That's fine. You may have a lot of data to judge from, but of course I'm not privy to it. Hopefully, others while chime in on this thread to offer additional perspectives and opinions.

 

You're welcome, and I agree that the only 'debate' is about whether the Porsche break-in rules are too conservative. I guess it comes down what data one is working with and trusts. Having gone through three break-ins during the past year, I read a lot of opinions on this in the forums and they were mixed enough to effectively cancel out, leaving me with the decision to follow the official break-in rules.

Not to digress too much, but the tire temp question has also been relevant to me. I got through the winter here in the mid-Atlantic with summer tires on the Porsches, but put all-seasons on the C63 (needed new rear tires anyway). I found that I was OK with the summer tires above 40F driving pretty much however I wanted, but I didn't get really aggressive until the temp was over 45F. I was also OK between 35 and 40F, even on wet roads, but always drove gently at those temps. Never attempted to drive in any snow. All of this was tied with paying a lot of attention to tire pressures to help gauge tire temp rather than just ambient temp.

 

I tried reading through this but it's pretty lengthy. Anyone have a link to Porsche's official stance on break-in procedure?

Few questions:
Warm up the car? Yes/No
Street driving: Should you stay bellow 4200 RPM's?
What's the minimum/maximum time the car should be driven on the streets during break in?
After how many miles can you open it up?
Read somewhere that PDK doesn't allow the driver to oblige break-in procedure. Can someone explain this?

Thank you.

 

I don't think you will be able to stick to this and I don't think you will really have to. I am trying to generally follow break in on my new 991. At ~700 miles now and I think I've crept over 6k maybe twice briefly. I find myself ALWAYS driving with the sport button on, and if I am not flooring it the car shifts at or below ~4000.

The only times I've gone up over 6k is when I tried to use Sport Plus. It's barely useful for street driving, IMO. I don't even KNOW at what RPM it wants to shift into 2nd yet. I guess I'll find out after break in.

 

Sorry to spoil the surprise for you but all gear shifts in sport + take place at about 7500 rpms. I've been using both sport and sport + from day one. Top speed achieved so far is 225 km/hr and I almost every day hit 200 km/hr at least once.

I don't understand the logic behind frequent oil changes early on, my porsche dealer said my first should be a 15,000 kms or 1 yr whichever occurs sooner. My BMW dealer had said my first should be at 10,000 kms.

 

I am in no position to question you or your dealer (I certainly can question any BMW dealer) about oil changes. It is contrary to everything I have been taught and oil changes are reasonably cheap, so what could it hurt? And as I said earlier, I will be in the normal mode until 2,000 miles.

 

I would think the high numbers still on the road also has a lot to do with the cars being desirable and "worthwhile" to keep up, and many are babied / low mileage. It would be interesting to see if there has been a dropoff in recent years, not because of quality, but increase in sales of "regular" cars and not just enthusiast sports cars that may enjoy better care.

On the flip side, I don't think I have driven any other car with as much spirit, so there seems to be margins.

 

Just to add my two cents, be sure to vary your revs a lot when you're on the highway. Do whatever you can to avoid sitting at 2200 RPM for miles and miles. Shift up and down, speed up, slow down, it'll help you pass the time and give the PDK some break-in too.

 

Good suggestion! Thanks.

 

P.s. Loved the pictures. I have a red interior coming as well (with black inserts).
L

 

All the advice you have received here is good - Porsche drivers by and large are certainly knowledgeable about their cars. You should remember that it is not just the engine that needs to be broken in, it's the transmission, the differential, wheel bearings and every mechanical component with bearings and fits, i.e., coolant pumps, oil pumps, etc. Whoever commented that the factory takes it to redline several times during testing was correct, but be absolutely sure that the oil temperature is up to operating temperature before getting on it.

Varying the load and the RPMs is very important and after 500 miles, I don't think 4000 RPM is a red line that cannot be crossed safely but then again I wouldn't rev it past 6000 or above either. Cycling it through operating temperatures is also important - that helps all the bearings to get perfectly seated in their bores (they need to be heated and cooled through several cycles).

However, babying the car too much can also lead to poor oil consumption - today's engines are held to much better tolerances than even 10 or 15 years ago, but it use to be important to load up the engine after a few hundred miles to properly seat the rings - I think that it less important with today's better materials and tolerances.

I used to know the head guy at the Cadillac engine group. He once told me that the first thing you do when you buy a new car is change the oil even before you leave the dealership, the second thing is to run it hard after a few hundred miles. That advice is probably not relevant today, but if I were you I would get close to 2000 miles, certainly 1000 miles or more, before you took it to the event.

 

Thanks Newman. First, did you get your car yet? It must be minute to minute now. I am as excited about you and Gleek48 getting your cars as I am about getting my own (almost). Your advice, like much of the other advice I have been given in this thread is great. Other than the oil changes issue, which I intend to do early and often, I think all of you agree on the important stuff, on the first 500 or miles, and on what to do overt the next 1,500.

Based on the type of event this is, a beginner car control clinic, I can not imagine needing to go over 6,000 RPM. From my understanding, it is more about breaking, being lined up for turns, and recovering when and if your butt is swinging around ( less of an issue with the 991 than any of it's
predecessors), than it is about speed. There will be a fire truck there to wet down the pavement in the Giant Stadium parking lot to make a skid pad.

I would not take it to an Autocross - again, relatively low speeds, until at least 1,000 miles, and likely a lot more. It will not see a track or the sport/sport+ button used until at least 2,0000 miles (I have a lot of driving to do!)

I will have calls out to the organizers and some others who have participated to make sure that my understanding is correct. If it is even a close call, I will either just go for the classes or take the mustang. I am sure I can make that spin!

Thanks again for your advice and for looking up the schedule for the boat. You are so close - maybe in an attempt to break in both of our cars we should meet for lunch some time NY state - some place half way. We should invite any others getting their cars in March or early April.

Enjoy your St. Patrick's day. Indeed, I wish a safe holiday to all who have generously contributed there time to answering my question!

 

AG991 - have not received it yet; my dealer looked it up on his computer on Saturday and it is still at Davisville waiting for its Monroney/EPA sticker. However, he seems to think that when the computer is updated on Monday that the the paperwork will be done and he is expecting it as early as Wednesday - based upon what I saw I don't know why he thinks that but he has five other cars on the same boat with all their paperwork done so he's guessing that my car will be done as well and all six cars will be arriving at the dealership this week. Unfortunately I have about 10 days of travel coming up so it will be close whether I even see the car before I have to take off - I'll be glad to get the car so I can "get back to work."

Wouldn't mind getting together with you and others in the metropolitan area for lunch sometime in April (preferable late April for me) and comparing notes. Would be fun.

 

Late April works. As for the travel, that sucks. Same thing happened to me when my Mustang came in - two weeks in Europe.

 

AG991 - I was at my Porsche service organization today having summer tires put on my Cayenne. I asked the service manager, who I known for 10 years at a major Connecticut dealership, about break-in procedures on the new 991. He was clear - don't worry about it, put 3 or 400 miles on the car and then just drive it and drive it hard!!! I was very surprised - please understand that this was a personal comment and not the official Porsche position. I would still be judicious about the revving the engine but it certainly seems to me that your upcoming car control event should not be a concern. Have fun.

PS: I am leaving town for 10 days without receiving my car; certainly hope to pick it up the day I return!