DFi engine reliability
Discussion
I've not heard of reliability problems with these engines - as far as I'm aware they're very strong.
Is this actually the case?
I only ask as over on the Evora thread in GG, there seems to be a few contributors banging on about the unreliability of such engines (and possibly trying to justify their choice of car, although there's never a need to do that).
Just wondered, as I've said there's nowt wrong with the Dfi's and I don't want to look more of an arse than I already am.
I may still have chance to delete my reply before anyone noticed...
Is this actually the case?
I only ask as over on the Evora thread in GG, there seems to be a few contributors banging on about the unreliability of such engines (and possibly trying to justify their choice of car, although there's never a need to do that).
Just wondered, as I've said there's nowt wrong with the Dfi's and I don't want to look more of an arse than I already am.
I may still have chance to delete my reply before anyone noticed...

Zyp said:
I've not heard of reliability problems with these engines - as far as I'm aware they're very strong.
Is this actually the case?
I only ask as over on the Evora thread in GG, there seems to be a few contributors banging on about the unreliability of such engines (and possibly trying to justify their choice of car, although there's never a need to do that).
Just wondered, as I've said there's nowt wrong with the Dfi's and I don't want to look more of an arse than I already am.
I may still have chance to delete my reply before anyone noticed...
Appear pretty bullet-proof - although there has been at least one frequent poster with issues on here. No surprise there!Is this actually the case?
I only ask as over on the Evora thread in GG, there seems to be a few contributors banging on about the unreliability of such engines (and possibly trying to justify their choice of car, although there's never a need to do that).
Just wondered, as I've said there's nowt wrong with the Dfi's and I don't want to look more of an arse than I already am.
I may still have chance to delete my reply before anyone noticed...

had a chat with a porsche tech at the weekend about said engines and he was pretty open about the whole m96/7 problems so didnt show he was hiding anything.said he had only heard of one engine through the opc network failing through borescoring(which we have read about on here)which could have been down to a number of things ie lack of coolant etc and not the type of bore scoring related to said m96/7.the only other types of problems they have experienced is the odd random problems but in general are proving very reliable and they have had many high mileage examples come through to service runnning sweet.
if there was a problem after 6 years of the dfi you would have read about it on here or another forum by now!
so dont believe people who dont know what they are talking about
if there was a problem after 6 years of the dfi you would have read about it on here or another forum by now!
so dont believe people who dont know what they are talking about
Edited by itsybitsy on Friday 11th April 20:34
itsybitsy said:
if your talking 991 gt3 its not that the engine is bad thats unproven its the quality of the build of a certain part and its not proven all engines are affected but porsche are replacing all engines as a precaution!
The engine explodes and sets the car on fire. In what way is it not bad? Every failure on an engine is down to a specific part or parts.The other point is that you are assuming that Porsche are telling us the full story. It would be easy to blame a bolt wouldn't it?
itsybitsy said:
true but we cannot say its a bad engine until its been around for a while.here is me hoping the bad press has a negative effect on residuals in 3 years time and one can be had for £60k;)
Yes, agreed, it has to prove itself fully and I am afraid that there is only one way to really do that. Race the bloody thing!The current belief is that Porsche will continue with the Mezger in 2015 and it has to be questioned why? Porsche call this new 9A1 engine, the 'Motorsport' engine!
You really have an issue with this don't you Molly. The dfi engine has proved to be extremely reliable, the few failures in the GT3 have had catastrophic consequences and understandably Porsche are taking no chances until they have solved the problem. It is unlikely to be a basic design problem as so many have proved bullet proof, a component flaw would seem to be the obvious cause but as yet we don't know. Why should Porsche worry about telling you the full story ? They will fix it in their own time, a pity I know for those who have ordered or taken delivery but Porsches customer relations have nothing to do with the integrity of the engines basic design. For all it's faults the M96/97 engines have and are being very successfully raced.
Edited by alexisn on Friday 11th April 22:35
but the 9a1 engine is already raced in the cayman series across the pond and is proving very reliable.this new incarnation has an issue but is it down to the quality control of the manufacture of the said part or was the said part not up to the job if so why not use the part in the 530hp turboS!
alexisn said:
You really have an issue with this don't you Molly.
You noticed!Edited by alexisn on Friday 11th April 22:35
Look, Porsche f
ked up big style with the M96 for reasons that have been well documented, the punch line is that this direction actually saved Porsche as a business, but its soul was destroyed with a cheap design that would not be accepted by Kia.This new GT3 engine was a chance to right everything, to replace the Mezger with a new engine that could serve them for the medium term, successfully. They have f
ked up again.Yes, it might just be a poorly designed, manufactured or torqued bolt. I hope so. And I truly accept that they need time to sort this PROPERLY. There is so much at stake, they cannot get this wrong. And I am afraid that the owners are going to have to give them the time to test the fix fully. Assuming they really have fixed it of course.
