Cheekyone

Warm up & Cool down question to other 996 Turbo owners :-

1) Do you allways 100% before every single trip/drive switch the car on & let idle until warm before pulling away ? (1a - If so what temperature or how long do you let car idle for before pulling away ?)

2) Do you allways 100% after every single trip/drive when car has stopped let the car idle for full 2 mins before switching of ? Or do you only do this after a spirited drive ?

Curious to know what people's views/opinions are on the importance of the above ? & to what extent you currently carry out 1) & 2) ?

Thanks

leftlane

I let my car run for a short while before pulling away, and stay tame until it's fully warmed up. Technically there is no reason to let it warm up before driving normally, just stay out of the boost until warm.

As far as when done driving, I usually take it real easy for the last few minutes of any drive, and then let it cool down for just a short bit. I'd recommend a full cool down if you've been jumping on it and on full boost just prior to shutting it down.

rmc1148

^agree best to let it warm up while driving at a normal pace. Do the same as Leftlane on return.

Cheekyone

Great thanks leftlane & rmc - Having Turbo blankets what's your thoughts on the cool down - Any longer recommended/required ?

PS - Regarding cool down & petrol stations :-

What do people do when pulling up at a petrol station ?? - I seem to have got into the habit of keeping my engine ticking over until completely full up & then switching of to go & pay - Which I'm mindful may sound a bit ****/over the top

What's everyone else do ?

Dock

On cold starts I idle the car until the air pump shuts off, then drive away keeping the RPM under 3000 until the engine and transmission are warmed up. I idle cool for ~2 minutes before shutdown. I don't run the engine while filling up with gas.

autobonrun

I never let mine idle before pulling off. I just drive it and keep the revs down. My M5 has a series of lights that sequentially go out as the engine heats up; eventually all the warm up lights are out indicating you can go to red line. No lights on my TTS but I warm it up the same way.

After being on boost for a while I just make a couple slow passes through my subdivision on the way home, similar to the cool down runs I do when I exit the track. I think I get a bit more cooling driving 15-20 mph with no boost. Who knows. Bottom line, let a turbo cool down before shutting it off; if that means sitting and let it idle, that works too.

993GT

car is moving after 10seconds or so, driven easy coolant is fully up to temp for a minute or so...generally the first 10minutes are pretty easy, also waiting for gearbox fluid to be warmed(Delvac)

always cooled down, even running errands, getting gas, etc... if driven easy for a few minutes prior then ~30second-1 minute cool-down, driven hard recently maybe ~2-3 minutes.

Kevin

Great advice.. Make sure the engine is up to temp 180, before jumping on it.. Cool downs are needed with oil cooled turbochargers.. As a side note, the 997TT has a oil temp gauge.. Typically it takes an additional 10 to 15 minutes to get the oil temp up to the operating range> AFTER the coolant temps reach temps.

Macster

What Dock said pretty much describes how I treat both my Turbo and my Boxster, in fact all my cars since nearly day one.

With both my Porsches I let the cold engine idle until the air injection pump shuts off and the engine RPMs drop to near normal hot idle.

I find the engine is a bit more tractable after a bit of warm up.

Then I limit RPMs until the engine has been up to temperature for a while.

When it comes time to shut off the engine, with the Boxster I don't let the engine idle 2 minutes but I let it idle a moment or two, maybe longer if I have been pushing the car some. For instance on a road trip I can in some areas be off the freeway and parked beside a fuel pump in no time, so in these cases I let the engine idle a while.

With the Turbo if I've been driving easy since leaving the freeway I let the engine idle at least a minute. If I just pulled off the freeway I let it idle a full 2 minutes.

I think it is important or I'd not do it. As long as I can remember I have always let the cold engine idle a bit before pulling off. I've always let the engine idle a bit before shutting it off.

While Porsche ( all car makers ) advise against idling before driving off this is one of the few factory recommendations or guidelines I ignore. I suspect this arises from the factory seeking to avoid the penalty in gas mileage and emissions that recommending some idle time before driving off would cost it. Also, Porsche would be severely beat up in the market place by car mag writers for this. (They negatively comment on cars that require an "early" service which is why this has gone by the wayside over the years.)

IIRC Porsche says nothing about idling the Boxster before shutting off the engine but it does have this guideline in the Turbo's owners manual.

So I do it. (I would anyhow. Those turbos can be plenty hot, as of course so can the exhaust valves.)

993GT

one of the things I wish the 996's had was an oil temp gauge...from my datalogs, Kevin is spot-on about it taking 10-15minutes for oil to be a full temp...I use my oil pressure gauge as my tell-tale...oil pressure at idle is within 0.5bar compared to full temp pressure, game on...

mcbit

I start and drive off keeping revs below 3000 rpm until oil is warm. Almost all of my journeys end with an "idle" driving phase of around 1 minute before parking, I figure that this should be sufficient; if not I wait around a minute before shutting down.

On the oil warm-up, if you try to to do an oil measurement you will be told that the oil is not warm enough...until it is; you will then be told that the car needs to be stopped.

Working on known oil pressures works for me too.

Tuxiemama

Revs below 3k until the temp gauge shows 180 plus another 3 miles or so... usually takes me 8 miles before I give it the curry

Dock

I use the oil pressure indication to determine "fully warmed up". I keep the revs below 3000 RPM until the oil pressure indicates below 2.0 at idle RPM.

"02996ttx50

book says no warmup required for starting off but only admonishes against revs over 3k until full OP temp ( 180 ) or when you can check the oil level. i only wait ( usually ) until the richer mixture settles from 1k rpm down to approx 800 then go, ( if its cold out ).

as for idle at stop, never if driving has been sedate ( e.g. traffic ) and i cool down turbo's for approx 1 minute if i've been on higher boost. beyond that, nothing out of the ordinary for any car.

Dock

I agree.