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What was your coldest start?

6K views 48 replies 34 participants last post by  canux 
#1 ·
It's freezing here in the northeast. I went to get my car after work and it was ~18F out. Car turned over but not with the ease it normally does. I have a 14 981s. When i got it, the oil temp read 19 degrees. Anybody run into issues with extreme cold and turning the car over?
 
#2 ·
LG resides in CPa and today it was 4 at the house. But she, LG, has never seen a start colder than 45 and then so rarely in her 2 years. She hibernates you know.

:cheers:
 
#3 · (Edited)
There have been numerous days in the past month where both the CS and the GTS were cold started in a garage where the temperature was -15 C (5 F). At those temeratures it takes a couple more cranks than usual, but not a big deal in any way. Aside from frigid seats (my wife is on me to swap the GT2 Sport buckets out of the GTS and put in the heated Sport Seats) the only cold start situations I see are the PCM screens have a pink tinge to them until they have warmed up, and the tires sometimes take a few miles to get completely round again. We have seen a couple of mornings where outside temperature was -30 C (-22 F) but the partially insulated garage was around -20 C (-4 F). No starting issues at all...but still need to make the time to get the garage fully insulated and add an additional heat source to keep temperatures above 5 C (41 F).
 
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#5 ·
Someone on another site ("J.R.") said there is a problem with the 9A1 engine when new at very cold temperatures; that there is a cylinder cracking issue showing up with new engines in cold weather. Supposedly in warm weather or after the engine has got 25K miles on it, the clearances are larger and the cold issue goes away. For that reason, I won't push my car hard until the oil temperature is 170F.
 
#9 ·
It doesn't get too cold here anyway and the Cayman is kept in attached garage which never gets that cold. Even in the unusually cold snap we had last week, with outside temps almost freezing, the coldest was 54°F as we left the garage. I think that was both ambient and oil.
 
#10 ·
Can't say it was less than 50 for my Boxster but when I lived in Minot, ND my Jetta lived outside and regularly fired up without trouble at -35F or worse. I was using 0W-50 in that car.

- Patrick
 
#12 ·
Maybe it is in my head since I'm trying to drive it easy on really low oil temps, but the car does seem a bit hesitant to move when it's really cold. This morning the oil was around 30F when I started it up and it felt like it was hating life backing out of my garage. But, it did start right up no issues. With regard to starting, I suspect the battery will become an issue before the engine given what people have said about Porsche batteries.
 
#13 ·
When I was a youngster (back in the days of sail), I read one of those canvas-backed books entitled Pilot Jack Knight. (You can Google his name, btw.) Anyhow, Jack Knight described how on frigid mornings he drained the Castrol oil in the Liberty engine in his DH4, heated it in an oil pan over an open flame, and then refilled the sump before starting the plane's engine. I loved the book, but it ruined me for cold-engine starts forever.
 
#15 ·
Despite being cold outside, I put a thermometer in my attached but not normally heated garage, only got down to 45F overnight. It's coming home from the office where I'll have a really cold (for around here) start.

described how on frigid mornings he drained the Castrol oil in the Liberty engine in his DH4, heated it in an oil pan over an open flame, and then refilled the sump before starting the plane's engine.
That seems safer than what I read about Luftwaffe crews on the Eastern front, lighting fires in a barrel under the aircraft engines! I don't think either procedure is Porsche-approved.
 
#14 ·
Yesterday morning after I backed out of the garage I checked and the temperature was 12[SUP]o[/SUP] F. The car started fine. I let it warm up for a minute or 2 before driving off. The only thing I noticed was it took a little bit of effort to shift gears for the first few shifts.
 
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#19 ·
Yesterday evening, the outside temp warmed up to 15F after a day at a 3. I just need to drive the car, its been sitting a whole week in the deep freeze. I had the trickle changer on the car all week.


The oil temp was at 9F when I started the car. Car started right up. I let the engine warm up to for about 10min, keeping the RPM between 1 and 2 thousand. The oil temp was about 29 then. I drove for about an hour keeping the RPMs between 1000 and 2000. The oil temp finally reached 212 after 50min of driving.

The roads were still snow covered with blowing and drifting snow. The cayman drove very nicely. You just need to be a little judicious with the throttle to avoid having the rear end break loose. The only trouble I see in snow is the extremely low ground clearance. The roads where being plowed but its was still too cold for the salt star working.
 
#21 ·
I was just thinking about a thread like this...
My record is +7F (-14C).

Looks like the record so far is Ridgeway with 0F (-18C).
Where's that guy who posted all the cool Cayman photos of a Canadian winter road trip? Although I guess he would have either a garage or plug-in heater.
 
#22 ·
10 degrees today. The difference is I drove it with the top down. No sh!t. I love this car and to heck with the cold!
 
#26 ·
Do you have any concerns about operating the top at that temperature? I think the manual says not to operate below 40 degrees F.
 
#23 ·
Drove home from Chicago Sunday night, the temp was 1F when I shutdown the cayman, and covered it for the night. Its a great winter traveling car, comfy and warm in the cockpit.
 
#24 ·
On my morning commute today the Cayman's outdoor temperature read was -20F, about 1 mile from my house. I keep the Cayman in my more temperate but not directly heated garage; the poor 05 bmw 3 series bears the full brunt of those temps (and started ok for my 16 yo daughter to take to high school BTW).
 
#25 ·
Reminds me of when I worked oil wells in the early '80's. As a production tester we'd drain the light plant oil before we left the shop and then throw a few liters of oil in the cab of the truck so it would be warm when we set up at the well site.

Or for real stupidity try keeping propane tanks warm by throwing tarps over them and inserting a tiger torch into a pipe and sticking that under the tarp to keep the propane vaporizing.
 
#28 ·
I have to "manually battery tend" my car, as my only other option is to remove the battery and charge it indoors. It's seen plenty of 10F (-12C) starts, and turns over on rev 3 every time.
 
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