I have been running Royal Purple 5w-40 for a long time now, but I think it's time to switch to Mobile 1 High Mileage as it has more zinc and phosphorous as well as seal conditioners. I have been using a little more oil than I used to, but she is still running like new. If I don't drive her for about a wk, she will give me a puff of smoke on start-up and I hear a little tick-tick for a few seconds. I don't like that. Anyone running mobile 1 10-40? I live in the hot desert of Tucson. I bet the clearances would be fine, but just wondering how you guys feel about the oil change. More cushion for the bearings should be a good thing. I seem to always drive hard. In bursts ya know.
BTW, if you buy oil by 5 gallons of Royal Purple on Amazon with prime=free shipping, it saves me like 70 bucks over the local stores. Just FYI. Talking about my 04 Cayenne Turbo BTW.

Thanks for any input.

 

10w-40 is still going to have the same viscosity at high temperature as the 5w-40 oil, even a 0w-40 oil.

A 10w-40 oil is going to flow less rapidly at cold start. No 10w-40 oil is on Porsche'a approved oil list -- and neither is Royal Purple either IIRC. The 10w is the wrong viscosity and the VarioCam Plus system -- variable valve timing and low/high lift -- are hydraulically operated features and the oil viscosity Porsche has spec'd for the engines takes those two very important features into account.

If you are that concerned about high temperature viscosity consider using a 5w-50 oil. (This is not a typo for 15w-50 oil!)

A year or two back I switched to running Mobil 1 5w-50 oil in both of my cars, my 2003 Turbo -- now with 143929 miles -- and my 2002 Boxster with just over 300K miles.

BTW, with 0w-40 or 5w-50 the engines sound the same cold warm or hot and the Turbo oil pressure at all RPMs is as best I can tell from the gage -- admittedly not the most precision of gages -- the same with either oil when the engine and oil is cold warm or hot regardless of the oil's multi-viscosity grade.

Even in the Boxster with its big miles 0W-40 was just fine. I switched because where I live it doesn't get that cold but it can get quite hot here -- not AZ hot thank goodness but it can reach triple digits -- and I felt maybe 5w-50 was the better oil. Oil consumption is the same as 0w-40 oil as it is with 5w-50. The Boxster engine uses about a quart in 5K miles. The Turbo can use about the same or a bit more depending upon usage. (Recently been using it as my main vehicle and the around town usage has oil consumption up some.) And I change the oil every 5K miles in both cars.

Have to warn you that if you live/drive in areas where the temperature can get cold, Porsche states in its oil documentation 0w-40 should be used if cold temperatures drop to -25C (-13F). Frankly, if where I lived and drove the temperature would get down in the single digits I'd run 0w-40 oll at least in the winter.

 

Thanks for all the info. Well done.

 

BTW, My Porsche guy/mechanic has had my 911 running 10-40 for about 10 years now on my 99 Carrera. 90K miles. Never an issue, just a little high oil pressure on start-up for a minute. It is never below 30 in Tucson and months of over 100 in the summer. 10-40 has been doing great. She doesn't use oil and never any lifter tick. It also reads in the owner's manual this oil is recommended for the heat. I gave you rep points, but not "All" Porsches take the same oils. My 99 Carrera does have 10-40 in the list in the owner's manual, just FYI.

 

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I'm not a huge fan of Mobil 0w40 as it shears to a 30w oil too quickly. I'm a fan of Shell Rotella T6 5w40 and ever since switching over have noticed much lower oil use in my CTT.

I wouldn't worry about the puff of smoke or tick-tick at startup as long as it goes right away. Pretty normal for a CTT that has been sitting for a while. I think Porsche issues a TSB on the smoke issue as it being "normal" on CTT's but don't quote me.

 

i mix royal purple 0w40/20w50 or 5w40/20w50.
Are you sure mobil1 has more zddp?

 

Only the High Mileage Mobil 1 has ZDPP. I use that in my collector cars, but Royal Purple in my daily drivers.

