How hard do you drive your Porsche?

[boldstep]

I have a 01 996 C4 and when I first got it, I would drive it hard! Many of my revs would reach a little south of the redline and my turns would be quite aggressive. Then, my AOS blew on one of those drives. :-( Since then, I've been thinking maybe it wasn't too smart to drive a 10+ year old car so hard. Now I keep my revs below 6000 and don't corner quite a tightly.

How hard do you drive your Porsche when you take it out?

Do you come close to the redline frequently, never or once and a while?

[white99c2]

My '99 first hit the streets in May of 1998 in the Southwest. I drive the car daily for the past 2 years and have upgraded everything I could to keep it looking "showroom brand new" and it does still look and drive like a car thats maybe a year old.

I do not push it. Don't get me wrong, in Arizona the average speed on the highway is 85, I do drive the speed of the traffic with the radar detector on.

For street driving I shift around 4K RPM's.

My car is now 14 years old and I really love it and I dont want to kill it.

[Jurgenk]

That is a NICELY maintained MY 1999

Wish everyone took care of their cars like that!

[SimonP5150]

It's been said by many wise people on this and every board to drive it like you stole it! These cars love to be driven hard (abusing a car is different). There are stories of extreme low mileage and babied examples eating their IMS bearings due to lack of use and regularly track driven examples not missing a beat. The car will always need maintenance items if you drive it alot, but I enjoy maintaining mine and driving it like it was meant to be driven. 72K on mine.

[jyoteen]

My car hit the track at 1100 miles on the odometer when new. It's my daily driver and my track whore for 8 years and 130k miles.

I don't redline the car and abuse it, but I certainly don't baby it either

Edited June 24, 2012 by jyoteen

[Alfieboy]

I drive mine like my mother-in-law has fallen onto the road ahead of me - foot down hard, and with God as my witness ;)

That said, never red-lined it - 6k tops. But, there's a lot fun to had there.

[boldstep]

I drive mine like my mother-in-law has fallen onto the road ahead of me - foot down hard, and with God as my witness ;)

That said, never red-lined it - 6k tops. But, there's a lot fun to had there.

LOL!

[phillipj]

It's been said by many wise people on this and every board to drive it like you stole it! These cars love to be driven hard (abusing a car is different). There are stories of extreme low mileage and babied examples eating their IMS bearings due to lack of use and regularly track driven examples not missing a beat. The car will always need maintenance items if you drive it alot, but I enjoy maintaining mine and driving it like it was meant to be driven. 72K on mine.

Amen to that!

I drive the crap out of mine. I hit the rev limiter at least once a week. I drove my Carreras the same way. To be afraid to redilne a Porsche is silly. The rev limiter wll kick in well before you would do any harm to the engine (unless you miss a shift.) I get 5k miles out of a set of rear tires.. Your car is not going to last longer because you don't "push" the engine. Talk to any highly qualified Porsche tech and see what he says about "babying" a Porsche... They (Porsches) don't like it....They will last longer and require less repairs if you drive them hard.. Not abuse them but hard...

Edited June 25, 2012 by phillipj

[Zeem8]

I always try to avoid red lining mine.. however does popping the roll bars up mean she's been pushed to hard ?

They make a loud bang when they go up and scare the bejesus out of you.. :drive:

[white99c2]

I sell cars and I've sold lots of 996's and 997's. Every guy I sold a car to that had a PPI done at Porsche was advised by Porsche not to purchase if the rev limiter was hit more than X times. Porsche rates it as level 1, 2 3 etc.

It's not a good practice to hit the rev limiter. Have mercy on that car man!

[phillipj]

"Have mercy on that car man!"

Never.... :drive:

"Redline" and the "rev limiter" are entirely different things

.I'm not that hard on it... I didn't mean I always hit the rev limiter. But with my ECU flash it has increased the revs to 7500. I do shift well before the rev limiter kicks in. I realize it's not a good practice...

Thanks for your input :cheers:

Edited June 28, 2012 by phillipj

[RSrocket]

I have a MY99 with about 99xxx miles on her. I have replaced a few items along with some upgrades.

Daily driving I shift anywhere between 4k & 5k. When getting on the freeway I take her just up to red line. When cruzing I try to keep the revs above 3k. I do drive her pretty hard but I don't abuse her.

