I’ve always admired the engineers in Stuttgart for their attention to detail. We, as Porsche owners, often remark on the sometimes difficult (and expensive) tasks of maintaining our cars but forget to consider those who build them.
At lunch just a few weeks ago, Chris and I were having a conversation centered around the torquing of a Transmission pan bolt and the use of a non-standard torque wrench to do so. Specifically, we were discussing the “yield point controlled tightening method”. After about 30 minutes of discussion, I laughed and thought to myself “here we are spending thirty minutes talking about one type of bolt on one type of transmission”. Truly incredible.
I imagined one engineer sitting at a cubicle somewhere in Stuttgart with the job of deciding which torque should be applied to which bolt, then began to wonder if there is one engineer for aluminum bolts, and one for steel bolts. Perhaps they sit across the hall from one another – exchanging “bolt torque” jokes. You can just imagine it!
All bolt-torque jokes aside, I believe the reality is that our passion for these cars is a direct result of Porsche’s attention to detail. It is what makes our cars so much better than many other cars. Yes, the parts are expensive, repair and maintenance are well – intricate, but the final product is truly superb.
One could argue that keeping these cars on the road and enjoying them for many years is our way of supporting the inventive, and meticulous spirit of what makes Porsche vehicles so wonderful to drive. Maybe the obsessive attention to detail paid to our cars by the wonderful people who build them is the secret ingredient that makes us so happy driving them.
Given this – I highly recommend keeping your bolts at the proper torque.
