Hello all,

Just wondering what everyone's typical around-town driving style is? As I read more and more about potential RS4 carbon buildup issues, I see that everyone says opening the car up and allowing the engine to breathe regularly is the key to a clean and healthy intake manifold. I know every RS4 owner opens it up when given the opportunity, but does that mean that its not a good idea to keep the rev's low when you're driving inconspicuously around the city trying to conserve some gas?

I found another thread on the issue on a porsche thread somewhere that basically described how to keep your intake manifold clean and healthy in the battle of the carbon monster, and basically it boils down to keeping your revs higher and not short shifting between 1-2k regularly to save gas. I usually shift 3-4k around city but decided this morning to let it wind up even more regularly (~4-5.5k city) and not only was it more fun, it just sounded like what this engine is made for! I think I'll do this as regular driving style w/ this beast and see if it takes a big hit on gas.

Below is the main excerpts that I thought were of interest in that thread:

"...The problem is exacrebated by mainly the way we in USA drive our vehicles. Lots of idling and low rpm useage. Most engines spend their time operating at 30% of throttle or less and under these conditions it is more likely air flow in the combustion chamber will be backwards and purposely so. Over time build up will occur.
...
Couple of things you can do to help engine:

1) Do not overfill engine with oil. Overfilling causes more oil vapor to get into the crankcase air and more oil vapor to remain in the air that passes through the oil recovery system designed to remove oil from this air on its way to the intake system and combustion chambers. This oil vapor in the air from the crankcase being routed to the intake and combustion chambers contributes to the build up of deposits on the valves.

2) Keep engine oil fresh. Old oil will accumulate water and unburned gas over time and this makes oil more fluid and this results in more oil foaming and more oil foaming results in more oil vapor in crankcause fumes. More oil in these fumes means more oil vapor routed to engine intake and more deposits.

3) Avoid long periods of idling.
...
And contrary to what many buyers felt was proper for the engine, to use more rpms, not fewer. Those that attempted to drive the car like a big rig and short shift and keep rpms low, below 2000 and even lower in some cases would find the engine coked up in sometimes 30,000 miles or even less.

3) Use higher engine rpms. Granted this one's tough cause we are all seeking to use lower engine rpms to mainly save fuel. One doesn't have to run engine to redline every shift but any bit of extra engine rpms helps.
...
These DFI engines I think will deliver better fuel economy even if driven in this manner and this will help to keep the intakes clear of deposits. Any deposits will almost certainly affect fuel economy so nothing's lost by being a bit more "agressive" with the engine's rpms. And much is to be gained. If (when) engine deposits accumulate fuel economy will go down and the symptom worsen."

Full thread here: http://www.planet-9.com/cayman-boxst...-good-buy.html

Let me know what your driving style is!