How bad will I damage my engine? (honda)

[stock type sh]

Car:
00' Honda Prelude
Engine: 2.2ltr I-4 totally stock
Mileage 56,000
OEM reccomended weight 5w30
My OCI: typically less than 3,000 miles.

The situation:

I live in Atlanta, Georgia, so periods of long idling followed by short sprints light to light are not uncommon. Furthermore, I take the car to various road courses across the US to participate in HPDE's (high perf. driving events) where you are able to achieve high speed "races" for 20-30 minute sessions.

In the past I used 10w30 durablend, as I fgured the whatever syn. in there has to be of some benefit. Because of my short OCI's I didnt think a syn was necessary. However, the track days do create a considerable amount of stress/heat on the components.

Therefore, I am thinking of running 10w30 Mobil 7500 (as I understand it has more syn in it than typical "blends" and its cheap as h3ll). Should I be expecting some lumps of metal to come out next time?

OR

I see that walmart has a 5w-40 (maybe 10w-40) Castrol Synthetic (black bottle) with an ACEA A3 rating. Is it best to bite the bullet and go with a full blown syn? Or any Full Synthetic as justified by my abusive racing hobby?

Cliff's

HPDE'd stock prelude
OCI Dino?
Blend/mobile 7500?
Full Synthetic w/ACEA a3?
What weights?

 

[meeze]

Go ahead, bite the bullett switch over to Valvoline Synpower and you could also go to at least a 5000 OCI.

 

[mdocod]

my uneducated *feeling* based on what I have read here... is that you should switch to synthetic- but, you should run your first OCI without any racing to help clean it out slowly, then after that interval, with a fresh set of oil and filter, hit the tracks again. hehe.

Mobil 1 Truck and SUV 5w40 is pretty solid oil from what I have read on here, might be up to the task.

 

[meeze]

Oh yea I would probably stick to a 10w30 weight.

 

[TallPaul]

Go with Valvoline Maxlife Synthetic 10w30. There is absolute no value in running a 5w30 in Atlanta. I am sure the owner's manual only specifies 5w30 for two reasons: CAFE and to cover those who live in cold northern places.

Also, you may be able to extend the OCI to at least 5000 with the synthetic.

 

[stock type sh]

Would a 10w-40 be needed to cope with the high temps in the region/race applications?

I am for sure going back to full blown syn. Its either Mobil 1 Truck and SUV, Synpower Max life, or a Castrol ACEA A3.

 

[TallPaul]

Hey, want to go even better? Run Redline 10w30. It probably will give you the protection of a 10w40 but the flow of a 10w30. Definitely will take the heat and abuse. $7 a quart at myoilshop.com

 

[stock type sh]

Thanks for the info everyone.

 

[hha27d]

tallpaul & stock type sh
try getting the redline at advance auto parts (if there is one near you) since redline is about $6 (or if there is a sale) or cheaper than that

 

[AndyH]

Another good option (IMHO) would be Castrol Syntec 0w30 (a.k.a., German Castrol). An excellent quality ACEA A3 rated oil, should be $4.39/quart on sale now at AutoZone.

 

[stock type sh]

So you guys think 30 weight is sufficient under race conditions?

 

[mechtech]

Nasvar vehicles often qualify with 5w in the crankcase.

 

[Palut]

quote:

---

Originally posted by stock type sh:
So you guys think 30 weight is sufficient under race conditions?

---

If the 30 weight has the ACEA A3 or B3 ratings, it should do just fine. Rotella T 5W-40 would be a good, lower cost choice also.

 

[JHZR2]

yeah, Id choose GC for that, and Id suggest you drive gently between stoplights, to protect the engine the rest of the time.

JMH

 

[stock type sh]

I ended up choosing 5w-40 Mobil 1 Truck and SUV. This should be sufficient for the track and the regular around town commute. I will have an oil analysis performed after this OCI has run its course. However, my habits will not allow me let this run for longer than 3k on this oil.

 

[AndyH]

quote:

---

Originally posted by stock type sh:
I ended up choosing 5w-40 Mobil 1 Truck and SUV. This should be sufficient for the track and the regular around town commute. I will have an oil analysis performed after this OCI has run its course. However, my habits will not allow me let this run for longer than 3k on this oil.

---

Get a TBN when you have the oil analysis done, I bet you'll find the Mobil 1 5w-40 still has plenty of life left in it after 3,000 miles.