oil consumption.

For those that believe the manual is right, what are the parts that will fail from a "hard break in"?

ilian11

Nobody knows. People breaking in cars same way grandpa did but no one knows why. 😂

Reason they don’t know why they taking it easy for 500/1000/3000 miles or whatever is because generally people don’t know what break-in actually means. If they did they’d also understand it’s unnecessary.

911boy

When they get new cars they drive them leisurely for a few hours before putting them in the program. I watched a Panamera lap slowly for at least an hour.........not 1800 miles thats for sure. The odd track car belched blue smoke......... .

Quadcammer

Exactly. The heat argument is BS. A car loaded in a high gear at low revs can develop more cylinder pressure and resultant heat than something revved to 6000rpm in low gear with minimal load. Furthermore, if you can't rev it high early when the engine is new, what changes in these parts that "expand with heat" that allows you to do so at 2000 miles? Do they expand less at 2000 miles (hint...no they don't). Valvetrain and bottom end parts are continually oiled, so there should not be any "wearing in" that occurs here. If there are some machining issues, they will cause problems at 4000rpm just as they would at 6000rpm. In reality, you don't see any real scoring in cam journals or main/rod bearings in engines without problems, so the whole argument is crappy.

Really, the biggest determinate of engine life (assuming good maintenance and proper assembly) is ring seal. Cars with poor ring seal put more contaminates into the oil, generates more carbon build up, and make less power. By applying some cylinder pressure, load, and then vacuum (letting off at high rpm) when the engine is new, you are promoting good ring seal. The often quoted motoman website describes this well. So the argument that race engines will be short lived if broken in hard is crap...they will run longer, burn less oil, and make more power.

For the average street car, this mostly makes no difference...but the argument that you are damaging an engine by giving it some load and revs when new is just wrong.

Joan Alcover

Provided a decent operating temperature has been reached

Quadcammer

of course, that goes for life of the car

aggie57

No offense to legal practitioners implied or intended but lawyers don’t care if something is rationale or not, they just care if it helps their client or not. Do all owners read their manual cover to cover? Of course not, just like when you buy a new phone you don’t read any of the terms clause by clause.

Are these statements there because lawyers recommend them? Who really knows, they’re hardly going to say so. All we do know is that they originally started appearing in US only owners manuals some years back and the rest of the world looks at that and says ‘well, that’s America for you’. Either way you’re not going to get a warranty claim declined because you revved the engine to 7000rpm on day one. Your lawyer will see to that.

harshalp

So after I got my car I've been breaking it in gradually....

did 100mph first, 110 next, followed by 120 and then 140

by this time I was probably up to 800ish miles, I hit 165 twice around 1k but haven't tried since, I do believe I was limited by not having broken in the car enough to get above 165

conclusion: break in period might be real