[phillipj]

Beautiful car. I love 99's.... :thumbup:

[mffarrell]

I drive my 03 like I stole it. :-)

[pringletl]

My 03 4S (manual) is my daily driver (365) and I generally shift at moderate RPMs (3- 4k), but she runs smoother when I open her up at least a couple of times a week (5 - 6k RPM shifts). I try not redline or hit the limiter. I don't drive it like I stole it, but I drive it like it likes to be driven. That's why I bought a Porsche.

[MiamiC70]

2004 40th AE w/ 54,000 miles and I shift at 4k-5k around town and I to hit the rev limiter at least one in a while. The X51 engine beckons to be revved through mt FisterD modded mufflers so I tend to oblige. Had her 2 years never an issue change the oil religiously every 5k miles and daily drive her.

[gnetwerker]

I always try to avoid red lining mine.. however does popping the roll bars up mean she's been pushed to hard ? They make a loud bang when they go up and scare the bejesus out of you..

I seriously need to know what it takes to do this. I thought I drove mine to some decent horizontal g-forces, but I guess not.

[996.solo2]

I drive the crap out of mine. I hit the rev limiter at least once a week. I drove my Carreras the same way. To be afraid to redilne a Porsche is silly. The rev limiter wll kick in well before you would do any harm to the engine (unless you miss a shift.) I get 5k miles out of a set of rear tires.. Your car is not going to last longer because you don't "push" the engine. Talk to any highly qualified Porsche tech and see what he says about "babying" a Porsche... They (Porsches) don't like it....They will last longer and require less repairs if you drive them hard.. Not abuse them but hard...

Because I can't agree with this post enough, I'll say it again.

To be afraid to redline a Porsche is silly.

Edited July 27, 2012 by 996.solo2

[Mick5961]

I've had my MY98 (RHD) 996 Carrera over 5 years - 112k kilometers. Push hard when I'm in the mood, but not silly. But I keep up the maintenance up and it runs trouble free.

Mick :thumbup:

[johnny99]

Drove my 99 c4 cab(996) reasonably hard but never had the rollbars pop out :jump: 83000 km's when I sold it never missed a beat. I do drive my 05 c2s(997) hard from time to time have hit the revlimiter a couple of times. I like to take it out for a good 260 - 280kmph thrash about once a month 75000 km no problems. If you keep up regular maintenance I don't think driving hard will be a problem.

Johann

South Africa

Edited July 27, 2012 by Loren
removed ALL CAPS shouting in post

[mghorayeb]

Go easy when it's cold (i.e. <4K RPM), and let it rip when it warms up. I take it to 7K RPM every day...Otherwise, go buy a sedan.

[ldrhoades]

My 2000 C2 is now exclusively a track rat. About 60k on the clock, Last 10 have been exclusively track. I don't habitually bounce off the rev limiter (have banged it once or twice), don't generally run to redline either, but again do so occasionally. Honestly, I'd be more worried about your transmission - if you are rough on the box the syncros can be a little fragile. Assuming you maintain, and warm up the car properly, have at it I say.

[cdupont0734]

Hit the rev-limiter a few times since I got my 99 C2 6sp 4 years ago. Once at the track and once drag racing.

Tried, just for the fun of it, to pop the clutch at 4k rpm off the line and it works great. The car squats and then takes off like a bat out hell.

Otherwise I usually shift around 5k on the twisty roads and 3k to 5k in the city.

I always wait till the engine has warmed up before going over 3k rpm.

I change the oil and filter every 5k and take apart the filter and examine it for filings. Replaced the clutch at 110k km and replaced the RMS because it was leaking grease and upgraded the IMS. Now have 130k km abd the filter was looking good as of the last oil change.

[Mike Petonic]

I drive mine like my mother-in-law has fallen onto the road ahead of me - foot down hard, and with God as my witness ;)

That's funny, because my steering technique is similar: I throw it into the corners as if it were my mother-in-law.

;)

[CDLVancouver]

I too give my 02 C2 plenty of time to warm up before tromping on it. Takes 5-7 minutes of driving at under 4k to get er there. Once shes all warmed up from the gentle foreplay, i pound on her pretty good. Ill take her to red line probably twice a day, and i usually shift her between 5-6k. In traffic ill shift at 4.5k or so.

Never able to get her into 6th gear though and 5th isnt too common.