5w-20 dino at the track

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I know it sounds crazy and to some, downright stupid. It may be foolhardy, I'm not really sure myself, but that is what I'm contemplating.

I'm scheduled for a day at Pocono Raceway (long course road track) on June 18. The itinerary is four, possibly five 20 minute runs on the track between the hours of 11:00 am and 5:00 pm. My Mazda6i (2.3 ltr dohc, 16 valve) currently has 3700 miles on it and has had two oil changes already...both with Havoline 5w-20 dino. First change was at 1000 miles and the second at 3000 miles. Come track day the oil will probably have around 1000 miles on it.

I really wanted to have a sample of this fill to send into Blackstone at the 5,000 mile mark just to establish some sort of baseline. I also thought I could get an idea how the Havoline is doing in this engine and if my two early changes helped minimize break in wear. Dumping it for a synthetic or at the very least, a hgher viscosity oil would squash my plans.

Am I nuts for even considering running this day at the track with this oil or might it be OK given the fact it is still young and active (wish I could say the same for myself)? I bet it would be the only UOA of a 5w-20 dino that was used during racing! If I did dump it for something else what in the world would I use given the 5w-20 spec on this car? I don't feel comfortable using the xw-40 or xw-50 weight oils.

[ June 08, 2004, 12:28 AM: Message edited by: mikep ]
 
I think this oil will do fine. I'd run it.
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Looking forward to seeing the UOA, too.
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Since the basic design elements of this engine follows Ford's tight aluminum bearing philosophy, I'd be willing to bet your UOA will look great even after a stint at the track on 5w20.
 
I'd run it. I used that oil to haul a couple of tons of rock several hundred miles down here in Tx in my f150 and it performed well, I doubt you'll abuse your vehicle more on track day. Best of luck. For the future you may want to consider the motorcraft 5w20. Havoline vis at 100c is 8.0, the motor craft comes in around 8.6-8.8 and has some gIII thrown in, it Might work better for taking a beating
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