Hi
To change oil or not too ? This is the question that has dogged me since I started owning cars !
This is what I have learnt which may help:
1. New cars in need of running shoul not have their oil change before the recommended interval as this may slow down or worse make the running in of the engine less effective and lead to more oil consumption in the future. Many cars are deliberately filled with an oil that aids bedding in. Changing the oil (to super synth for example) before then hinders the process. I am not sure if Porsche do this however.
2. New oils are extremely good and tolerances of modern engines are better than before - Porsche's even better ! What I have noticed is that the better (more upmarket the engine) the longer the oil lasts (visually less dirty) ! I can conclude that the tolerances allow less contaminants from the combustion process into the oil. Hence the oil lasts longer as its is less diluted by pollutants. New VW's comes with a special oil that can last in excess of 20k , miles . The oils costs more than Mobil 1 though ! Manufacturers are working on engines with better tolerances and better oils to help reduce damage to the environment.
3. Driving habits have a definite effect on how long the oil will last. The more motorway, less stop start urban crawl, the longer the oil lasts. I have seen this from past experience. Also winter driving - especially cold starts use more fuel and hence more oil dilution.
So this is what I recommend:
Change the oil according to the manufacturers recomendation. However if you do a lot of urban start stop driving or cold starts then change the oil more frequently. I use is the visual check. I literally look at the colour of the oil. If it has reached the dark brown -to black stage - then I change it ! Interestingly enough this seemed to have always coincided with the manufactur's interval except when lots of start stop driving.
One other point: my dad had an old VW Polo Classic 1983 - which he used for daily urban commute. The oil was changed in line with manufacturers recomendation - nothing special. The car racked up over 150,000 miles and never needed a head job or anything else done to the engine (except water pump). The car is still running strong and engine clean. You do have to ask yourself if changing the oil on a Porsche before manufacturers intervals is necessary. I suspect that the Porsche engine will probably see a strip down before 100k miles regardless of whether you have changed oil more often. You might have sold it by then !
