You’re Killing Your Porsche by Babying It | The Motor Oil Geek

Technological / Technical Focus of the Video

Bore scoring in Porsche (Alusil/Lockasil generations; e.g., 986/996/997-era engines)

• Derek introduces Lakes Jr., a tribology/lubrication specialist and founder of Speed Diagnostics, known for oil analysis and for developing Driven Racing Oil.
• Lakes argues that bore-scoring risk isn’t best understood as a single “X% fail rate”:
  • Classic data (as referenced via Blackstone) indicates about a ~2% “high signature” group where oil-analysis wear-metal patterns strongly suggest bore scoring.
  • Speed Diagnostics’ internal database suggests a wider distribution:
    • ~2% matches the known high-risk group
    • ~7% is “above normal” (an intermediate group)
  • When including that intermediate stage, real-world bore-scoring-related risk may be closer to ~10% total.
• Key emphasis: it’s not a light switch—bore scoring propensity can evolve over time.

How wear metals in used oil are interpreted (oil analysis as “CSI” but needs trends)

• Bore scoring is inferred from an “escalation” pattern using the trifecta of wear metals:
  • Iron + Aluminum + Silicon
  • This is tied to Alusil/Lockasil systems where iron-related failure (e.g., piston coating/iron skirt failure) leads to increased debris of these metals.
• Rule of thumb:
  • If all three rise high together → “almost certainly” bore scoring (often already late by then).
  • If iron rises alone → not automatically bore scoring, but a warning sign, because iron can increase from multiple other sources (e.g., valve train/IMS-related issues).
• Trend analysis matters more than a single sample:
  • One sample is a snapshot; multiple samples over time show a clearer trajectory.
  • The actionable signal is upward trends in those wear metals.

Contamination and fuel dilution as major drivers (fuel is “the enemy of your oil”)

• Lakes prioritizes contamination, especially fuel dilution, over many brand-based oil choices.
• How fuel dilution affects wear:
  • Fuel dilution reduces oil effectiveness and can wash oil films off cylinder walls, increasing friction and wear probability.
• Important nuance:
  • Fuel measured in the oil sump does not directly equal what occurs at the ring/package/cylinder region.
  • Testing cited suggests ring-pack fuel dilution may be ~10× the sump level
    • Example: 2–3% in sump ≈ 20–30% at the ring pack
• Why “babying” and short/low-temperature operation worsens it:
  • Cold engine operation keeps temperatures lower → less fuel evaporates.
  • Cold starts run richer; ECU enrichment prolongs the period of dilution.
  • The video warns against:
    • idling
    • frequent short crank events
    • long storage cranking

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Product / Maintenance Guidance and “Cheat Sheets” Provided

Driving / operating habits (direct recommendations)

• “Don’t baby your Porsche—drive your car.”
• Worst cases in Lakes’ dataset came from “collection car” habits:
  • Cars cranked weekly and moved around but not driven enough to reach proper heat.
• Approach for prevention of cold-weather wear escalation:
  • Warm oil and engine temperature
  • Avoid repeated cold-idle enrichment cycles
• Concrete recommendations:
  • Change oil before winter storage
  • Don’t keep cranking during storage

Fuel recommendations (to control injectors + fuel dilution)

• Use premium-grade gasoline (e.g., 91/93, depending on region).
• Use Top Tier / Top Tier Plus fuels:
  • Top Tier Plus implies stronger detergency minimums for modern engine protection (including injector cleanliness).
• Lakes ties dirty injectors to poorer atomization:
  • Larger droplets → more fuel dilution.
• Additives:
  • Injector-cleaning strategy as a “once-a-year” approach if needed
  • Example chemistry: Chevron Techron Complete
  • Caution against “more is better”:
    • The fuel additive market lacks strong industry standards comparable to motor oil specs
    • Overdosing can increase dilution due to carrier fluids in some supplements-style products

Oil change interval strategy

• He discourages very long oil intervals for typical owners.
• He personally uses ~5,000–7,000 miles, depending on contamination/wear signals found via analysis.
• Oil life is framed as ultimately limited by contamination and wear, even if the base oil could theoretically last longer.

Air filter guidance (overlooked maintenance)

• Avoid “high-flow/high-performance” aftermarket filters that trade efficiency for flow.
• Higher efficiency matters to prevent abrasive dust ingress.
• Counterintuitive point:
  • Changing the air filter too frequently (e.g., every 6 months) can reduce effectiveness.
  • He claims dust cake formation on the outer surface improves filtration.
• For timing:
  • Follow OEM intervals, since independent filter research can be expensive and model-specific.

Oil chemistry specifics (beyond “brand doesn’t matter”)

• General stance:
  • In many cases, brand matters less than contamination control and correct use.
• But for Porsche Alusil/Lockasil and certain modern platforms, surface interactions make chemistry important:
  • Lakes claims ZDDP is not the key protection on the cylinder wall for these aluminum/silicon bores.
  • Instead, he highlights molybdenum (“moly,” in specific form):
    • It can form platelets that slide and may not require heat activation like ZDDP.
  • He distinguishes:
    • MOS2 solid moly
    • vs different soluble moly chemistry used in his work/products
• Warnings:
  • Don’t assume “more moly/ZDDP” is better.
  • Too much ZDDP can become corrosive at very high levels (he notes very high ppm ranges).

Driven Racing Oil / technical development mention

• Lakes states Driven’s formulation work involved selecting:
  • the right molybdenum type/level
  • appropriate ZDDP levels for valvetrain/timing needs
  • while accounting for cylinder wall differences across Alusil/Lockasil/plasma spray bore systems

Oil filter preference (example product)

• He uses PurilatorONE as an example filter choice, influenced by:
  • efficiency considerations
  • brand/corporate changes (Wix/Gastonia mentioned, and Purilator prominence)
• He notes he doesn’t have definitive internal data to contradict other brands—he simply uses what fits his approach.

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Review / Analysis / Research Methods Highlighted

Speed Diagnostics + statistical approach

• Lakes discusses a dataset of 20,000+ used oil samples, collected since 2018, with Porsche community data as a backbone.
• To reduce bias, he uses a third party (Chip—previously associated with Afton Chemical per transcript) to run JMP statistical analysis on questions provided by Lakes/others.
• The analysis categorizes wear signatures into:
  • “normal”
  • “above normal”
  • “high signature” conditions relevant to bore scoring.

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Key “Takeaway List” Explicitly Stated in the Video

Four best things to keep the car alive

1. Use the right fuel (premium; Top Tier / Top Tier Plus)
2. Use good quality oil
3. Use good/efficient air filtration
4. Drive the car (avoid babying/short-cycling/idling)

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Main Speakers / Sources

Speakers

• Derek (host; 11 After9 podcast)
• Lakes Jr. — founder of Speed Diagnostics, tribology/lubrication specialist, developer linked to Driven Racing Oil

Referenced sources / collaborators

• Blackstone (oil analysis reference via Joe from Blackstone)
• Charles / LN Engineering (mentioned in bore/coating and IMS-related context)
• Dr. Peter Lee / Southwest Research (ring-pack fuel dilution test concept)
• SAE paper / GM research on temperature effects and cold-idle severity (plus references to other creators’ interpretations)
• Fuel additive chemical companies and industry references:
  • Afton
  • Oronite (Chevron)
  • Infinium (Shell/Exxon joint venture)
  • Afton (again) and Lubrizol