BrianPA

I can't stand the thought of sacrificing 1000 miles (or 1000km) of under xK rpm driving if it isn't 100% necessary

Please post your thoughts along with your vote.

Bob Rouleau

Why would Porsche ask us to break-in the engine if it wasn't necessary? Second guessing the factory can be an expensive sport. Then again, they said PCCB would last forever to .....

rockitman

I'm interested in maximum life and performance of my motor...hence I followed breakin procedures carefully...I also make sure the oil...not water is at operating temp prior to bringing the car over 3500 rpm. I have heard some posts recently of various small oil leaks at some of the sealing points in the motor. I can't help but think that either the car was not broken in correctly or the motor is jumped on too quickly after startup when the oil is not up to temp.

Treat you motor well and it will treat you well. I have had great success with this philosophy with all the cars I have had in the past...

BrianPA

I don't know that's why I was asking because clearly many people have their theories about modern engines not needing it.

Off the top of my head the best reasons to second guess it are...

1.) They claim the first thing they do with the engine after its assembled is run it at redline for one minute

2.) A factory worker test drives the car as soon as its built for 10-20 miles and they don't appear to be obeying any redline limits if you've ever watched them.

3.) They tell german customers 1000km and US customers 1000 miles. Why do US cars require nearly double the breakin? I asked at the factory before and the factory rep had no clue, he said just do 1000km.

4.) Have you ever test driven a Porsche? I have and the salesman doesn't ever make even the slightest attempt to enforce a redline limit while he drives nor while a customer is driving. If you've ever bought a car off a dealers lot its all but a sure thing the breakin procedure wasn't followed.

5.) Unless you're keeping your car beyond 50,000 miles (or 4 years) it's PORSCHE's very expensive problem to deal with.

1,000 miles is alot of time to waste on such a wonderful and expensive car driving it like grandma if it's not absolutely necessary.

cosmos

The breakin procedure is not just for the engine, it is also for the transmission and the diff, the tires and brakes and even the springs need to settle a bit. All these things need to be "Set".

If you do a bit of spirited driving before the brake in, don't worry. Just don't drive it like you stole it for the first few hundred miles and you should be fine.

I also reccomend a oil change at about 1500 miles.

Good Luck

BrianPA

THat was part of my plan. How much do you suppose they're going to whack me for in Germany for that? I imagine i'll probably put on between 5k and 8k miles abroad. Given ~$200+ at most dealers here, the crappy exchange rate, and the tendacy for petroleum products to be 5 times as expensive in Europe... I wish there was someway to do it myself. I'm not looking forward to dropping $500-1k on an oil change!

doclaw64

I would do it, why would they said to do it if it was not needed? Porsche has better engineers and know the product better then any of us.

skl

It wasn't easy but I kept it under 5K for the first 1000 miles. Was on a Porsche Club rally when I hit 1000miles, and then the first run up to 8000rpm was heaven!!! (And each time since has been just as much fun...)

mds

This quote was posted on this board a while ago. It is from a source I consider trustworthy:

"The break in hints in the owners manual are worded as they are because they were written by the attorneys! (i.e. disclaimer oriented stuff.)
The engine in your GT3 was hand assembled, put on a dyno, then run at varying speeds for 40 minutes. This is done for 2 reasons- one to make sure that the engine meets the minimum performance output (some do exceed the stated specs, but all will, in the case of the GT3, produce 381hp.) and secondly- to break the engine in. If you pick up the car at the factory, the break in instructions are to warn you that the brakes are not completely seated, nor are the tires sufficiently scrubbed to give maximum brake efficiency. They further warn you not to let the engine "lug" in any gear for too long, nor do full throttle inputs when the engine is cold.
That is it!
The engine is already broke in, and has fresh Mobile 1 in it (following break in on the dyno, they drain and replace the oil, so you've already had one oil change.)"

Bob Rouleau

FWIW - In Canada the break in is 1600 KM or, 1000 miles. Mike I know about the dyno test, but my assumption was that the break-in had to do with transmission, clutch, etc. which needed some gentle settling in.

rockitman

Unless there is empirical evidence to the contrary rather than speculative engineering/legal interpretations why it is not necessary to follow manufacturer's guidelines, I would stick with the manual...That's just my opinion and it has served me well thus far...particularly if you want to keep the car...If you plan on driving it hard and dumping it in a few years for the next best thing, rev away...If your in it for the long haul, it sure won't hurt to break her in slowly...Women like it that way...don't they??? :-)

Larry Herman

It is my understanding that in today's engines (other parts of the drive train may have different requirements) there is nothing that has to "wear in". The bearings ride on a film of oil, not on the crank journals (if they ever rub, look out), the cam lobes scuff in very quickly, and nothing else needs to polish or smooth in at low RPMs...except for the rings. They actually need lots of load in order to press tightly against the cylinder walls and polish themselves against the honed walls. That requires medium to higher RPMs and lots of throttle

I have also read that when asked how to make sure that his new Corvette would be fast, the factory engineer told him "break it in hard". Like I said, this is only my understanding. I'll let you know more after 3 or 4K miles.

Finally, check out this link:http://www.ntnoa.org/enginebreakin.htm

BrianPA

I guess Porsche doesn't agree with that no synthetic for the first 500-1000 miles part...

jcnesq

First, the 996 break-in is now 2,000 miles.

There is a school of thought that says break it in hard and fast because that makes everything seat better, and that a long, slow break-in is actually bad. I saw a thread here or on renntech about that but can't find the link. However, I decided to basically follow Porsche's recommendations and had a long (2 months+) break-in - painfully slow! But I did try to vary speed / revs, and did push it occasionally well above 4,000rpm (but nowhere near redline).

Mongo

break in is crucial for every car I believe. There are certain areas of the engine that haven't been properly lubricated or greased. Running an engine hard will even strip some of the moly coating on some of the parts that was left from constructing the motor, for example the rod bearings. If the car is ran too hard before breakin, bearings can spin a lot faster from what I hear as well as insufficient oil getting to the lifters and cam journals. Hopefully everyone followed Porsche's break in procedure with their GT3's on this board

Andy