Spare the accelerator, spoil the car?

Or something similar goes thru my head when I hear the only way to keep a p-car "happy" is to drive it "hard". What exactly does driving hard mean? Is it beating the crap out of it everyday in every way (go fast, stop faster, etc..) or is it driving at 8/10ths everyday (spirited twisty road kinda driving) or is it just avoiding the stop and go of daily driving (which basically makes it a weekender). So: 1. What is driving hard? 2. Why is that good for the p-car (assuming that it is better than not driving hard)? Nope, not a slow at work. Quite the contrary. Just need a break

Driving the car hard does not only apply to a Porsche, but all piston engines. The frequent increase in cylinder pressure and exhaust flow help keep the entire system clean. The varying heat ranges you get when driving the car hard at higher rpm's helps keeps the cylinders properly honed by increasing the pressure of the rings against them. Without obtaining the high heat that can only be obtained by driving the car at high Rpm's, you are inviting carbon biuldup in on the pistons and valves. Abusing the car and driving it hard are too differnet things. Bouncing regularly off the rev limiter is NOT abuse.

I think it is everything you mentioned. It would be a sin if I didn't drive mine almost everyday. I always find a way to have a spirited drive daily. It's what these cars were meant for, they love it. You can literally beat on these things all day and you're not going to break them. SC's, case in point.

And to that point, if you have a car that is sluggish and symptomatic of having a bad tank of gas, even though that's not the case, one of the best things to do is take it to the track and run it hard...

Especially during last parts of breakin (to seat the rings)...... It used to be a lot worse with leaded gas, it required blow outs frequently.

Thank you for confirming what I had sort of suspected. Now if I can only convince the rest of Chicago to part ways so that I can achieve speeds upwards of 17 mph on any part of my commute Isn't there a law somewhere that says p-cars get their own lanes? There should be one

I know many here consider it harmless, but hitting the rev limiter on a regular basis is not recommended and is, IMHO, definitely abuse. If you're hitting the limiter, you might want to do more listening and feeling of the car to avoid this. Also, whacking the limiter is recorded by the DME and can be pulled up by the dealer. They might not appreciate seeing all of the times you've been rough with the motor. You eyes, ears and brain are the real rev limiter. The one supplied by Porsche is a back up system.

I think "driving hard" means using full throttle and most of the rev range. Obviously, you can't do that very much in urban areas. I don't think it means keeping the engine boiling at 5000 rpm when driving on the highway. Maybe "don't baby the car" is a better instruction, and applies from day one. AS

Tell that to my buddy who has a 1999 C2 chipped with an 7800 rev limit. It is still harmless, but thanks for trying to change our minds.

Actually, your mechanic will be thanking you .

I hope he changed the crank bolts, pcars don't like to go over 6500rpm.. I bet he doesn't have any mental cobwebs.......

Amen Torags How do the con. rods like the stretch? are the valve springs still alert? My C2 loses torque at that speed anyway so it's time for another gear.

I guess that's why Porsche set the redline at 7300? They want to break the crank bolts? You should really do a little research before you spout off like that. Why would you make yourself look so ignorant about the subject?

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I got the number from recollection from a renntech article about owners who chip withot regard to how other componants fit with the chip.. I might have misspoke. But that's the reason I would never buy a car from a smart guy like you....

99/911 If Porsche sets the redline at 7300, is it your position that 7800 rpm thru a remapped chip is a safe rev range? AS

I don't have first hand knowledge for an opinion ( position), however: The failure discussed in the article concerned failure of crank bearing housing bolts at points over recommended revs. Bolts sold by PAG were specially colored to indentify as the stronger bolts. These colored bolts may be used in the turbo to handle higher revs. I'm no expert on this subject, I was just trying to caution someone who chips, to check the effects on other componants. I'll see if I can dig up the link on renntech, to dig me out of the hole.