Boxster OIL - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

dirkdiggler · 01-10-2011, 03:23 PM

The manual recommends regular oil or synthetic oil. I always thought only synthetic was recommended??

ANYONE RUN REGULAR OIL IN THERE BOXSTER without problems?

JoeFromPA · 01-10-2011, 06:50 PM

Kinda curious - What problems would you expect?

Porsche had notoriously robust and long lasting race-ready engines from the 50s through the late 70s running straight weight oils or 20w50 mineral oil, suitable for daily driving and race conditions.

Not a knock on you, just curious

mikefocke · 01-11-2011, 10:06 AM

An oil used for racing is changed every day. The oil for a daily driver whose oil is changed every year is probably going to need different characteristics so I wouldn't want to judge what the dd would need from what the racers use. Porsche racing engines are kinda different from our M96 ones too.

There are furious debates over what oil to use on every Boxster forum. Never heard of anyone using non-synthetic oil or advocating it. Can you in a pinch if that is the only thing available in your country? Sure. Would the car last as long? Somehow I doubt it. Just like can you use lower octane petrol per the manual. But should you? Don't think so unless special circumstances.

jcb986 · 01-11-2011, 12:21 PM

I believe the synthetic leaves less residue compared to regular oil, also the it has a superior lubrication than regular oil.

Autocrosser#73 · 03-30-2012, 10:16 AM

I know that this is an old post, but I am having the same quandary. My reason is that I only drive my car about 2500 miles per year. Yes, I do autocross 8-10x per year, but I don't consider that to be overly taxing on the engine since the actual racing/driving time is limited to 4 minutes in the autocross.

Do I need to change the oil every year given my lower mileage? If so, is using synthetic oil still justifiable?$$?

tonycarreon · 03-30-2012, 10:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Autocrosser#73

I know that this is an old post, but I am having the same quandary. My reason is that I only drive my car about 2500 miles per year. Yes, I do autocross 8-10x per year, but I don't consider that to be overly taxing on the engine since the actual racing/driving time is limited to 4 minutes in the autocross.

Do I need to change the oil every year given my lower mileage? If so, is using synthetic oil still justifiable?$$?

regardless of miles driven, i would still do an oil change each year and stick with synthetic. the cost should be negligible.