Patman
Staff member
So I finally made the switch to a thinner oil in my Corvette!
GC 0w30 came out and PP 5w30 just went in. GC is 12.2 cst at 100c, while PP is 10.3 cst, so it's a big change for me! I honestly cannot feel a difference so far though, although I have only driven the car about 15 miles since the switch, and most of that was on the highway. I did a couple of full throttle runs, and I didn't expect it would feel quicker there, since at best I might have an extra 2 horsepower from the thinner oil, and even that's probably generous. Low rpm throttle response feels the same (I was hoping it would feel a little bit snappier)
The engine sounds the same, feels just as smooth as with GC, so that's a good thing, so the LS1 is not rejecting this oil by making strange noises or anything.
On another plus note, I'm not burning as much oil as I originally thought. I assumed it was using a quart every 3 or 4k, but on this last interval, which was exactly 6k, it only used one quart of oil. I do not trust my dipstick since it never shows the level going down, so this was done by measuring the actual oil which came out. I started out with 7L of oil, added 1L of top up along the way, and when I drained it today, 6.7L came out. I figure the other 0.3L is what is soaked into the old filter media.
So in about 5 months time I should hit zero on my oil life monitor, and about 7k, and then I'll get my first UOA on PP. My MPG usually hovers around 19.0 according to my trip computer so it'll be interesting to see if it changes.
GC 0w30 came out and PP 5w30 just went in. GC is 12.2 cst at 100c, while PP is 10.3 cst, so it's a big change for me! I honestly cannot feel a difference so far though, although I have only driven the car about 15 miles since the switch, and most of that was on the highway. I did a couple of full throttle runs, and I didn't expect it would feel quicker there, since at best I might have an extra 2 horsepower from the thinner oil, and even that's probably generous. Low rpm throttle response feels the same (I was hoping it would feel a little bit snappier)
The engine sounds the same, feels just as smooth as with GC, so that's a good thing, so the LS1 is not rejecting this oil by making strange noises or anything.
On another plus note, I'm not burning as much oil as I originally thought. I assumed it was using a quart every 3 or 4k, but on this last interval, which was exactly 6k, it only used one quart of oil. I do not trust my dipstick since it never shows the level going down, so this was done by measuring the actual oil which came out. I started out with 7L of oil, added 1L of top up along the way, and when I drained it today, 6.7L came out. I figure the other 0.3L is what is soaked into the old filter media.
So in about 5 months time I should hit zero on my oil life monitor, and about 7k, and then I'll get my first UOA on PP. My MPG usually hovers around 19.0 according to my trip computer so it'll be interesting to see if it changes.