Well here it is...BS was pretty quick this time, only a few weeks which is excellent (to me) - maybe they read this forum and saw all the fussing/issues folks were having. So this one is interesting. This is HPL Euro 5W40 changed out in Jan 2024 and has 8.4K miles on it and 8 track days which should be around 10-12 hours with oil temps at 260-280 deg F. It's been beat on. A few issues I had were that I did note that my air filter had come off when I was doing all my annual maintenance so not sure how long that had been like that and that is the likely source of some of the up-tick in wear metals and obviously Si; I had all sorts of stuff loose (connectors) and I think I just beat it to death over that 4 days so maybe it only happened right at the end of the OCI...too many crubs...BRAAAAP! This is a dry high-flow filter. I pulled a mid-year OCI and I left that in the data (June sample) and as you can see with the /1K mile rates, it ticked up after so guessing that's also when the filter came loose but I also had only 3 track days on that sample with the remaining 5 on the back-half of the year/sample.
Interesting stuff, I'll likely just go back to a 2/year OCI to be safe and base it more on track use than street use/miles. In 2025 I plan 2-3 days the first half of the year and like this year, more in the second half so I'll just do a mid-year change I think. At least it's based on data, not just gut feel here. I really need to sort out my intake...I really like the Unitronic carbon fiber one I have and it's closed which is nice from a heat soak perspective (even though once that slightly warmer air from a "filter on a stick" intake hits the turbo it really doesn't matter...the intercooler efficiency is more important at that point vs. 20 deg higher air temp hitting the turbo). I'd be lying if I said I didn't love how it looks under the hood. I never had much issue when using an open intake with a K&N or my original OEM intake bits with a drop-in K&N so maybe I'll go back to something like I had (Neuspeed P-Flo). Also note my Si values were v. low/normal since having that intake (intalled mid-2022). I tried to find an oiled K&N filter that fit this one but I there just isn't one. I bought this intake used and can easily sell for enough to cover a new different one. I'll just keep a closer eye on the intake parts to ensure they stay put!
Viscosity hung in there (just slightly out of grade to a 30 - note BS got that wrong in their comments...40 grade starts at 12.5 cSt. It's a testiment to the HPL Star VIIs and the overall base-stock quality - if this were any other oil it would have been in the 10 cSt for sure. Go HPL! I'll be running a leak-down test and borescope inspection before year-end and will post up the results to have a look at overall engine health; last year I did a compression test and it was 180 across all 4 but leak-down is a better way to go here. I believe with better air filtration my wear values would be just fine considering the use. Next results due from BS are my DSG fluid.
Keep in mind this 1.8L turbo-charged 4 cylinder is at ~400hp at this point...I've had it 6 years this month.
Here's a video of my PB run at VIR a few weeks back:
Interesting stuff, I'll likely just go back to a 2/year OCI to be safe and base it more on track use than street use/miles. In 2025 I plan 2-3 days the first half of the year and like this year, more in the second half so I'll just do a mid-year change I think. At least it's based on data, not just gut feel here. I really need to sort out my intake...I really like the Unitronic carbon fiber one I have and it's closed which is nice from a heat soak perspective (even though once that slightly warmer air from a "filter on a stick" intake hits the turbo it really doesn't matter...the intercooler efficiency is more important at that point vs. 20 deg higher air temp hitting the turbo). I'd be lying if I said I didn't love how it looks under the hood. I never had much issue when using an open intake with a K&N or my original OEM intake bits with a drop-in K&N so maybe I'll go back to something like I had (Neuspeed P-Flo). Also note my Si values were v. low/normal since having that intake (intalled mid-2022). I tried to find an oiled K&N filter that fit this one but I there just isn't one. I bought this intake used and can easily sell for enough to cover a new different one. I'll just keep a closer eye on the intake parts to ensure they stay put!
Viscosity hung in there (just slightly out of grade to a 30 - note BS got that wrong in their comments...40 grade starts at 12.5 cSt. It's a testiment to the HPL Star VIIs and the overall base-stock quality - if this were any other oil it would have been in the 10 cSt for sure. Go HPL! I'll be running a leak-down test and borescope inspection before year-end and will post up the results to have a look at overall engine health; last year I did a compression test and it was 180 across all 4 but leak-down is a better way to go here. I believe with better air filtration my wear values would be just fine considering the use. Next results due from BS are my DSG fluid.
Keep in mind this 1.8L turbo-charged 4 cylinder is at ~400hp at this point...I've had it 6 years this month.
Here's a video of my PB run at VIR a few weeks back:
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