Do I really need racing oil?

[Bxnanaz]

[quote
Originally Posted By: burla
I wasn't [censored] on your hobby I think it is great. You said you were tired of 60 dollar oil changes, so fix that. Find a cheaper otc oil that isn't gf-5 as it will have low additives. Buy something in a jug and drop in a bottle of zddp, or get 10W30 Valvoline VR1 Conventional Racing Oil which is almost across the board same additives near the oil you are using a lot cheaper. Fuel dilution can be real hard to solvve in your situation.


My mistake. Yeah I’ve considered VR1, but it isn’t much cheaper than Amsoil it seems.

Originally Posted By: Johnny2Bad
What is your race day total mileage (or engine hours)?


Not sure. Only gauges in my car are a tech, a oil pressure, and a water temp gauge.

 

[JustN89]

Originally Posted By: Bxnanaz
[quote
Originally Posted By: burla
I wasn't [censored] on your hobby I think it is great. You said you were tired of 60 dollar oil changes, so fix that. Find a cheaper otc oil that isn't gf-5 as it will have low additives. Buy something in a jug and drop in a bottle of zddp, or get 10W30 Valvoline VR1 Conventional Racing Oil which is almost across the board same additives near the oil you are using a lot cheaper. Fuel dilution can be real hard to solvve in your situation.


My mistake. Yeah I’ve considered VR1, but it isn’t much cheaper than Amsoil it seems.

Originally Posted By: Johnny2Bad
What is your race day total mileage (or engine hours)?


Not sure. Only gauges in my car are a tech, a oil pressure, and a water temp gauge.

They do have a conventional VR1 that looks to be about $45 on Amazon, but if you're looking to stay with a synthetic then you're right, they are about the same price.

 

[CrAlt]

Originally Posted By: Bxnanaz
Originally Posted By: 1JZ_E46
You could try M1 or Castrol 0W-40. Or perhaps a CK-4 5W-40 (Delo, Delvac, Rotella). I wouldn’t run any oil with the ILSAC GF-5 specification. It’s really hard to say without oil temps though. I’d stick with what your running if it were me.

How often do you change the oil?


Lately I’ve been changing it every 2-3 races due to some pretty heavy fuel dilution. Need to get a re-tune but it’s been hard to line up a date that works for me and the tuner I use.


Well lets say you fix the fuel issue and push it to 5 races. $12 a race. Go to conventional VR1 and its 9 bux a race. Is saving $3/race worth it messing with what works well?

I would also say with such extreme use there isn't really any way to guess how far you can run the oil with out doing some UOA's.

 

[ridgerunner]

Meh I’d do a good SAE-30 since U R dumping it so often

 

[A_Harman]

This sounds like a pretty aggressive application to me. 8500-9000 rpm twice a lap is really thrashing the oil. What is the minimum rpm in the turns? How long are you in the turns? Dominator sounds like a pretty decent choice. Maybe go thicker so it will keep higher viscosity as the fuel dilution builds. Then maybe it will go another race. Get an oil analysis so you can actually put a number on how low the viscosity is getting. Fix the fuel dilution problem. Put an oil temp gauge on it.

 

[dgunay]

Rotella T6 5w40.

 

[xtell]

Best bet would be to install an oil gauge to get a baseline of the oil temps. during the race. Then lock down on an oil that can handle the heat.

 

[Charlie2015]

I would recommend M1 HM 10w40 or VML 10w40

 

[ZeeOSix]

I'd run a good 10W-40 motorcycle oil. Bikes rev to the moon and take abuse all day long with only 3~4 qts of oil.

 

[Camprunner]

What about off the shelf Mobil 1 15w50?

 

[AVB]

I changed my mind.

 

[BrocLuno]

Oil changed every three races, all these 0W-XX oils are a waste. And it's a friday or saturday night race car. Why a 0W at all? You are never trying to start it in the snow ...

Ambient temp at race start should be at least 50*F, so any oil will work. 20W-50, 15W-40 HDEO (my choice) or straight SAE 30 HD.

