Does heavier weight = more protection?

[ringmaster]

I am looking for the best oil for my 2002 LS1 V8 that will see lots of road course track use. I know the suggested oil is 5w30 but I am wondering if I will get better hot protection from a heavier oil, something like a 10-40?

I have an external oil cooler so the temp will never so over ~240F on the track and the car is never driven in temps below 40F.

There is lots of talk about the German Castrol 0-30 for this engine but I don't see why the 0 part of the oil would be a benefit for me. I usually use Motul 8100 and 300V in my cars and both offer all the ranges I am looking at. I found some talk about a special Motul LL-01 5w30 that looks very interesting but I don't know whether or not it is the good ester based stuff?

Any advice?

 

[JohnnyO]

quote:

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Originally posted by ringmaster:
I am wondering if I will get better hot protection from a heavier oil, something like a 10-40?

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Not necessarily. Remember that the very hi-perf Corvette and Cadillac CTS-V recommend and come with Mobil 1 5w30.

 

[i]

As far as I can tell, for your particular vehical, and your particular driving conditions, the only way to know for sure is to compared UsedOilAnalyses with the two different oils after driving the car the same way each time. Anything other than that is speculation.

 

[XS650]

quote:

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Originally posted by ringmaster:
I am looking for the best oil for my 2002 LS1 V8 that will see lots of road course track use. I know the suggested oil is 5w30 but I am wondering if I will get better hot protection from a heavier oil, something like a 10-40?

I have an external oil cooler so the temp will never so over ~240F on the track and the car is never driven in temps below 40F.

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Never over 240F is a pretty happy temperature for a 30 weight. Seems like there are people succesfully running those engines a lot hotter on 30 weight and getting away with it. Yours should do real well at those temps.

 

[ringmaster]

[/qb][/QUOTE]Never over 240F is a pretty happy temperature for a 30 weight. Seems like there are people succesfully running those engines a lot hotter on 30 weight and getting away with it. Yours should do real well at those temps. [/QB][/QUOTE]

Thanks for the feedback

The large oil cooler helps control the temps but maybe on a realy hot day after 20 laps it could get into the ~260F range.

So, am I going to gain any wear protection with a heavier oil or do I have to go through the UOA?

So far I am leaning towards the special Motul BMW LL-01 5w30.

 

[buster]

One of the biggest misconceptions, at least in my mind, is that thicker does provide better protection. It doesn't. You have to match the engine, conditions it will be used under, temperature with the right oil. For the competitive edge, 0w-5 and 0w-30's are now used in NASCAR that see sustained 9k rpm driving. Oils like Mobil 1 Racing oil, Synergyn and even less robust oils like German Castrol and the Motul you mentioned would be good IMO. I spoke with someone from Mobil Tech today and they did say that the entire addtive package is different/stronger for M1R, not just the ZDP. The Motul choices wouldn't be bad either. Lot to chose from.

 

[ringmaster]

I just looked up some info on the Mobil 1 Racing 0w30 and it looks like an interesting product. Of course they make it sound like the IDEAL oil for my application in the LS1 but it is easy to come up with some fancy marketing hype!

Is the M1R really a special oil compared to "regular" M1? It isn't as thick @ 100C (10.3) as the Motul LL-05 5w30 (12.0) but perhaps my old theory of heavy/thick oil offering better high temp protection is wrong!?!?!

 

[buster]

quote:

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Is the M1R really a special oil compared to "regular" M1?

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Yes it is. Their is more to this oil then people see on the virgin analysis. It's not always about Viscosity. Too many people pay attention to the viscosity. The addtive package in this oil and Synergyn 3w-30 are similar. Very robust additive package with a ton of anti-wear additives. High Calcium, boron and a bit of Moly. So your getting an oil what will give you more HP and yet protect at the highest level. I would think that is what you want. George Morrison from. www.avlube.com will tell you it is the EXACT oil that was being used in Ryan Newman's NASCAR during the 2003 Season. It's no joke. *Again though, you'd have to analyse the oil and see where your at. Some engines do prefer thicker oils. All depends. Isn't this fun?

 

[DJ]

quote:

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Originally posted by JohnnyO:

quote:

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Originally posted by ringmaster:
I am wondering if I will get better hot protection from a heavier oil, something like a 10-40?

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Not necessarily. Remember that the very hi-perf Corvette and Cadillac CTS-V recommend and come with Mobil 1 5w30.

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Can you say CAFE and marketting? So long as it makes it out of warranty they are happy I could go down a whole list of things GM did wrong but lets suffice to say that manufacturers think about thinks other than absolute performance and longevity. Not trying to comment on wether Mobil 1 5w30 is right for this application just saying that logic is deeply flawed.
I have seen used oil analysis for raced LS1s on this board take a flip though maybe a keyword like "laps" would help you sort out the pertinent posts and not just all the LS1 posts.

 

[SSDude]

GC is a great match for the LS1 engine. I use it and Patman recently posted an excellent used oil analysis using GC. Do a search of the used oil analysis section and you will notice that GC usually has less wear than most oils used in the LS1.

 

[ebaker]

I'd use 15w50 or 5w40 at 240F.

 

[ringmaster]

quote:

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Originally posted by SSDude:
GC is a great match for the LS1 engine. I use it and Patman recently posted an excellent used oil analysis using GC. Do a search of the used oil analysis section and you will notice that GC usually has less wear than most oils used in the LS1.

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My concern is that the oil will be "abused" more on the race track with extended high RPM and heat. This is, IMO, quite different to street or even 1/4 mile use. It is not a qualifying engine where I can use a light oil that trades wear for an extra 5-10hp...I need this engine to last!

 

[Jelly]

Mobil 1 15w-50.

 

[JHZR2]

It is very dependent upon the engine. If you know it will see harder use, get an oil that has a good HT/HS spec, and at the heavier end of the specified weight. GC is a heavy 30 weight, and will be a good choice, my only gripe being that Id personally like to see moly. However, they do use other adds to do the same thing as moly does.

The motul will probably be a good choice, its heavier, more than likely has a real good additive package. You like motul, so Id suggest yu try it. Do a used oil analysis or two, and then youll surely know how its doing.

JMH