Good oil for 25 year old Viper GTS with under 40k miles

[zrxkawboy]

I think a HM 10W30 or 10W40 would be a good choice.

 

[IndyIan]

Any halfway decent oil will suffice for the use you intend. Anything beyond a conventional 10w30 is over kill. Despite it's low miles, I would check stick before every outing. Especially because it is an aluminum block engine built by Lamborghini. I would love a ride in a classic, I couldn't own one though.

No? A guy I know does a lot of miles in his every summer, his main DD complaint is that it doesn't have a cup holder for his Tim Hortons coffee!
He let me drive it for almost an hour and its quite the vehicle. You would have to have some self restraint though, things can happen pretty fast and no nannies to bail you out if you get too excited on the throttle!

 

[himemsys]

Okay what are Castrol's strengths? What applications are they preferred for vs. others?

I think Edge and Mobil 1 are the only ones left that make a fully synthetic 10W-40 high mileage oil. Another good one to consider that I and a few others have brought up recently is Pennzoil Euro L 5W30. It's very thick, bordering on a thin 40 grade, has very high euro approvals as well as API SN, and seems like it would be a good fit for your engine. It has performed well in our 06 Infiniti M45's 4.6l V8 with 340 HP and I've seen results on here from someone who ran in it in a Honda 1.5T and it actually held its grade well despite a lot of fuel dilution.

 

[ProbeGT]

And any API SP oil should be far superior to anything that went into that car when it was new.

Pretty sure you have this backwards. API SP oils have strict limits on ZDDP anti wear additives which makes them inferior. I would never use any API SP oil in a performance engine.

Most 0W-40 API SN or Euro full synthetics should do well as they are not subject to the anti wear content limits. This includes Mobil 1, Pennzoil Euro, Castrol Euro and others. Just stay away from anything with an API SP label.

If you want to stay with 30 weight oil then the choices are far fewer. No API labeled stuff will do, it's all low ZDDP. It would have to be a non-API Euro 0W-30 with ACEA spec.

 

[ProbeGT]

So far it doesn't have any serious leaks though I know there's a slight scent after driving it. I just want to do some preventative efforts.

All older cars will eventually develop oil leaks. Ultimately the only correct and long lasting solution is to replace whatever gasket/part leaks. Especially on a beautiful low mileage classic like your Viper.

HM oils may help slow down leaks but IMO they are better suited for old, worn out beaters that you don't care about.

I recently replaced leaking timing cover gaskets on both my 20+ year old high-revving princesses. It was a lot of work but well worth it. Neither car ever consumed any oil and both engines are now clean inside and dry outside! Very satisfying and I can continue using high quality synthetic oils with strong cleaning and AW packs to keep the engines clean on the inside.

 

[Revving2Redline]

It's leaking from lack of use. It's not the oil's fault.

Most cars that sit or have low mileage show some of the biggest problems. Used to be a thing for people on Sundays to do church,lunch, and a drive to get the car out and blow the stink off.

 

[ZeeOSix]

So the opinion is to use 0w-40, a starts off thinner then becomes thicker oil than stock? This would tend to help with protection and possibly be less inclined to leak than 10w30. Other than possibly reducing fuel efficiency an unmeasurable amount (which isn't a concern on this car's use) what would be the downsides (why didn't they use this originally)

Here's another aspect to it, in conjunction to what @OVERKILL said above.

If you compare 0W-40 to 5W-30, the 0W will be a bit thinner when cold (say at 40F, more so the colder it gets) compated to 5W, and the hot viscosity 40 will be thicker than the 30 when at operating temperature (say 200F). So the 0W-40 will give better cold cranking/starting (even though you probably don't drive that car in cold weather), and the 0W-40 will give more wear protection at operating temps.

0W-40 oil wasn't around 25 years ago when your Viper was made, that's why they didn't spec it.

 

[4WD]

Here's another aspect to it, in conjunction to what @OVERKILL said above.

If you compare 0W-40 to 5W-30, the 0W will be a bit thinner when cold (say at 40F, more so the colder it gets) compated to 5W, and the hot viscosity 40 will be thicker than the 30 when at operating temperature (say 200F). So the 0W-40 will give better cold cranking/starting (even though you probably don't drive that car in cold weather), and the 0W-40 will give more wear protection at operating temps.

0W-40 oil wasn't around 25 years ago when your Viper was made, that's why they didn't spec it.

These should be current M1 offerings

https://www.mobil.com/lubricants/-/media/project/wep/mobil/mobil-row-us-1/pdf/emsga-mobil1productguide-v2-9-1-22.pdf?sc_lang=en&hash=AC64AE9A928CCB4A347CBCFC65B96141