Any excess fuel dilution means the base oils need to be robust. The 0W oils are to thin to start with. All the VII's added to get the spread don't help at all. Race motors want real oil and only oil. Synthetics are fine, as long as they are robust enough. Redline, Motul 300V, and some others are fine oils, but not dumping them every 3 races...

I'd switch to a good HDEO like Delo 400 15W-40 or Delvac 15W-40. These oils can take some fuel dilution and still lube very well. They are cheap enough to dump every race if you want to. I wouldn't, just they could. The bearings are not going to scream at you for being cheap. They will be happier with the hydrodynamic cushion and that's what saves engines

HTHS is your friend here. You need/want film strength and good solid base stocks to provide that. HDEO's have been in weekend race motors all over the country for decades and decades. Nothing unusual there

 

[Dwane17]

I used Mystik syn blend 15w-50 HDEO for many years running small local tracks in an asphalt modified.
Never had an oil related issue ever.

 

[JustN89]

Originally Posted By: BrocLuno
Oil changed every three races, all these 0W-XX oils are a waste. And it's a friday or saturday night race car. Why a 0W at all? You are never trying to start it in the snow ...

Ambient temp at race start should be at least 50*F, so any oil will work. 20W-50, 15W-40 HDEO (my choice) or straight SAE 30 HD.

Any excess fuel dilution means the base oils need to be robust. The 0W oils are to thin to start with. All the VII's added to get the spread don't help at all. Race motors want real oil and only oil. Synthetics are fine, as long as they are robust enough. Redline, Motul 300V, and some others are fine oils, but not dumping them every 3 races...

I'd switch to a good HDEO like Delo 400 15W-40 or Delvac 15W-40. These oils can take some fuel dilution and still lube very well. They are cheap enough to dump every race if you want to. I wouldn't, just they could. The bearings are not going to scream at you for being cheap. They will be happier with the hydrodynamic cushion and that's what saves engines

HTHS is your friend here. You need/want film strength and good solid base stocks to provide that. HDEO's have been in weekend race motors all over the country for decades and decades. Nothing unusual there

A good 0W-40 such as M1 will be full synthetic which would work well with a high revving engine, while providing an HTHS of 3.6 compared to the 3.7 of Delo 400 15W-40.

 

[Bxnanaz]

Thanks for the all the responses guys. Do I need to worry about high rpms while running a HDEO? Or is high rpm lubrication not really a property that’s engineered into an oil?

 

[racin4ds]

I agree with a good, robust HDEO. Syn if you want the warm and fuzzy but not necessary. And anyone telling you Mobil 1 standard PCMO's should be ignored! I'd be ok with their race formulas but the PCMO's are garbage especially in an application such as this!

 

[Bxnanaz]

Would I need to worry about oil aeration with a HDEO turning such high RPMs?

 

[JustN89]

Originally Posted By: racin4ds
I agree with a good, robust HDEO. Syn if you want the warm and fuzzy but not necessary. And anyone telling you Mobil 1 standard PCMO's should be ignored! I'd be ok with their race formulas but the PCMO's are garbage especially in an application such as this!

Do you have any data to support the idea that an HDEO would protect better in a higher revving, higher power per volume engine than a standard PCMO?

How do you account for the fact that HDEO are formulated for engines that are considerably lower revving and lower specific power than your run-of-the-mill passenger car, let alone an S2K that is notoriously high revving?

I'm not saying an HDEO won't work here, but to blatantly rule out a good PCMO such as M1 0W-40 in favor of an HDEO seems unfounded.

 

[Dwane17]

Originally Posted By: Bxnanaz
Would I need to worry about oil aeration with a HDEO turning such high RPMs?


We were turning 7500 rpm with a SBC with no problems.

 

[A_Harman]

Originally Posted By: Bxnanaz
Would I need to worry about oil aeration with a HDEO turning such high RPMs?


Almost every diesel on the road these days have turbochargers, and they are capable of aerating the oil.
HDEO is probably not a bad choice if the oil has a JASO rating, and can be run in motorcycles. Many do.
But I still say Dominator is a good choice. It is a racing oil, and you are racing.