Originally Posted By: Shannow
Joe90_guy
in relation to the OPs original post, and I think he's reference a number of posits of another poster, who has claimed that in things like racing oils, extremely high VIs are an artifact of using the best of the best of basestocks.
Is the 200+ VI (microtrend) in your opinion an artifact of only using the best of the best ingredients, or are they targetting VI and using polymers to that end ?
Given that basestocks seem to max out at around 140 (typically), are there any other benefits that adding these polymers play other than VI, and PPD ?
As you might expect from someone who rarely drives above 60mph, racing oils aren't really my thing!
However, thinking about it, I would probably regard racing oils as not being normal engine oils in that the duty they need to perform is so radically different. I would guess that a racing oil only has to last for one race or one race weekend before it's dumped. The need for cold start is non-existant. A racing oil probably has to run way hotter for way longer under far higher stress than normal oils. I guess you also don't need any API/ACEA/OEM accreditation on a racing oil. Finally...and this is a biggie...money is probably no object for race oils.
I watched a video on YouTube. It was someone called Lake Speed Jr from Driven Racing Oils waxing lyrical about how great high VI mPAO's were, next generation technology, etc, etc, blah, blah. And yes, I thought both the narrative and his delivery were first class. He had obviously been practising his lines in front of the bathroom mirror.
But is it right? I looked up mPAO on Google and I'm confused. It looks to me that these are basically PAOs. The 'm' stands for metallocene which is just the catalyst they use to polymerise the alpha-olefins. And they are EXTREMELY viscous...way more so than Bright Stock. How much of this stuff could you realistically blend into a heavy racing oil? Not 100%, that's for sure. I'd guess you would looking at 10 - 30% at most with the balance coming from conventionally catalysed light PAO.
And this begs the question, how relevant are these ultra-heavy mPAO's to the engine oils that us lesser mortals have to buy? On the basis of what I see right now, I'd say they are completely irrelevant.