Warm Up

I remember reading somewhere on this forum that it's recommended to drive conservatively for approximately 15 km until the car warms up.Since a lot of my trips are short range I was wondering if instead of driving 15 kmI could let the car warm up for 10 minutes or so idling at home.Then hopefully I could drive spiritedly from mile one.Any thoughts on doing this? Thanks.

I thought Manual says NOT to warm up, but avoid driving over 4200 RPM or so for the first 5 minutes.

The manual says not to warm the car up stationary and to keep the revs below 4200 for the first 5 minutes, IIRC. Andy

Warming up wastes gas.

Drive a mile or so and then 'let her rip'!

Thanks for the information. Since I have not yet purchased the car, I have not read the manual. I have had other cars for which on a cold morning I let the car warm up with the heater on for five or ten minutes so that when I get in to drive it's a comfortable temperature. Do your replies mean that doing this would harm the car? Do I need to get the heated seats in order to be comfortable in cold weather?

No, it probably won't hurt the car but it will watse gas. I warm mine up motionless most mornings and then also take it easy (shifting at 3000rpm for the first few minutes/miles. I wish the darn thing had an oil temp gague!

The stationary warmup does harm the car. Consider the humble piston rings. What they do and the conditions under which they do it are amazing. I believe most authorities recommend driving off almost right away after starting and I believe this is because crankshaft speeds above idle are necessary to get oil onto the cylinder walls in a cold engine. I have always liked the concept of oil or water heaters that preheat the engine by plugging in to ahousehold outlet. but don't think I'd want to put one on aCayman. Heated seats may be the closest to a good solution.

Doh! /fckeditor/editor/images/smiley/MWPX/embaressed_smile.gif Thanks ed1, I guess I'll stop now.

Doh! /fckeditor/editor/images/smiley/MWPX/embaressed_smile.gif Thanks ed1, I guess I'll stop now. My dealer did tell me to wait until the revs drop from 1050 to 750 though, takes about 1-2 minutes..

Isn't the manual available here on C-Club as a download?

Sorry to rehash an old topic but.. For warm up do you guys turn the key and go and be kind until warmed up or do you wait say 1 minute until the idle drops and then put it in gear but still drive carefullly until the oil is warmed. Thank you for your thoughts. :beer:

Personally, I'd warm it up a little before driving. Get the oil circulating and warmed. Putting a load on an engine with cold oil inside is not good. Porsche has recommended no warm up for a long time. It was the same way in the manual of my 1986 944 Turbo. In Germany, you don't warm up your car. In fact, you could get a ticket for doing so. Why? Because as pointed out by other posters in this thread, it wastes gas (which costs about $6 a gallon right now in Germany) and creates pollution. Also, letting a car idle for too long can overheat the catalytic converters. Porsche engines are made with very tight tolerances. They are also primarily made of aluminum. Aluminum is a metal with one of the highest coefficients of thermal expansion known to man. That means that when the engine is cold, the tolerances and gaps are much different than when it's hot. (Why Porsche recommends 0w-40 oil.). Add to the equation the fact that the hydraulic lifters are very complex, and to me, I'd rather warm the oil and engine up a little before I drive off.

I start the car wait a couple of moments the drive off. Keep it mellow till the water temp reaches 175, then have fun.

When I start my CS up, I wait til it drops down to 750 rpm which takes less than a minute, then I drive away, taking it easy until it reaches 175 degrees farenheit, where the temp. remains until you shut it down. IMHO you can actuallytell when it has warmed up to be driven normally... feels sluggish and low on power until it reaches the magic warmed-up temp., and then it just wants to go!

I don't drive away until the idle speed settles down, then not over 3K rpms until the temp gauge is at its operating range, figure the oil should be fairly warmed up by then. As as been mentioned in other threads, the interior of the Cayman warms up very quickly on a cold morning. If mine's been idling 3-5 minutes and the seat heater is on, it is very toasty on a 40 degree day.

One of the reasons you can drive off without warming the car up too much is the oiling system of the Porsche cars. While not a true dry sump system like the air-cooled cars (and turbos and GT2s and GT3s), the oiling system in the newer water cooled motors has oil delivered directly to the spots it is needed through passageways molded into the crankcase, just like in the dry sump systems. This means that instead of having oil basically "splashed" around the inside of the engine, which then drips down through the engine back into the pan like most cars, the oil is delivered under pressure directly to the pistons, main bearings, lifters, and such, then pumped back into the pan on the bottom of the engine (a real dry sump system would have a separate oil tank). Rather than warm the car up stationary, it's best to drive off as mentioned after the revs settle in to 750 rpm, and then keep it below 4000 rpm for a good 7-10 minutes or so. This not only warms up the oil, but it also gets all the metal parts, large and small, seals and what have you, up to operating temperature and expanded under proper working temperature. The coolant in these cars comes up to temperature much faster than the oil, so you shouldn't use the coolant being at 175 to be the gauge you use for the oil being up to temp, but a good 7-10 minutes (I usually err on the side of 10 minutes) will be enough to get things to the point where you can get on it however you like. brad

Beez, You beat me to it! I was just going to say almost exactly that. Put her in gear when it comes off fast idle and be gentle for 5-10 minutes.

Yes, 2006 and 2007 manuals are available in the FILES section.

I don't have my Cayman yet. If I had one, I will drive exactly like all other cars that I had/have. I start the engine, check all gauges, rpm steady, put on seatbelt, check my passenger and surroundings, engage the clutch and drive off. I am an equal opportunity owner – love them equally and refuse to be the slave of my vehicles. I know many like it and i respect that. But I would rather be the master of my vehicles.

Thanks for all that oiling system information. Another use for the CHRONO stopwatch!

Thanks everyone for the excellent info.