Driving a 996

Hi, new to the Porsche world. Purchased a C2 two weeks ago (very Pleased). When driving the car from Cold it seems to have completely different characteristics until it has warmed up and at operating temperature. I have been trying to keep revs below 3000 before it warms up. Can anyone shed any light !!! is this normal ?

I can't comment on the C2 I got mine last Saturday and haven't driven enough from cold and when it's warm. But my Boxster S did have different warm and cold feel but then like you I never take the car above 3k rpm until it's at normal operating temperatures so that may explain it. But the Boxster came alive once it had been running for an extended. The C2 though feels so far the same cold and warm. What "different characteristics" do you feel?

Hi - Can't relly explain but when it is warm it feels more responsive, idles better and generally feels more together. The car has only covered 1000 miles in the last 12 months, total mileage is 55K over 6 years, fully serviced - last service was April O4. Might be worth getting it checked over.

Sounds how the Boxster was. Haven't noticed it so much with the C2 though.

Is it tiptronic? The gearchange speeds change as it warms up on the tip, which I think is mentioned in the manual. It changes the feel of the car completely. If yours is manual, then this obviously won't apply.

My C4 always feels sluggish when I fire it up on cold mornings. Gears are very stiff and car is generally less responsive. Once temperature has risen to 80, things start to warm up and settle down. Then ma baby takes off.[ ] I wouldn't worry too much. Nice warm blanket over the engine on cold nights. Treat her like your wife, she just takes a little time to get up in the mornings![ ] Si

Mines a pig till warm, gearbox stiff and difficult to use, motor ok but reluctant to rev when you blip the throttle. Totally different when warmed up though !! dont worry there all like it .

This is all about emissions (apart from the horribly recalcitrant gearshift, which seems to take about an hour to work properly)! It is worth noting that modern automatic cars use an 'optimum warm-up' program in the engine management, which is designed to get the catalysts up to operating temperature as soon as possible (apparently, most of your engine emissions occur in the first 10 minutes, in a typical, average drive). Interestingly, this is mainly achieved by hanging on to lower gears for longer - the extra revolutions warm the engine faster. When asked whether this wears out the engine, as we have always been told to keep revs down when the engine is cold, I was told that modern synthetic oils are thinner, to protect a cold engine as well as reduce internal friction. Without going off into a new thread about synthetic oils in water-cooled engines vs mineral oils in air-cooled engines, the argument is that the target is to get your engine warm quickly. The engine is probably lumpy and unresponsive because the mixture is as lean as possible to keep emissions down. The owners manual is not very helpful, simply advising against high revolutions and full throttle, without stating what 'high' actually means! In the 'olden days', we were always told to warm up 911's before driving them - something to do with the dry-sump protecting a cold, stationary engine. We are now advised to NOT warm up the car whilst stationary. But these days you are never really sure whether these sage words in manuals are designed to protect your investment, or save the world! Do the guys with 'aftermarket' or reprogrammed chips suffer less?