Help!

I am expecting my 991S to be delivered to my dealer by the end of the first week in April so I am under a month away. Yeah! And when I get it I can...drive like a little old lady from Pasadina for 2000 miles. The dreaded break in period. My 997.2 was gently used ( excuse me pre-owned) and I bought it with 2500 miles on it. So I could take it right to the track. But not this time.

Within about 2 weeks from the date I get it, I am signed up for a car control clinic offered by the NNJR - PCA. I have never done this clinic before, but I assume that there are a number of breaking and turning set ups including a wet-down skid pad. Speed is not a central theme and one can certainly lose it at lower revs. But can I take the 991 to this event? I certainly will not have 2000 miles in two weeks (my last only had 3,000 additional miles when I traded it in 10 months later.) I know not to track it and I will not do Autocross until I can use sport plus. But I would love to do the car control clinic in the 991. Otherwise I will use my Mustang.

Your thoughts? Thanks.

 

If you can put 1000K on it I don't see a problem just as long as you warm it up properly first and don't run it too hot, too long.

Break-in period is mainly about getting all the metal components to expand and heat up to their maximum co-efficient so no damage occurs (particularly cylinder walls and piston interaction) when you get to the performance level.
That's why it's better to go for longer rides when breaking in and giving it the beans every so often after it's warmed up (as apposed to short rides).

There's more to it than that of course but long story short... I would take the new ride to this event.

Hope that helped.

Cheers!

 

That makes a good deal of sense. Thanks for the simple and clear explaination
I will see how many miles I can get onto it in the two weeks I have it and make a game day decision.

It is interesting that this car still has a break in period - many cars don't have one anymore. Oh well, as I mentioned in another thread - those wacky German engineers!
Thanks again Sid.

 

I would lean towards not attending the event until the full break-in period is done. You don't want to find yourself pushing the car more than you expected, and then looking back with concern and regret about the harm you may have done. The 2K miles will be over soon enough.

 

I would read up a little more on this forum about the lack of oil burning that many have achieved with s harder break in style. I don't see how hard braking would be harmful though.

 

Many buyers, including myself think the break-in period is overstated and unnecessary. When I had the IMS failure in my 997 the master mechanic, the service advisor and my indy who just headed a winning race team all said..."vary the revs for the first 300-500 miles and you will be good to go."

Its your car so you need to make your own decision but the car control clinic will not harm the car at all..IMHO.

 

I've heard varying opinions on this, but what reason is there to think that Porsche's own guidance on this is too conservative? Seems to me they would know the car best.

 

Something past down over the years I guess...and a conservative stance.

Picked up the GTI two weeks ago and was told the same thing by the salesperson and the service manager. Just don't drive for 6 hours straight at 90 MPH...the key is to vary the RPMS the first 500 miles.

If you stay under 4000 RPM and drive say at 3800 RPM for several hours that may be worse than going over the 4000 RPM.

Each owner decides but if the OP gets 500 miles or so at various RPM's he IMO will have no issues at the CCC.

 

But what's the basis for assuming that the safety margins are huge? I doubt that anyone besides Porsche has good data on that. Of course Porsche wants to protect the cars for the sake of warranty costs and overall durability, but I don't see an incentive for them to go way overboard in that regard. They spend vast amounts of engineering money and time designing, building and testing these cars, and IMO that trumps the speculations and opinions of service managers, mechanics, car enthusiasts, etc. (no disrespect intended towards anyone here).

 

Thank you all. You all make good points. I will try to speak with the people who run the event - all long time Porsche people - and see how many miles I can get on it in two weeks. I agree with all of you to some extent. I would lean towards Manifold's advice in general - this car is not going to see the sport or sport plus button pushed until 2000 mile and will not see a track day until Thunderbolt in June. I should have all of the miles I need by then. As for the CCC, I will check, but I suspect it can be done without going over 4,200 RPMs so i may at least give it a try. I will make sure I have at least a quality 500 miles on it first.

For the way to break it in, I agree with Sid and Buckwheat and I agree that: mixing it up with the revs and not taking unbroken trips that are too long, or too short is a must; changing the oil early and often is a must, and the first 500 miles are the most critical. Sorry Sid, I live in New Jersey and we don't even have respectable hills - well, maybe by comparison to Florida. But your suggestion is excellent as that would vary the revs and the load considerably.

What a great site this is and thanks to all for your time and honest advice!

 

heheh just noticed where you're located... i'm sure you'll find some nice "county roads" that'll do the trick
Just be careful with those damn summer tires... mine are absolutely useless in temps below 5 Celsius (never mind if there's some snow or rain)

Let us know you're first impressions when you get your 991... and pics of course!!
Man this waiting is killing me...

ENJOY!!

 

My field is structural/civil engineering, and I think my firm's awards put us in the upper echelon. That said, there's no correlation between the echelon of the firm and the safety margins used. There are some general guidelines for safety margins (usually codified), and then adjustments are made based on engineering judgment to suit particular situations. In all cases, the goal is to balance the tradeoffs and choose a safety margin which is neither too low (careless, reckless, or over-optimistic) or too high (clumsily wasteful).

And the fact that so many Porsches are still on the road just supports the conclusion that their safety margins are appropriate, not excessive. By comparison, one could argue that the safety margins for other cars are too low.

Again, I would say that, unless strong evidence can be shown to the contrary, the default assumption is that Porsche knows best on this.

 

Thanks Sid,
I have drag radials on my mustand (and a 4:10 drag gear) and I know what you mean about temp - glass transition temps are a killer. Runs in the mid 3's to 60 in the summer though! I will definitly post pictures - once I figure out how. How long til' you get yours?

 

Manifold,
I was a chemist before law school so I am better at talking about the glass transition temp of rubber in tires than debating production specs with an M.E./Civ. E. And, you make excellent points as well.

As a lawyer, however, I often find that specifications like this are conservative, and usually for a great reason - to protect us from ourselves. If they said, just don't take it from the dealership to Daytona, everyone would just blow them off, push the sports plus button, and punch it out of the dealers parking lot.

You, Sid and Buckwheat all suggested the same thing, albeit in slightly different ways; namely, "be respectful of the engine." Like all good mechanical devices, if you take care of it, it will take care of you!

Fortunatly for me, 4200 RPM's will let me go plenty fast for normal driving, which is all I intend to do for quite a while. Indeed, my biggest problem is that my commute to work is just over a mile and so I need to take the "long way home" as short trips are just as bad as long ones.

All of your advice, and Sid's and Buckwheat's, is very much appreciated!

 

I have a 2012 basalt C2S cab on order but the date's been pushed back to July/August for delivery but by that time they are already building the 2013's

For now it's still on the books however since I'm in waiting mode I was thinking of biting the bullet and wait a few months more to get the C4S cab... these types of threads make that prospect reaaaaal hard though!!!