I want Porsche to succeed, and am very excited about the new 919 and what it can do in the WEC this year, especially of course at Le Mans.
The stupid Macans are very important of course, but they must not lose focus on what is important to their history and reputation. Otherwise, they wont sell these cars.
all very true but dont damn porsche for perhaps a suppliers fault! we will all have to just have to wait and see if the problem is truly rectified.dont forget this is not the first time a supercar on its debut release has caught fire!
ferrari 458 anyone!
ferrari 458 anyone!
Edited by itsybitsy on Saturday 12th April 00:13
mollytherocker said:
itsybitsy said:
if your talking 991 gt3 its not that the engine is bad thats unproven its the quality of the build of a certain part and its not proven all engines are affected but porsche are replacing all engines as a precaution!
The engine explodes and sets the car on fire. In what way is it not bad? Every failure on an engine is down to a specific part or parts.The other point is that you are assuming that Porsche are telling us the full story. It would be easy to blame a bolt wouldn't it?
The stock DFI engines do seem to be pretty bullet proof though.
They will always sell cars especially the Macan, they produce more SUV's than sports cars. The GT3 issue is in the greater scheme of things an irrelevant hiccup, except of course to those on these forums. 90% or so of Porsche owners never venture onto these forums, 95% of M96/97 owners are blissfully unaware that they have a 'chocolate' engine and just happily get on with life. As Hartech say, failures are rare enjoy the car. As super cars go Porsches are still relatively cheap to run and maintain, as long as you stay away from OPC's! The dfi engines are proving to be superb units, producing, in Turbo form a reliable 550Hp+. The GT3 is relatively low on power output, if they are throwing rods or breaking cranks then it is a freak occurrence, these are not highly stressed engines in the greater scheme of things.
Only seen the one DFI problem on here, mine seems ok and I do drive it hard.
Though Porsche have royally f
ked up over the 991 GT3 engine, I would not be particularly worried in the long term since they will be replacing the whole engine and resolving the problem. Any further problems should also be resolved under warranty.
I've had two engines blow on me, one was a 8.5rpm honda K20A unit (down to tuning/cooling IMHO) and other a 7.5rpm corvette LS7 unit (down to feeding the oil breeder into the maniford according to the engineer report). Once the problem had been resolved and the engine replaced, no further problems related to the engine were encountered. Again both engines driven hard, and in the case of the K20A over a ten year period with no loss of power following a rolling road check.
Even on my M3 I had various SMG bits and Big-end bearings replaced, and for my M6 there was a recall on the SMG box iirc. Both were not an issue at re-sale other actually having the work done.
I would note it is effectively a new high revving engine for the GT3 (yes I know its based on the carrera S, but only a couple of parts survived that re-design) and though its been tested to death, its likely medium term or realworld/track use will throw up further issues.
Though Porsche have royally f
ked up over the 991 GT3 engine, I would not be particularly worried in the long term since they will be replacing the whole engine and resolving the problem. Any further problems should also be resolved under warranty. I've had two engines blow on me, one was a 8.5rpm honda K20A unit (down to tuning/cooling IMHO) and other a 7.5rpm corvette LS7 unit (down to feeding the oil breeder into the maniford according to the engineer report). Once the problem had been resolved and the engine replaced, no further problems related to the engine were encountered. Again both engines driven hard, and in the case of the K20A over a ten year period with no loss of power following a rolling road check.
Even on my M3 I had various SMG bits and Big-end bearings replaced, and for my M6 there was a recall on the SMG box iirc. Both were not an issue at re-sale other actually having the work done.
I would note it is effectively a new high revving engine for the GT3 (yes I know its based on the carrera S, but only a couple of parts survived that re-design) and though its been tested to death, its likely medium term or realworld/track use will throw up further issues.
mollytherocker said:
itsybitsy said:
true but we cannot say its a bad engine until its been around for a while.here is me hoping the bad press has a negative effect on residuals in 3 years time and one can be had for £60k;)
Yes, agreed, it has to prove itself fully and I am afraid that there is only one way to really do that. Race the bloody thing!The current belief is that Porsche will continue with the Mezger in 2015 and it has to be questioned why? Porsche call this new 9A1 engine, the 'Motorsport' engine!
The GT3 issue will hopefully be resolved --- it was a big ask that a 3.8l lump should run up to 9000 rpm.
My Cayman R 3.4 is finished at much less than that and in the American Cayman race series reliability has been transformed since the Gen2's arrival.
Whilst it was carefully run-in, I've added less than 1 litre of oil in 24000 miles --- but because I do a few track days the oil has been changed four times so far.
To me, that's very good. Most engines should use some oil.
My Cayman R 3.4 is finished at much less than that and in the American Cayman race series reliability has been transformed since the Gen2's arrival.
Whilst it was carefully run-in, I've added less than 1 litre of oil in 24000 miles --- but because I do a few track days the oil has been changed four times so far.
To me, that's very good. Most engines should use some oil.
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