Arrwin

Hey guys,

Was wondering what your thoughts on whether using the 993 for an occasional "grocery run" is harmful to the engine. Ok...that sounded really silly. I'm just wondering if frequently driving the car to the local store will eventually cause damage to the engine (accelerated carbon build-up?) or anything else, seeing that the engine hasn't fully warmed up. I guess that can be remedied by taking the "scenic" route, but unfortunately living in NYC, taking a longer route may mean more harm than good with all the stop and go. Of course the Porsche will have it's weekend high rpm fun runs, not saying that it will be a dedicated grocery-getter.

So...should the Porsche be left at home when getting that carton of milk or that new Blockbuster rental?

sleddog

The cars are meant to be driven, I say drive them as often as you can. If you live in New York, I assume you store it for the winter therefore you want to be driving that car as much as possible from April through November since these cars are just so much fun to drive.

Editorial license aside, I can't see the harm in it assuming you drive it on the weekends the way you describe.

just my .02 cents

Derrick B.

I agree with sleddog. Drive that baby!

I've only put 6k miles on my 993, but I put 20k on my previous 911 (an 85). Nearly twenty years old with 130k mi and I used it for track days, road trips, grocery gets, autocross, commutes, fun runs.... you name it. No problems in 5 years of ownership except for an alternator.

Drive it!

Edward

Indeed, drive it, run errands with it, enjoy it! Sure, continuously making short trips, not letting the car really warm up, and babying the tach could lead to problems down the road, but that weekend romp into the stratosphere will solve those ills My feeling is that the more seat time one gives oneself, the more one appreciates and values the car. Works for me, anyway

Edward

jcnesq

I have always used my p-cars for local errands - I love to drive them any chance I can! I do always take it easy until the car is warmed up. Just be careful loading groceries. To this day I can still feel the pain when a gallon glass bottle of juice knocked the side of my RS America and left a nice little dent - it was devastating at the time.

ca993twin

I will take a contrary position here. I rarely cold start my Porsche for trips less than a mile or two. I believe (no solid facts) that cold starts doesn't give the oil a chnace to properly lubricate and the extra rich starting mixture can wash down the cylinder walls with fuel. The gearbox is stiff until the fluid warms up. I drive the first mile or two like my long gone grandmother, accelerating ever so slowly, shifting very slowly and way early... just avoiding lugging the engine. When it finally warms up, it always gets .8 bar and a full dose of rpms at least once. I'll use one of the other cars for the really short trips.

Berkley

In the 70's and 80' and until I made the mistake of getting married, Porsches were my daily drivers.....from 914-modified to SCs to a 930t......

Had fewer issues with daily drivers that I had later with "Garage Queens".....

Please enjoy your Porsche!

ciao

Mike in O.C.

I chuckle when I hear you guys talking about how you baby your engine, and yet don't think twice about it when you drive your beater to no harm. If a Porsche engine can't handle trips to the grocery store, then it's good for nothing. So, drive it to the store. Just beware of shopping carts and door dings.

RJT

I use mine everyday as it is my daily driver, but I do live a little ways from the commercial areas. The gym that I frequent is the closest to me and that is six miles away..... Four of those six miles are on famous scenic Hwy 7!
Drive your 993 and ENJOY it!!!!

JoAnne

mooty

if the trip is less than 5 miles, i don't drive my porsche.
for trips longer than 20 miles, i always drive my porsche, even if things don't fit ;o)
if trip is b/n 5-20 miles, i get LOST, and make them longer than 20 miles ....

Arrwin

Hmm....I didn't know you own cars other than Porsches.

PorscheDavid

Sometimes I just take short drives to think of errands I need to run...

Terry Adams

The freeway on ramp is 1.5 miles, my favorite grocery store is about 7 miles, and I combine a lot of errands. All in the 993. I don't commute any more like I did before I bought this 993, as I believe stop and go in hot weather is worse than short trips. Tomorrow morning I am off on the 4K mile trip to BC, Alberta and other beautiful NW states. Longest Italian tuneup I ever did. I finally bought a spare DME relay, just in case.

SpeedStateG35C

I agree!!!


Although I dont own a P car (YET ) I have never stored a car ever. Here in Toronto its rather pathetic, I have so many customers (I sell car performance parts) that store their Celicas and Civics. I even got into crap from some friends and customers for driving my Integra Type R all year round. IMO cars are meant to be driven. I put 190,000kms on my Type R in a little less than 6 years and it drove like a champ, I have had almost no probs with that car and it drove much better than ppl I know with garage queens. I recently drove another Type R (2000 model) with 30K on it and it drove like crap, it was sluggish and was rather disappointing since I know what that car is capable of.

Now on a plus side the past couple of winters I have been seeing more and more P-Cars in the winter, PROPS to you guys! Now guys with FWD compact cars as garage queens its just sad.


Enjoy your car, drive it like its hot

Ray Calvo

I'll go along with ca993twin and mooty; if you drive so that the engine oil never gets up to normal temp, it isn't the best for the car. I feel that cars that have the carbon buildup in the intake are local putterers. I have 83K miles on my '95 with no engine/tranny/clutch problems, and I feel a big reason for no problems is that when I take it out of the garage, it's generally for a highway/rural road drive for an hour or more. Car also gets frequent "Italian tune ups". So, if you use your car to drive half-a-mile round trips to the super market or post office then shut it down, don't whine when the CEL comes on due to carbon buildup.