Mobil One Suitable for Boxsters?
 

What oil do you guys find the best?
I was going to go with Mobil one, but I heard from a ferarri specialist that it tends to make the cars smokey.

Any experiences?

It certainly is the factory recommended oil. Search threads here on oil and you'll find a lot of them... including strong references for weights of oil... some do the 0w40 per Porsche and others suggest 15w50 for hotter climates.

Anyone used that purple synthetic oil?

Mobil 1 is factory fill and the recommended oil and your friend is NOT CORRECT on this smokey comment. Most Porsche dealers will not put anything else in your car.

Royal Purple is a good synthetic oil but I have never seen anything that would suggest that it is superior to M1 in anyway.

It is also more expensive.
:cheers:

I don't use Mobil 1 because it smokes too much at high temps. Peanut oil is better.

Here is the list for the world.

http://home.jps.net/~mjlopez/images/Box%20oil%20world%207-9-04.pdf

I am now using the gold cap Mobil 1. My engine hasn't blown up yet so it must be good and at 5.30 clams a quart, it should be.

Good call on the peanut oil...has anyone modded for the Mr. Fusion?

I use Mobil1 and nothing but. Even in the Dodge. It's recommended by Porsche, BMW & many others. I've never had burn off of Mobil 1 in the Boxster. In 6 oil changes, the level has never gone down between changes.

Mobil1 and the large amount of it is what allows the Boxster to have such long maintenance schedules. :D

This may be a little off-topic, but you mechanical engineers out there will love answering it!

Not that I'd ever do it, but what would (or could possibly) happen to my Boxster's engine if I ran mineral-based oil in it versus the synthetic oil?

I've always wondered about this.

You would be fine as long as you changed it very frequently. DINO degrades very quickly as compared with SYN oil, say a change per 5K vs 15K as recommened for the 986.

Also, your engine would run hotter and you gas mileage would decrease say 1-2 MPG. As the oil got older viscosity would vary greatly also from as new.

Basically, DINO sucks when compared to the alternative.

:cheers:

Up until around 2000 Porsche did approve several conventional mineral oils for the Boxster. Then they were taken off the list as were some synthetics that had been approved.

Ferarri cars smokey? No never... :rolleyes:
You should ask the guy next time "Whats the cause of the ferarri driving then just stop and turned off while in motion problem?".
If any of you out there has ever driven a Ferarri then you know what I mean.
Driving along in a 355 and for no reason, the car turns off while in motion....
Every Ferrari owner I've talked to has said this has happened to them atleast once(we got RMS problems, they have electrical problems). With that being said,

Ferarri = crap on wheels :barf:
Ferarri Specialist = Specialist of Crap

Talk to a Porsche Specialist if you want info on cars :cheers:
OK, I'm off my soap box now :matchup:

Thanks for the info

Its what I thought then, I'm happy cause I have Mobil 1 sitting in the garage and now I can finally put it in, I bought my Boxster from some dealer and I'm not sure what oil they put in so I'm looking forward to changing it

Thanks a lot

Are you guys getting that puff of smoke at start up? Normal or abnormal? I know the older P cars smoked a little, but should new ones also?

Did anyone notice that the only xW-50 weight oil (on the approved list) was Mobil 1? Interesting. I wonder why.

I can't seem to find Mobil 1 10w-40 in stores. Anyone know where I can get it? Wal Mart had Mobil 1, 5 quart bottles of 10w-30 and 0(I think)w-50 for $20. Can I use one of these safely?

The 10-40 M1 is brand new and many stores don't stock it. You can safely use either 0-40 or 15-50 IF you are in a warmer climate, the manual has the ranges.

I would NOT use the 0-30, which I don't believe is recommended in the manual at all. There is no 0-50 M1 although Castrol makes a 5-50 full syn.

And of course, stick with M1 or other quality synthetic.
Wallie World also has Shell Rotella fully syn 5-40 at a very good price.

:cheers:

Normal on all P cars with the later model flat six.

:cheers:

Nothing bad would happen under normal cirumstances and over the initial miles of its use.

However, conventional oil would soon start to degrade and by say 5000 miles would not be doing a very good job of protecting your oil. It would be more than time to change the oil.

Of course, with syn, you can get many more miles per change.

:cheers:

i get it sometimes. I have not got it since i changed my oil to AMSOIL or ams oil not sure how it goes, but any ways i have heard nothing but good from this oil and i like it alot. Its recomended for european cars.

Mine has a little bit of smoke at start up when it has been sitting for several days. Other then that I havent seen any. I heard it has something to do with the oil seperator and that it is a issue on all 986,987,996 and 997 probably the Cayman(only time will tell).

Smoke at Start-up
 

Here is some good info about smoke at start-ups:

The flat 6 cylinder motors have a tendency to collect oil on the bottom the bores and go through the rings to the combustion chamber and that oil burns up after start up.

There are several sources of it. One is that moisture condenses in the exhaust system after you park the car for the evening. If it is humid and warm, and then cool overnight, it happens even more. Next morning it will burn off. You will see water droplets coming out of the tailpipe as well. Water is actually one of the combustion byproducts, as it turns out when hydrocarbons are combusted, some of the hydrogen molecules mix with some of the oxygen molecules 2:1 and you get H2o. Most of that will turn to steam since the exhaust system gets hot quickly.

It is also normal for a little bit of oil to be burned off from a cold engine. The pistons are sealed by rings, and the rings are lubricated by oil. But as the piston moves, it does not spray any cleaner to clean off the oil on the part of the cylinder wall it just left. That oil film becomes part of the combustion environment and is partially burned. The next stroke down, the rings bring fresh oil and all is well, except for a bit of smoke.

Now add to this the fact that the engine is horizontally opposed. That means that oil inside the cylinders will slowly collect at the bottom (side) of each cylinder overnight. In turn, some of that can slowly ooze past the rings. Not much, and not fast, but some can. That will burn off at startup.

Lastly, there is the head gasket. It is not feasible to have a 100% perfect head gasket, and still be able to disassemble and reassemble an engine. For example on some of the legendary race cars, Porsche did away with the head gasket and used electron-beam welding to weld the heads to the cylinders. This is frighteningly expensive. Therefore a normal head gasket is used in our Boxsters and 996s. A normal head gasket must seal best at operating temperature. If it leaks a little before warming up, you will see a bit of smoke. As long as the coolant level is correct, and stays that way, or if you can maintain it that way, then there is no problem.

Ferrari = crap on wheels?

I think you = crazy...

Any vehicle is only as good as the mechanic that maintains it.