How bad are short runs in a TT???
How bad are short runs in a TT???
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Discussion

MaKSiNG

Original Poster:

382 posts

256 months

Monday 26th March 2007
quotequote all
Quick question which doesn't specifically regard 996TTs but engines in general I suppose.

How bad is it for the engine if I do a 1 mile drive, to say the gym in my 996TT (the idea being that 45 mins later I could go straight to work from there)? I know the engine would not get chance to fully heat up on that sort of a run and this is not something I would normally do in my cars. But a change of lifestyle recently might see me doing this 2 or 3 times a week.

Is it a big no no which has some evidence to back it up or just something that is generally decided by enthusiastic owners they would never do.

Thanks.

sportsandclassic

3,774 posts

248 months

Monday 26th March 2007
quotequote all
Hello

By not letting the vehicle get up to temperature you will mainly be on a cold start map in the ecu so it will be running richer than it would be at operating temperature so you should change the engine oil more frequently as it will be fuel contaminated.
Also you are creating condensation in the exhaust system when left to cool down you will not be clearing this out.....Just an excuse to go for a blast down a dual carriage way of an evening..or take long route home ...

Mike

sportsandclassic

cableguy

2,287 posts

239 months

Monday 26th March 2007
quotequote all
In most cases (please correct me if i'm wrong?) the car would generally require servicing/oil changes more often, due to increased Spark Plug fouling etc.

Coming from BMW's with their Service Indicator's I found that whilst doing many long motorway journey's that the servise interval's were very infrequent, but as soon as I was using the car for shopping/gym runs etc. the interval's became more frequent.

Obviously as a rule the more time a car spends at its optimum operating temperature then the better, but as long as the car is serviced and maintained based on its driving condition's I'm sure you'll be fine.

C.

johnfm

13,751 posts

280 months

Monday 26th March 2007
quotequote all
MaKSiNG said:
Quick question which doesn't specifically regard 996TTs but engines in general I suppose.

How bad is it for the engine if I do a 1 mile drive, to say the gym in my 996TT (the idea being that 45 mins later I could go straight to work from there)? I know the engine would not get chance to fully heat up on that sort of a run and this is not something I would normally do in my cars. But a change of lifestyle recently might see me doing this 2 or 3 times a week.

Is it a big no no which has some evidence to back it up or just something that is generally decided by enthusiastic owners they would never do.

Thanks.



How short is the trip to your nearest newsagent....

MaKSiNG

Original Poster:

382 posts

256 months

Monday 26th March 2007
quotequote all
Wow, I thought it would be much worse than that thumbup
I do tend to try and service my cars more than is generally required in the service schedule. So doing an oil change at 6,000 miles is not an issue.

Mike - That longer run on an evening to clear the exhasut will certainly not be a problem at all driving

kennyboy

641 posts

269 months

Monday 26th March 2007
quotequote all
If you're always or nearly always doing a longer run after the gym then it's not an issue IMO - it's if your only journey that day was the 1 miler perhaps that would be a different story.

Gym 3 times a week!! now that IS a lifestyle change.

br d

9,072 posts

256 months

Monday 26th March 2007
quotequote all
I was following a forum from across the pond whilst waiting for my car to be built. There was a lot of good advice about running in, waxing, servicing and the like and I was making careful mental notes of it all. Then someone posted that:
"You should never do short journeys, always run the car until the engine is fully warmed up".

I just thought oh FFS!!! Fully warmed up? In the winter in England??
So I'd waited 20 years to own one, spent 70 odd grand on the bastard thing and now I can't even use it when I want! I've got to drive it at least 5 miles everytime I leave the bloody house!!
It's a car fer chrissake!!!

That's one step too far for me, if it means using a little more oil or knocking 200 miles off the service interval then so be it. If I want to jump in it and pop to the shop and back I'm not going to lose sleep worrying about it blowing up.

wanta996

5,622 posts

237 months

Monday 26th March 2007
quotequote all
I have to agree with Br D - I remember reading this sort of thing with Testarossas and Countaches - Engine needs warmed up, gearbox needs warmed up. I personally find it at best - Strange,cars in this day and age requiring such processes. I wonder if my mates Bentley Conti requires this sort of molly cuddling? From what i know? It doesnt.

