I bought and took delivery of my 2011 turbo S 4 weeks ago and this 2000 mile break in period (do not exceed 4200rpm/no track events) is driving me crazy, no pun intended. I have 900 miles on it and with work and weather not cooperating, it's going to be awhile before it hits 2000. I can't believe it takes 2000 miles to break in a highly precision engineered German machine. If I exceed the 4200 rpm for long periods of time, e.g., at a track/driver's ed
event is it going to be recorded on some computer in the car that could be accessed a later date?

 

Oh boy. You'll get so many opinions on this you're head will spin. Everything from the "drive it like you stole it" from day 1, to the "if you deviate at all the car will self-destruct" crowd.

I'm kind of in the middle. If it were my car i'd change the oil at 1,000 miles and i'd start driving it the way I plan on using it.

 

Not an expert by any means, but if it were my car I would drive it as recommended for 1000 miles to break in the rings and then I'd change the oil and drive the **** out of her...

Just my .02

 

at the factory they already break in with regular oil,with fully synthethic oil it take 15000 to break in...have fun n drive it like u wanna drive it

 

+1 true !

 

+1 Very good point. The difference between flogging the life out of something and driving it hard during the running in period involves using finesse. I guess once you decide on how long you plan keeping the car that can also play a part in how you drive it right now. A good squirt here and there wont hurt so long as its not being overloaded for sustained periods of time at wot in the upper gears.

 

On my factory tour a few years back, they displayed a GT1 block engine for a GT3 getting dyno'd. We visited a test room where all the GT engines were run on a dynos for 30 minutes. Engines that do not make 105% of the expected HP/torque rating are stripped down till the problem is found.

Since the tour, production of the new blocks have changed how they analyze the cars. I don't think they dyno the new DFI engines. A few friends have been on the tour since, and they tell me that that every 10th car is now driven. Apparently, Porsche is performing engine tolerance analysis during the assembly process and comparing the results to a mathematical model. Based on this, they found it was not necessary to dyno test the engines.

I think most engine builders would say that a factory dyno test or a test drive has very little to do with "breaking in" an engine.

 

Most important thing to my mind is to avoid over stressing the engine.
I.e. Don't drive in a high gear with low rpm such as 6th gear doing 50 mph.
That would strain the engine far more than going beyond 4k rpm.

 

I think the break in period is more for the driver than the car I drive mine as I normally would after 500m and this is only for the brakes and tires to 'break in', the rest of the car is fine in my opinion. Never had any issues with this method in any car.

 

500 miles for the diffs. after that do whatever you want... the "break-in" are a. suggested, and b. for their benefit, not yours... you paid $150,000 for a car to enjoy, not to be told what to do with it.

 

Correct. Shuffling around at low rpms in a taller gear is just lugging the bearings and the likes. Much better off keeping the revs up high in a lower gear or, revs up in a higher gear too for that matter.....rather than chug along at high speed in top gear at low rpm thinking you are saving the engine. As i said earlier, finesse is key and unfortunately many users can be lead footed and ham fisted in the wrong ways. Thats mainly why manufacturers have recommended running in procedures, to try and help those that just simply dont understand what finesse means....which results in inflicting unecessary warranty pain upon the manufacturer.

 

Dont agree with this mindset that just because you paid money for something then to hell with the manufacturers warranty terms and conditions. Thats no different to buying the most expensive 110v toaster and then plugging it into a 240v socket and then expecting the manufacturer to warrant it when it fries itself just because you bought it to toast bread. Dont kid yourself, everything has conditions whether you like it or not.

 

I, for one, have mostly abided by the 4200 RPM rule. Only because I purchased the car and I want to break in this very expensive toy per instructions - it cost way too much to not follow the instructions - even if they seem ridiculous. I plan on a lot of driving with it over the years and want to do everything right even I though it might be neurotic. I have 1600 miles and have been letting it get to 5000 RPMs on some occasions.

 

I did a euro delivery of a GT3 back in 2007. On the factory tour I asked the guide and the delivery specialist why there were different recommendations for break-in given by PCNA and Stuttgart. They remarked something to the effect that they were cautious about the lack of sense of American owners...Basically they said drive it vigorously from day 1 - constantly changing rpms, gently increasing revs to brush against the redline, and avoid shocking the drivetrain with harsh shifts or clutch engagement. I took my turbo to the track at 600 miles. It consumes less than 1/4 qt of oil per 1000 miles.

 

I've driven all of mine as fast as I wanted as soon as I wanted to. I didn't tarck any of tehm until the break-in period was supposedly over, but I have never babied them. The turbos I got the oil changed sooner than It called for...and why i did that I really can't say.

It's been my lengthy experience that car nuts are just that. We obsess over the strangest things, then do whatever the hell we want to. I missed a model year to special order one time because i could not make up my mind about color and interior