How often do you redline it & a story of newfound joy - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

JoeFromPA · 08-04-2010, 04:53 PM

Hi all,

Well, celebrating about 3 weeks of boxster ownership now. 99 model, 5-speed, 56k miles and now 700 more than when I took on ownership.

First off, I wanted to ask how often people redline their boxsters (once fully warmed up of course). I find myself winding it out on the highway and alot on backroads....2nd and 3rd gears mostly. I'm primarily taking it to 6000 before shifting, but have gone up to 6500. Most of the magic appears to occur between 5000-6000 though. I'm guessing I'll be hitting redline once for every 5 miles I put on the car

Second thing I wanted to share: I've been a bit hard on the boxster. It may have an alignment issue, as it tramlines & vibrates at different speeds. It creaks a bit, and rides a bit rough for my taste (partly due to the barely broken in Bilstein HD dampers + thin sidewalled michelin pilot sports (not PS2s)).

As I was turning onto 6 miles of backroads tonight, I slapped myself in the face. I've got a mid-engined Porsche here, with a racing heritage, sitting on really fat summer tires hung off of excellent stiff dampers, and here I am complaining about ride quality and characteristics and some interior noises.

I sucked it up and started winding it out more, but also perfectly rev-matching downshifts, taking turns fairly hard (with a clear view of the other side), putting some heat in the brakes, and generally driving it.

Made me realize that sometimes a race car will make you happiest as a race car, instead of trying to make it into a pleasant sunday driver.
What is/was wrong with me?

Happy motoring.

JoeFromPA · 08-04-2010, 04:54 PM

By the way....I'm guessing my front engine mount is wearing out along with the shifter bushings, as my shifting is stiff and notchy, and my clutch and flywheel seem to not play friendly sometimes.

But when I was driving it hard and ripping off shifts, she was perfectly fluid....

Lordblood · 08-04-2010, 05:37 PM

Generally I drive my Boxster around 10 miles every day. Once warmed up, I try to red line at least twice before getting to my destination. It's good fun, and even though it's not lightning quick it still does feel good to be able to hit the red before getting into 2nd.

So honestly I probably redline 3 to 5 times a day every 10 miles.

EDIT: Also, as I found out, the tires make an enormous difference in ride quality, I swapped my tires for some cheap Kumho Ecsta ASX's and they ride amazing, work's really well as a daily driver now with reasonable grip.

blue2000s · 08-04-2010, 06:52 PM

If you're not using the top 1/3 of a flat-6's rev range, you're not getting what you paid for. These engines are made to rev both in performance and logevity. Run it to redline or buy an SUV.

Pat · 08-04-2010, 07:25 PM

I may not redline it ever time I drive it, but it's not uncommon. I drive it nearly every day and most of them have it over 6K at least once.

eightsandaces · 08-05-2010, 02:37 AM

My car sees the redline pretty often, with the care attention and maintenance we all put in, I feel confident in doing so.

Lordblood · 08-05-2010, 07:38 PM

There's only 2 highways in my city, and I don't ever use them in my Boxster, thus the only time I can redline legally is first gear, thus I do it :dance:

But yea, I do agree that 2nd gear does pull better than 1st gear beyond 5000 RPM.

08-05-2010, 09:18 PM

Maximum acceleration torque depends on the wheel, It is a combination of engine torque and gear. There are more torque to the wheels in first gear in the second Redline at any time. The maximum acceleration occurs when you Redline in the first, This is not the case with all cars, but they usually do with sport and certainly contributes Boxster.

al83s · 08-05-2010, 09:46 PM

I red-line my 2.7 several times a day and no problems so far.
Letting the rpm drop below 3k is dissapointing since the power just isnt there if you need it.
i have been getting 19-20 mpg lately though

BoxsterDuke · 08-05-2010, 10:30 PM

I've only recently taken ownership of my Boxster and reading the post on "Tiptronic in Manual Mode", I have just discovered a whole new car when driving in lower gears in manual between 5,000 and 6,500 revs (I think my 2.7 red-lines at 7,000?). Enormous fun, but still couldn't quite bring myself to take it right up to the Red-Line yet. Guess I'm still worried the engine will come out of the car over my left shoulder (UK).

Gentle driving in Auto is giving me around 26MPG, driving like last night probably around 21MPG.....but hell, its only fuel!!

Lordblood · 08-05-2010, 10:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BoxsterDuke

I've only recently taken ownership of my Boxster and reading the post on "Tiptronic vs Manual", I have just discovered a whole new car when driving in lower gears in manual between 5,000 and 6,500 revs (I think my 2.7 red-lines at 7,000?). Enormous fun, but still couldn't quite bring myself to take it right up to the Red-Line yet. Guess I'm still worried the engine will come out of the car over my left shoulder (UK).

Gentle driving in Auto is giving me around 26MPG, driving like last night probably around 21MPG.....but hell, its only fuel!!

Ahh silly Europeans and your different MPG measuring and fuel octanes. Us in America can manage maybe 22 MPG on the combined cycle if we drive like grandma's.
Do it when you're ready, but building trust with your car often requires for you to explore its limits.

Topless · 08-06-2010, 02:04 PM

Ummm, I guess I generally avoid redline (6500). Sometimes I will hover above 6k for a bit at the end of a long straight when I don't want to upshift just before a braking zone. My sweet spot is 4-6k and I tend to do all my performance driving there. I think max torque on my car is 4800 and it feels like it falls off a little above 6k so that is where I usually reach for another gear.

BoxsterDuke · 08-31-2010, 04:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lordblood

Ahh silly Europeans and your different MPG measuring and fuel octanes. Us in America can manage maybe 22 MPG on the combined cycle if we drive like grandma's........

Had a real Grandma weekend, drove at around the 80-85mph mark North up our M1 Motorway on Saturday, then back on the Sunday. Kept it at this to see how the range of the tank worked out.....320 miles with a further 42 miles to empty. That was however on the higher octane unleaded which I switched to a month ago. Didn't want to push it to 360 miles in case I sucked a load of crap into the car.

Lordblood · 08-05-2010, 10:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by al83s

I red-line my 2.7 several times a day and no problems so far.
Letting the rpm drop below 3k is dissapointing since the power just isnt there if you need it.
i have been getting 19-20 mpg lately though

Wow, I cruise at 2k constantly after hard acceleration, and only get 18 MPG. Time to up cruising rev's and see how I do :P.