Thank you Macster, I actually only let it get to the re-fill oil light once as I didn't expect it to run down at all, since then I do check fairly regularly though and keep it topped up.

Will carry on enjoying the car then, always have the warranty to fall back on in any case!

 

Is this excessive oil consumption common in other makes of high performance cars besides Porsche, I wonder?

 

years back my V10 BMW M5 engine was taking 1 quart of very expensive Castrol 10w-50 oil every 700-800 mil. on a new engine. The V8 AMG 6.3 engine takes no oil.
16k. miles on 08 TT change oil twice a year , never needed to add a drop.

 

+1.

The seating of the piston rings represents only a small part of the running in process and there are so many bearing and running surfaces throughout the engine and car, all which require correct bedding in processes. I'm a believer that its best to run her in by the book....or within sensible reason . Yes it can be hard (impossible) being so well behaved all the time....but there should always be balance and sensibility if the car is to perform to its optimum over the long haul. I see many guys get all caught up in just the rings when there is so much more to it than that. When i first posted on this thread last year my car had not had its first oil change yet and, at that stage i had never experienced any consumption of any notable value on the gauge which required any topping up over the entire period. This was quite surprising given that all engines should use some oil in the running in period.....and not so much afterward. Cars with engines that are showing zero usage are simply replacing burned oil with combustion bi products giving the false illusion that no oil is ever being burned. Now since having my first oil change, at @7800kms my car has been requiring a full top up on the guage @ every 1000 miles or so. My first thought was did the dealer put enough in . Then P topped it back up and it did the exact same thing 1000 miles on. So, i questioned had there perhaps been a change in oil grade. P said not, and, it is quite normal for all turbos to be using this quantity of oil. The only thing i find strange now is not using oil during the running in period only to find after oil change oil consumption begins and maintains consistency.

 

I ran in my '03 996 Turbo and my '07 997 Turbo with absolute care regarding varying loads and engine speeds, never lugging the engine and never exceeding 4200 rpm for the first 2000 miles. Even after break in, I never took short trips, never raced the engine when the oil is cold etc. Both those cars burned at least a qt every 1000 miles! I would have to carry oil with me on trips, try to find Mobil 1 0W-40 at a gas station on the I 5.
Happily, I guess either Porsche has remedied this problem with the later models or my new break in method has worked; my GT 2 RS hasn't used a quart yet at 3200 miles.
I used a different break in method with this car, one that a mechanic friend of mine recommended many years ago for engines which use synthetic oil. He said to not baby the engine during break in, vary the loads and speeds as usual, but rev it up and run it pretty hard. With 20 miles on the odometer, I drove to the canyons and put on 60 miles just getting home from the dealership, mostly in the lowest gears, but reving it, even occasionally to red line, briefly of course, and generally getting on it.
The next day, to the canyons above Malibu for another 200 miles of similar driving, rewarded at the end of the day with a speeding ticket. I will trade the fine for an oil tight engine.
Since the break in period is over now, I have been following the same method, avoiding running at a constant speed or load, but also getting hard on the gas! This is the sweetest, cleanest, most delightfully running car I have ever owned, well worth the money. But I did not want to own arguably the finest car in the world and have to carry oil around with me. So I followed my intuition and experience from previous ownership, and took the plunge. I am happy I did, and would recommend the same to others.

 

I take it your car is a GT2 RS? Have you done your first oil change yet?

 

No, I haven't done my first oil change. I have 3600 miles on it, won't change the oil until 10,000 miles.
I am changing the tires today, however!

 

OK. Id be interested to hear if anything changes once you have your first oil change. As i mentioned earlier mine never used a drop for nearly 2 years 8000kms and then after the first oil change at the dealership it started using oil. I'm convinced the manufacturer must have had a different grade oil in to begin with as what else could have changed for it to start using oil. Normally its the other way around. The engine uses some oil in the running in stage and then the usage diminishes over the next few thousand. Weird... Its possible the consumption is related to the grade of oil Porsche service specifies.

 

I will let you know if mine starts using oil, believe me, I am watching it like a hawk. Maybe it's like others have said, especially if you are driving only 2500 miles per year, that the buildup of moisture and other by products in the sump created the appearance that the oil level remained at the top of the gauge. Its possible that as the oil was consumed, it was replaced kby water and other substances. Normally, these substances are burnt or evaporate when the oil stays hot for a period of time, during extended operation. It this case, the actual oil consumption would be indicated by the level indicated by the gauge
Before synthetic oil was popular and you would change oil every 3000 miles, no one noticed oil consumption unless there was blue smoke coming out of the exhaust! Only a worn engine would consume oil, like a qt every 1000 miles,

 

Keep me posted...i'm interested to hear as yours is a new car and not using any oil from the get go, not oil changed yet etc. Im clear with the scenario of biproducts taking place of burnt oil giving a false illusion etc however my driving style hasnt changed nor has my general routing. The only thing that has changed since the oil change is the oil consumption which is odd. Its not bad but as i said normally you will get more consumption over the running in phase than an increase after. I'm also of the opinion that its possible the synthetic oil grade may have something to do with it as it never dropped on the gauge prior to oil change. If it had used oil from day one at the rate it presently is then i would have reason to suspect other things other than the oil grade. I understand there are many TT owners that experienced oil consumption from day 1, i think you being one of them, so there is no consistency with the problem being prevalent in all TT cars. Anyway keep me posted and if in the meantime i figure it out ill let you guys know. There has to be answer for it somewhere.

 

I totally get the long intervals, but not changing the oil after the first 1000 miles or so really is hard for me to accept.

 

brand new to the p-car family, and just bought a 01' 996 TT. It has 4k miles on it and computer is telling me low oil leve. Threads say to add oil or top off, but how do you know how much. Can you hurt it if too much is added?

 

The difference between min and max is 1.5 litres. 3 bars - so 0.5 litres per bar. At least on the 997tt. Check your manual...

 

If you do happen to overfill, I used a Mity Vac connected to a thin plastic tube fed down the oil filler tube and pumped out excess oil.
Just an update on the GT2 RS, I have 6300 miles on the car and have added only 1.5 quarts of oil. I attribute the low oil consumption to the break in procedure I used, which was the hard break in as opposed to the rev regulated break in as specified in the owners manual, ie limit the revs to 4200 rpm for the first 2000 miles.
My previous cars, an '03 996 Turbo and a '07 997 each used a quart every 1000 miles like clockwork, and those I very carefully followed instructions.
Athough, a user on this site posted an owners survey he had done, which showed no correlation between break in procedure and oil consumption, so there you go.

 

I agree with you, I've had similar experiences.

Like to see how you put miles on your GT2 RS - I have 7000 miles on my SL65 BS.