Regular oil vs. synthetic
Drifting
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 2,444
Likes: 8
From: Another Ex pat Brit in SoCal
Originally Posted by BruceP
So, as a consumer, I'm then faced with my own choice: trust that Porsche isn't looking to **** me off and wreck my car
It's not as if they change the oil grade, and engines start seizing up at 50,000 miles.
Be reasonable!
It's a calculated position - a trade-off of engineering and economics.
99.9% of 996 owners could care less, because they would never expect to keep a car past 100,000
So that might seem like a reasonable place to make a compromise....
Burning Brakes
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 1,046
Likes: 57
From: Williamsburg, VA
Originally Posted by 1999Porsche911
You can find quotes (just look in the owner's manual for the early 996's) directly from Porsche that 15W50 is fine for hydraulic lifters. So why did they say it was fine then and not now? Why did they deliver many of the 996's with 15W50? Were they delivering a car with an engine that didn't pressurize the lifters? Wow, I can't believe the Porsche engineers screwed up! And to think..they are the experts. 
Stop reading and start doing and you''ll learn what is correct and what is marketting. Take a look at the timing variance on a 996 using 0W40 versus 15W50. It doesn't lie.
Hydraulic lifter have been in cars long before synthetic oils came to market, let alone multi-viscosity oils.
Stop reading and start doing and you''ll learn what is correct and what is marketting. Take a look at the timing variance on a 996 using 0W40 versus 15W50. It doesn't lie.
Hydraulic lifter have been in cars long before synthetic oils came to market, let alone multi-viscosity oils.
Drifting
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 2,508
Likes: 36
Originally Posted by 1999Porsche911
Try sitting on the Board of a couple of Fortune 500 companies and you'll see quite clearly how important spending and cost cutting is as well as how even the smallest of items are considered. Even more important if you are publicly traded.
Sorry, but this is simplistic and naive. Of course corporations are concerned with costs. But Toyota, for example, doesn't go looking for the cheapest supplier of steering wheels. They look for the cheapest supplier of steering wheels that MEET THEIR SPECIFICATIONS. Costs are not managed ***** nilly to find every penny, they're managed to serve a strategy. If cost control was all Porsche cared about, do you think they'd still be building most of their products in Germany? Do you think they'd bother with an engine design that is absolutely useless for anything other than one chassis?
My own business has a nine figure top line, and industry data shows that it's at the top of the profitability heap among its peers in my market. I scrimp on copier paper and paper towels. I don't scrimp on computers or syndicated research subscriptions. I know what's strategic and what is not, and I'm inclined to think that maybe Porsche does too.
Drifting
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 2,508
Likes: 36
Originally Posted by cdodkin
As stated before - if the new oil grade still gets your engine past 100,000 miles, do you think they give a damn after that?
It's not as if they change the oil grade, and engines start seizing up at 50,000 miles.
Be reasonable!
It's a calculated position - a trade-off of engineering and economics.
99.9% of 996 owners could care less, because they would never expect to keep a car past 100,000
So that might seem like a reasonable place to make a compromise....
It's not as if they change the oil grade, and engines start seizing up at 50,000 miles.
Be reasonable!
It's a calculated position - a trade-off of engineering and economics.
99.9% of 996 owners could care less, because they would never expect to keep a car past 100,000
So that might seem like a reasonable place to make a compromise....
Anyway, look, I'm going to tap out, here. All this stuff is paranoid speculation, whereas the scant facts on the table seem to support letting the car company do its job. Life's too short to go looking for bogey men. If you can show us a worn out 996 engine, then this conversation will get a lot more interesting. In the meantime, I just thought I'd toss in another perspective, one that was, to use your word, "reasonable".
Drifting
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 2,444
Likes: 8
From: Another Ex pat Brit in SoCal
Originally Posted by BruceP
My own business has a nine figure top line, and industry data shows that it's at the top of the profitability heap among its peers in my market. I scrimp on copier paper and paper towels. I don't scrimp on computers or syndicated research subscriptions. I know what's strategic and what is not, and I'm inclined to think that maybe Porsche does too.
And we all know F-all about how Porsche is run.
So you can believe what ever you like about their business model, their triumph of engineering over costs - it doesn't make it so.
To deny that economics have any part to play in the oil decision seems foolish.
So once you accept that point - you have to concede that the choice of oil in the car is no longer a pure engineering decision.
Drifting
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 2,444
Likes: 8
From: Another Ex pat Brit in SoCal
Originally Posted by BruceP
Seems like a funny decision for a company that brags about the fact that 70% of the cars it's ever built are still on the road.
Drifting
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 2,508
Likes: 36
Originally Posted by cdodkin
Land Rover make the same claim - doesn't stop my Discovery from marking it's territory everywhere it goes with copious amounts of Mobil1!
My Disco has made the odd spot on the rug, too. But you know what? It will still be going strong at 200,000 miles. Leaks aren't the end of the world. If it's any comfort, though, they fight about this over on discoweb.org, too. And my position is the same there: I use what Land Rover tells me to use (which ain't Mobil 1, as should not be a surprise for a 43 year old engine design). Again, I just follow the instructions on the box, and I have a trouble free truck.
You should get that looked at.
Drifting
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 2,444
Likes: 8
From: Another Ex pat Brit in SoCal
Originally Posted by BruceP
Don't take me out of context, friend. My reference to the 70% number had to do with your 'who cares if it self-destructs after 100,000 miles?' point.
My Disco has made the odd spot on the rug, too. But you know what? It will still be going strong at 200,000 miles. Leaks aren't the end of the world. If it's any comfort, though, they fight about this over on discoweb.org, too. And my position is the same there: I use what Land Rover tells me to use (which ain't Mobil 1, as should not be a surprise for a 43 year old engine design). Again, I just follow the instructions on the box, and I have a trouble free truck.
You should get that looked at.
My Disco has made the odd spot on the rug, too. But you know what? It will still be going strong at 200,000 miles. Leaks aren't the end of the world. If it's any comfort, though, they fight about this over on discoweb.org, too. And my position is the same there: I use what Land Rover tells me to use (which ain't Mobil 1, as should not be a surprise for a 43 year old engine design). Again, I just follow the instructions on the box, and I have a trouble free truck.
You should get that looked at.
Runs like a dream - self rust proofs and provides waterproofing for my driveway LOL
Mobil syn in the engine, diffs and T-Case, and ATF - Mobil syn grease for that matter.
Did I mention that I support Mobil's top line with my yearly lube schedule?
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Drifting
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 2,444
Likes: 8
From: Another Ex pat Brit in SoCal
Originally Posted by BruceP
Of all the Land Rover quips, this is my favourite:
"Don't worry if it leaks. Worry if it doesn't leak, because that means it's out of something."
"Don't worry if it leaks. Worry if it doesn't leak, because that means it's out of something."
As long as it doesn't leak in another way when doing this!
Did you know that for 60% of the developing world, the first vehicle they saw was a Land Rover?
But we digress - putting a Qt of Dino in with your Syn oil won't hurt your 996
You're good to go gregroselli - wait until the next oil change then worry about which oil is best
