Yes, it is rather stunning....seems like there was a whole bunch of unneeded pieces in there!

 

less parts, sure via less seals, perhaps less bolts for said seals etc....can add up for the marketing dept to work with

mdrums, I think your driving style helps, its the garage queens that tend to suffer issues from my experience. Driven hard the Porsche is bullet proof, but two guys I know drove to work and back, short distances have had a wee bit of oil drop on the garage floor.

 

There is no such thing as "unneded pices" in the engine (or any other engineering product) . Fewer parts make only one benefit , for sure , shorten asembly time .

 

Not exactly true.

Fewer parts in a motor can also mean less reciprocating mass, therefore more efficiency. Fewer parts can also mean a more cost effective assembly process (time aside).

 

In my opinion, and only my opinion, I think you're kidding yourself if you don't think the first year of any new car isn't going to have problems.

Even the most quote/unquote reliable car makers in the world (Toyota, Honda, etc.) end up uncovering issues on their new cars in the first year that they are released.

No controlled testing can ever replicate real world ownership experiences. And while I agree that Porsche builds a quality product, I can also say with 100% certainty that one of the big reasons I chose to buy my 997 as a 2008 vs. waiting for the 2009 was that I intend to keep this car a very long time and I feel better owning the last year of a run rather than the first year.

 

Well, they now have the same 6 cylinder engine, with the same displacement, with more horsepower, with 40% less pieces....sure sounds like they were unneeded!

 

I initiated this thread, and here are my thoughts at this point:

The 40% parts reduction number is a bit misleading - it means 40% fewer crankcase parts, not total engine parts. What's going on is that the previous M96/M97 engine had a secondary shaft held in place by a cradle structure inside the crankcase. It was a complex design and that was a source of oil leaks, such as the dreaded RMS leak. The new crankcase is a clean design without the cradle and secondary shaft. They replaced the secondary shaft by an additional wheel supported by a stronger crankcase, and yes it reduces moving parts mass. It makes sense from an engineering perspective and it provides good mktg material.

Now for 1st year problems. I doubt the engine will have them. If the engine had problems I doubt they would fix them in a year or two. Engine design (and testing) takes years. They may have software updates and such.

The PDK is a different story. Again I doubt it will have serious problems, but it may require tweaking both in software and control parts. Software updates may be issued, control parts maybe, but again doubtful.

If the body were new... now that is the sort of thing that may have gremlins during the 1st year - things, like contacts, switches, latches, etc... and yes, those are readily fixed in a subsequent year. That is not the case in Gen 2.