Dad got a vette, 10W-30?

[Dominic]

My dad got a 99 NBM Vette. Bilstein shocks, Corsa Exhaust, Donaldson Intake, 30,000 miles What oil do you guys think he should run? I'm thinking a 10W-30 but he's going with 5W-30 right now, I don't know if I could convince him but it doesn't matter much. I'm just curious, if you owned a vette, what would you run in it?

 

[HOndaGuy]

im no oil expert, but id be running mobil 1 10w30 in that vette. I wouldn't feel safe with 5w30 in a vette bc i think it would be way too thin for that engine and would shear out very quick to a 20 wt with that tremendous power.

 

[Intelman34]

A lot of my customers at work (Corvette Accessories Unlimited) run 10w30.

 

[G-MAN]

quote:

---

Originally posted by HOndaGuy: im no oil expert, but id be running mobil 1 10w30 in that vette. I wouldn't feel safe with 5w30 in a vette bc i think it would be way too thin for that engine and would shear out very quick to a 20 wt with that tremendous power.

---

Every Corvette since the LT-1 was introduced in the early 90s has come with Mobil 1 5w30 as the factory fill oil. If you're using a good synthetic, shearing out won't be a problem as long as the drain intervals are not too long. If it were my Vette, I'd be perfectly comfortable using Mobil 1 5w30.

 

[Touringpro]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Dominic: My dad got a 99 NBM Vette. Bilstein shocks, Corsa Exhaust, Donaldson Intake, 30,000 miles What oil do you guys think he should run? I'm thinking a 10W-30 but he's going with 5W-30 right now, I don't know if I could convince him but it doesn't matter much. I'm just curious, if you owned a vette, what would you run in it?

---

Sounds like your dad's got himself a nice ride! I had a '99 C5 Pewter Coupe, and as stated in this thread it came factory filled w/Mobil1 5W-30. However, since it never gets much below 35F around here in winter and is often over 100F in the summer, I ran 10W-30 M1 exclusively. That car is history, but I still go with 10W-30 in the '81 ZZ4 (350/355) C3 Vette I currently own. If your old man lives in a similar climate, he can use the heavier weight with confidence.

 

[Dominic]

San Clemente (southern), California (very nice climate, what 65-78 year round and 1 day of rain???) I lived there for 4 months before moving back to FL. Its a very nice ride, the guy who had it kept complete service logs on it. Every oil change he ran Mobil 1 5W-30, changed it every 3,000 miles. My dad just changed the oil, got 6.5quarts out on the nose (it didnt drink a drop). I'm very impressed to find an LS1 that drinks zero oil.

 

[Patman]

I used to own an LS1 that didn't drink any oil. My 98 Formula ran 5w30 Mobil 1 and the dipstick didn't move in between oil changes (I was still doing 3-4k back then) I'd go with 10w30 with that C5, but if it consumes oil, try out a 15w40. Go no thicker than this, not with a stock oil pump.

 

[vettenuts]

I have an 02 Vette and am running Amsoil 5W-30 due to it's higher viscosity at 100 degrees C. First oil change is coming out this weekend and will be analyzed by Terry Dyson. Should post results in the coming weeks. I am not sure 10W-30 is necessary, and per the Mobil-1 web site, there doesn't appear to be any advantage to it, at least not that I am aware of, over the 5W-30. [ December 04, 2002, 05:49 AM: Message edited by: vettenuts ]

 

[Patman]

The advantage of 10w30 over 5w30 is that it uses less viscosity index improvers, so it's more shear stable, scores a higher HTHS number, a better Noack number and you'll typically burn less oil with 10w30 than 5w30, especially in the LS1. A lot of guys have come to me with advice on what to do about their oil burning LS1s, and when I tell them to switch from 5w30 to 10w30 they will often come back a few weeks later and tell me their consumption is greatly reduced or eliminated. I also feel for extended drains that 10w30 is better than 5w30 as it will also keep the engine cleaner (due to it's lesser amounts of VII) So if you don't need 5w30 for your weather, go with 10w30. I'd only go with 5w30 in an LS1 if it were consistently below 0F. This recommendation is for any pushrod V8, I'd lean more towards going with 5w30 in an OHC engine.