Oil Life Span ?
 

About a year ago, my vehicle had an oil change (Mobil 1) and filter . Since that time, its only been driven about a 1,000 miles . Here's the question, should I change it, or is it still good for awhile. It's always been my understanding that synthetic oil is good for a few thousand miles - subjective of course .

I pay a lot of attention to oil color. If it still looks really light, clear and clean it probably has plenty of life left. As soon as it begins to darken and look contaminated... it probably needs to go. I essentially ignore all the factory recommended oil change intervals from Porsche. I usually change between 3-5K depending on color contamination. JMHO

It's best to change the oil once a year regardless of mileage. The oil gets stuff deposited in it like fuel and acid from normal use and this stufff sits in there breaking it down, regardless of how many miles you covered. Besides, oil changes once a year aren't so bad, yeah? I do mine every 5000, and thats about 2-3 changes a year for me.

j-dan. you have 910 posts and 1000 miles in the past year. that's a desk/drive ratio that is dangerously close to 1:1. very unhealthy; the doctor recommends more driving and less posting immediately. and revving your car in the garage over the winter doesn't count.

I regret to say, since moving out to a rural part of western Massachusetts my vehicle has gotten little to no use . Mainly, because my home is located on one of the most horrendous, god forsaken stretches of unpaved road you've even seen !! :mad: For that reason, I had to keep it garaged at friend's place about 70 miles away for the last year or so. I just recently found a place locally where I can keep it for the Spring and Summer . The vehicle only has 18k original miles, and at this rate I'll either being using it for my casket or donating it to the J. Paul Getty Museum . Assuming they have a poor man's Porsche category . :cool:

Definitely recommend changing the oil once a year even if you don't put many miles on the car.

I've been doing 2-4 trackdays per month so I'm changing the oil every 4-6 weeks depending on my track schedule.

i hear your pain. i might be moving to a place with 150 kms of unpaved road. i did some reasearch (rally conversions, etc.) and came to the following conclusions:

PSS9 will allow you to raise ride height by 1" (this comes from Tarret). uncertain whether you'd be able to pull camber back in to acceptable tolerances without mods or a custom camber plate of some sort, however.

smaller/stronger rims will give you a taller sidewall for more bump absorbtion. factor in the addition 1" clearance from the suspension and you might be able to fit even more tire on.

stiffen the chassis with a pedro bar and a front strut bar.

take a look underneath; there are some exposed lines under the door sills. Either cross your fingers or fabricate some covers.

invest in a few air filters.

think about an LSD or torque biasing diff.

give 'er $hit; you'll never get your money back out of it if you sell it anyways.

And to think that 1.5 miles has become the bane of my existence ! Never mind a 150 kms . :eek:

I like the way you think! That would be a blast!