MaKSiNG

Original Poster:

382 posts

256 months

Monday 26th March 2007
quotequote all
After all, it is supposed to be the everyday Supercar.

Thanks guys.

Globulator

13,847 posts

261 months

Monday 26th March 2007
quotequote all
br d said:
"...never do short journeys, always run the car until the engine is fully warmed up".
On the Boxster S I borrowed, the engine appeared to fully warm up in about 1 minute flat so that wouldn't be a problem.

The option is whether to save on gym fees and just run there and back three times a week..

kennyboy

641 posts

269 months

Monday 26th March 2007
quotequote all
br d said:
I was following a forum from across the pond whilst waiting for my car to be built. There was a lot of good advice about running in, waxing, servicing and the like and I was making careful mental notes of it all. Then someone posted that:
"You should never do short journeys, always run the car until the engine is fully warmed up".

I just thought oh FFS!!! Fully warmed up? In the winter in England??
So I'd waited 20 years to own one, spent 70 odd grand on the bastard thing and now I can't even use it when I want! I've got to drive it at least 5 miles everytime I leave the bloody house!!
It's a car fer chrissake!!!

That's one step too far for me, if it means using a little more oil or knocking 200 miles off the service interval then so be it. If I want to jump in it and pop to the shop and back I'm not going to lose sleep worrying about it blowing up.


Spot on.... us petrol heads are generally more mechanically sympathetic than the average owner - but sometimes like pussy's too!

The short journey affects are probably true but then so what - if you worry about that do you also worry about idling for a couple of minutes after a hard run, not allowing any boost until the engine's warm, don't use full boost in second to protect the clutch, etc etc etc

Yes it is the everyday supercar - use it how you like, hell even spool up the turbos a little before it's warm if you like!

MaKSiNG

Original Poster:

382 posts

256 months

Monday 26th March 2007
quotequote all
kennyboy said:
Spot on.... us petrol heads are generally more mechanically sympathetic than the average owner - but sometimes like pussy's too!

The short journey affects are probably true but then so what - if you worry about that do you also worry about idling for a couple of minutes after a hard run, not allowing any boost until the engine's warm, don't use full boost in second to protect the clutch, etc etc etc

Yes it is the everyday supercar - use it how you like, hell even spool up the turbos a little before it's warm if you like!


Damn! I am sad. I do all of those other things you mention above (except for full boost in 2nd, didn't know about that one, probably wouldn't do all out starts from a standstil for the same reason though).
Although I do think it is a good idea to let the car idle for a little while after a hard blast. Particularly with turbos. Although I suppose the TT would have 2 highly efficient oil coolers which stop the oil burning up in the turbos when you stop the circulation.
And no thrashing til all temperatures are up is a given with any car (except hire cars of course )

And don't forget the obligatory, turn the ignition on and wait til all warning lights are extinguished, fuel pump has primed etc, then turn the engine on. LOL!


Edited by MaKSiNG on Monday 26th March 19:00

cableguy

2,287 posts

239 months

Monday 26th March 2007
quotequote all
kennyboy said:
[quote=br d]don't use full boost in second to protect the clutch, etc etc etc


Never heard of this one before confused, any reason why second and not any other gears?

C.

2something

2,145 posts

238 months

Monday 26th March 2007
quotequote all
MaKSiNG said:
1 mile drive to the gym


I have some non car related advice on that one

phelix

4,683 posts

279 months

Monday 26th March 2007
quotequote all
MaKSiNG said:
Although I suppose the TT would have 2 highly efficient oil coolers which stop the oil burning up in the turbos when you stop the circulation.


The 996tt has virtually the same turbos as the 993tt; neither has any extra cooling after the engine's shut off. Letting either car idle for a few minutes is good preventative maintenance.

