New Owner Question

[Houston C4S]

Having run the "plain" Box at TWS for two DE's, the ABS
and the PSM can be a bit intrusive. I know I have more to
learn about smoothness and as I get better, it should lessen
that intrusion. The Sport Chrono, when engaged, dials back those
two functions. So I should be able to get better throttle
steer when I want it without totally turning off the PSM.

Which, for those of you who may not know, is an acronym
for "Please Save Me."

And I think it re-engages itself the next time the ABS
kicks in. Kind of a PIA (you all can figure that one out).

As well, it increases the sensitvity of the throttle pedal in
the early part of the travel. I am not sure I want that
to happen, but it seems some like it, some don't.
We will see, I guesss.

And in this case, which I am not sure I will like also,
I believe it is what will engage the sport exhaust as well.
I think I would prefer just a separate switch for that,
but I am not sure it comes that way.

[Houston C4S]

Perfectlap (and others),

To answer you, my considered (and some say considerable)
advice is to never, ever run an engine hard or at high
rpm from dead cold.

As you must know -- even if you went to government (public)
schools (not a slam, I did, too) -- metals expand and contract
as they heat and cool. And different metals do so at different
rates.

You engine has aluminum parts, steel parts, plastic parts in
all sorts of places. Steel piston rings on aluminum pistons,
aluminum block, steel rods and crank, etc. And none of these
are sized to run at their optimum performance until they are
at their designed, optimum temperature.

And that goes for your oil as well. It is the lifeblood of the
engine and needs to be at full operatiing temperature before
really getting after it.

it is heated and cooled by a water to oil heat exchanger and
will closely follow the water temp on your gauge. Personally,
I let the coolant get up to temp and give it a few more minutes
before any full throttle use. As it is heating up, I keep it below
2,000 for a while and slowly to 3,000 or so until it has reached
full operating temperature.

But that's just me.

- Mark

PS: I apologize for mis- typing "guesss" on that last post. Clearly
I meant "guess." Sorry.

[SD987]

Regarding the rev history stored in the car's "memory", that Houston C4S commented on, the 986 records two types of events. One being bouncing off the rev limiter and two being an over-rev caused by a downshift. The latter code may negatively affect your reception when submitting a warranty claim to Porsche.

The 987 records rev history in certain high-rev ranges (six levels), with a median range (level 3) being up to 7,900.

Regarding shift points: the Power/Torque chart for your model should be in the back of your owners manual, but if you haven't seen it, the attached one shows an 04 986 and an 05 987 which will be similar to your 1997-06. The chart pretty clearly shows what you're missing out on in the Box by shifting early (variocam for example, doesn't kick in until 4200 rpm - one reason they don't want you exceeding this point during break-in). The chart also illustrates Randall's comment that at a certain point in the cycle you'll experience diminishing returns.