 

Motul 8100 xcess is a 5-40 oil that's Porsche A40 Approved. I used it in my 997s before switching to Driven DT40 per Jake Raby's recommendation after looking at some of my used oil analysis reports. Was using Mobil 1 prior to that and as posted here the additive package was showing significant breakdown even in as few as 4,000 miles. The reports with the Motul looked much better. I have a good bit of the Motul remaining and will use that in my 957 CTTS and then likely switch that over to the DT40 as well.

The variocam system comes in 2 varieties - regular variocam in the earlier cars that changes intake valve timing (open longer duration at higher RPMs) and then Variocam plus which adjusts both intake valve lift and duration. I don't recall when the changeover occurred but know the M97 engine in my 2005 C2S has the plus system.

 

The shop that prepared my '11 Turbo for sale did a complete service on the truck, including an oil change with Amsoil 5W-40. I haven't been able to find any real used oil reports to see if the Amsoil is significantly better than Mobile-1, although Amsoil claims it is (and presents their tests as evidence.)

It's gonna be due for a change again sometime not too far down the road, and I'm considering what oil to use. Given the talk about viscosity breakdown in M1, despite it being relatively inexpensive, I'm hesitant to use it.

Amsoil any good? Anyone have any Blackstone reports (specifically the viscosity at temperature, and ash points) on it?

 

Try Mobil 1 5W40 Turbo Diesel Truck Formula. It has higher Zinc content and shears way less than M1 0W40. I'm still waiting to add more oil....

 

I used the M1 Turbo Diesel in my 997s for a while at a 5,000 mile change interval. Blackstone reports with the TAN & TBN analysis showed breakdown of that anti-wear and additive package and viscosity. I lowered the change interval to 4,500 which made it better, then to 4,000 which was better yet, but still not what I was comfortable with and this was all street driving. Talking to Jake Raby about it, he said being a truck oil, it likely wasn't designed with appropriate shear properties for the higher RPM use of the 997 motors. I then switched to Motul xcess 8100 which is also high in Zinc and Phosphorous and is Porsche A40 approved, and it was better. Best so far is the Joe Gibbs Driven DT40 that I'm now using in the 997s.

In my Cayenne Turbo S, since the RPMs aren't usually has high, I'll use up the rest of the Motul there with a 4,000-5,000 mile change interval, then switch over to the Driven DT40 in that one too so I only inventory 1 oil for the newer P-cars. Both the older ones ('74 914 & supercharged '79 928) have Driven DT50 in them now.

 

Just received back the most recent UOA from Blackstone on my wife's '05 997 C2S (attached PDF in addition to the pic in case it's too small) and thought you guys might find it interesting how much better the Joe Gibbs Driven DT40 is holding up in this 997 motor compared to the A40 approved Motul 8100 xcess. It's viscosity at 4,000 miles is better than the Motul even when the Motul was changed at a 3,600 mile interval, and the Phosphorous & Zinc levels, which are critical to the life of these motors, are the highest compared to any of any Motul samples.

Based on these #s, I'll be going back to a 5,000 mile change interval to see what the #s look like there. I'm also interested to see how the DT40 compares to the M1 5/40 and Motul xcess once my next sample is due in my supercharged 997 as that's the one that was tearing down the viscosity of the M1 more quickly. That one should come due for a change in a few more months.

 

Personally - I don't see any startling difference in the oils. The numbers are all within normal ranges. The difference never appears to be 10% or even close to it - which is where I'd think it might be a bit significant.

Do you have a virgin oil analysis on the Joe Gibbs oil? I'm sure some searching will turn up one for the Motul. To me - that's what tells me if the oil is holding up or breaking down - virgin vs used analysis. I also rather expect that if you're changing oil at 3-4,000 mile intervals the use of any Porsche approved oil will be just fine for the engine. It's under extended use that you start to see viscosity breakdown, and lower flash points. The amount of high-pressure additives should decrease with use since they're considered consumable in oil.