9hellheaven

1,595 posts

239 months

Monday 26th March 2007
quotequote all
My 12 month old 9972s has 5k on it, so I dropped the oil/filter just to make me feel I was doing the right thing. I go for short runs and good blasts, I only have one mental rule in my head..that I keep it below 4k rpm until oil/water is at full temp. The other rule is to enjoy it..I only run it up to about 6k rpm as I think this is the top of the power/torque so not much point in reving it out to I think about 6.8 or 6.9 rpm/red line..not sure without looking.
I am a bit of a sad git and have been known to do the airport tunnels (manchester) with windows down pse on....greeeeat!!!

kennyboy

641 posts

269 months

Monday 26th March 2007
quotequote all
MaKSiNG said:
kennyboy said:
Spot on.... us petrol heads are generally more mechanically sympathetic than the average owner - but sometimes like pussy's too!

The short journey affects are probably true but then so what - if you worry about that do you also worry about idling for a couple of minutes after a hard run, not allowing any boost until the engine's warm, don't use full boost in second to protect the clutch, etc etc etc

Yes it is the everyday supercar - use it how you like, hell even spool up the turbos a little before it's warm if you like!


Damn! I am sad. I do all of those other things you mention above (except for full boost in 2nd, didn't know about that one, probably wouldn't do all out starts from a standstil for the same reason though).
Although I do think it is a good idea to let the car idle for a little while after a hard blast. Particularly with turbos. Although I suppose the TT would have 2 highly efficient oil coolers which stop the oil burning up in the turbos when you stop the circulation.
And no thrashing til all temperatures are up is a given with any car (except hire cars of course )

And don't forget the obligatory, turn the ignition on and wait til all warning lights are extinguished, fuel pump has primed etc, then turn the engine on. LOL!


Edited by MaKSiNG on Monday 26th March 19:00


ha ha I do all these things too - but I know I shouldn't...except for the turbo cooling that is, important on the 993 but not 996 IIRC.

2nd gear - yeah not sure what I mean there, think I mean stress on the driveline, 2nd at full boost is so savage isn't it.

'And don't forget the obligatory, turn the ignition on and wait til all warning lights are extinguished, fuel pump has primed etc, then turn the engine on. LOL!' - FREAK! hehe

MaKSiNG

Original Poster:

382 posts

256 months

Monday 26th March 2007
quotequote all
9hellheaven said:
I am a bit of a sad git and have been known to do the airport tunnels (manchester) with windows down pse on....greeeeat!!!


Nah nothing sad about that at all.

You want to see us lot on our way to the Nuerburgring every year. We get lost in Brussels on purpose just so we can keep driving through all of those tunnels.

A friend of mine has a Fezza 360. That flat plane crank in those tunnels ..... Sex!!!

scoobyc

581 posts

261 months

Monday 26th March 2007
quotequote all
phelix said:
MaKSiNG said:
Although I suppose the TT would have 2 highly efficient oil coolers which stop the oil burning up in the turbos when you stop the circulation.


The 996tt has virtually the same turbos as the 993tt; neither has any extra cooling after the engine's shut off. Letting either car idle for a few minutes is good preventative maintenance.

pretty sure the 996tt HAS got extra protection, there are fans that will keep running after you have stopped to provide cooling to the turbos, although its not exactly a hardship to do it yourself by taking it easy for the last mile or 2!

slippydiff

16,455 posts

253 months

Tuesday 27th March 2007
quotequote all
The case for the prosecution....

br d said:
a forum from across the pond


No further comment needed..................

When you use it, warm it up sensibly, and when you've finished using it, cool it down sensibly.

As Phelix says, no ancilliary systems to cool the Turbos down after switch off on 993 or 996TTs. But unless you've caned it senseless, you can normally switch off immediately (unless your in the habit of pulling onto your drive like it's the pitlane at Le Mans...........) in which case letting it idle for two minutes will have the desired effect on the turbos longevity.