I've been reading this site on and off for a few weeks now, and I have learned quite a bit already (I honestly only really knew the basic stuff like oil weights, semi synthetic, synthetics etc until recently never heard of things like tbn. Even though I work in a machine shop making a lot of tooling for the oil industry
). Although I do know the mechanical side of cars very well. I count myself a newbie when to comes to understanding the properties of oil.
Anyway, on many car forums, clubs, parts shops, people you talk to over here in the UK seem to love Millers Nanodrive. Which is fine, but not many people have any technical idea on it, just word of mouth, and most of that is performance (makes car go faster) point of view. Not long term health of the engine. Plus it does seem to be marketed as a racing oil, not a street oil.
The oil in my car, and recommended by Renault is elf evolution 900 sxr 5w40 (Renault have recommended Elf Oils for as long as I can remember, also Elf, Total and Fina are all the same company)
Website
http://catalog.elf.com/automotive/cars/evolution-900-ft-5w-40
Data Sheet
http://www.total-distributor-partners.com/media/66832/evolution_900_sxr_5w-40_042015_en.pdf
It talks about diesel a lot, although my car is petrol. This is what Renault recommends in my engine.
MSDS
http://www.quickfds.com/out/17429-74849-04186-015168.pdf
As you can see its easy to find out info from elf, its all on there website.
Millers, wells there is their website, which really doesn't tell you much.
http://www.millersoils.co.uk/nanodrive.asp
It fact most of the info I could get about it was from this site.
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2999173&page=all
and the info on the link at the top of that thread.
DESCRIPTION:
Competition Fully Synthetic Triple Ester Nano Technology formulation. Suitable for fast road/street modified engines, race, rally, sprints and hill climbs. Ideal for engines with hydraulic tappets. Ultra low friction, nano technology additives.
APPLICATION:
Use as received for competition or modified engines where maximum power release is the preferred criteria. Formulated for high revving engines used in circuit racing or for larger engines for short duration i.e. hill climbs and sprints. Also suited for street cars recommending a 0, 5, or 10W40.
USER BENEFITS:
Fully synthetic Triple Ester Nano Technology Oil provides:
• Significantly reduced friction
• Reduced component wear promotes longer engine life
• Reduced heat production
• Increased power output and torque
• Improved reliability
• Improved energy efficiency
• Superior anti-friction and anti-wear characteristics
PERFORMANCE PROFILE:
• Manufactured to far exceed the requirements of API SM/CF and ACEA A3/B4
• Ideal for fast road or track day use
• Dyno proven by JB Racing to add power over other racing synthetics
• Suitable for continuous operation at 260°F with peak temperatures up to 300°F
TYPICAL CHARACTERISTICS:
SAE Viscosity Grade 5w40
Specific Gravity@15°C 0.860
Kinematic Viscosity@100°C 14.0 cSt
Kinematic Viscosity@40°C 81.7 cSt
Viscosity Index 177
HTHS >4.4 cP
Pour Point °C Flashpoint °C >210
Cold Crank Viscosity@-30°C 6,600 cP Maximum
Right on to the car itself. It's no race car (And on a american site this is going to seem puny, but I'm sure you know Europe with small engines and high petrol prices etc)
It is a Renault Twingo GT, with a whole madding 100 bhp. Sadly I think Renault have recently taken the info about this engine off their site due to them not producing this engine any more (they still make the N/A verison though).
But the promotional video for it is still on youtube, giving you some idea.
So, its a 1149cc (Which I think works out to 70 cubic inches).
Single over head cam 16v ((No VTI etc, just 8 U shaped rocker arms (that push down two valves at once) and it uses a old school locknut system, so no hydraulic tappets or anything like that).
It's a 4 pot, cast iron engine. With a low pressure ( 0.6 to 0.7 bar / 8.7 to 10.15 psi) twin scroll turbo (mitsubishi TDO25). With a little intercooler and oil / coolant heat exchanger on there too. Plus as shown on the video it sprays oil onto the bottom of the pistons to cool them down. Its port injected, not direct injected too.
As for driving, it does quite a lot of short trips. Work is just under 9 miles away, so London suburban driving in takes just over half an hour to get there.
But it is very stop start driving (I think there are 24 sets of traffic lights in the 8.7 mile trip, and most of the roads are 40 mph limit (well, in the morning you can do 40 mph, coming home its probably nearer to 25 mph). So its accelerate to 40, slow down, stop, accelerate to 40, slow down, stop, repeat 24 times. Which is a bit of a stupid way of doing things, but that's the way the roads are designed around here. It does a longer trip say every 3 or so weeks. (But I don't mean 100's of miles here, more like a 60 mile trip) It probably only goes on a trip of more than a 100 miles twice a year or so. It only goes on the motorway (highway) a handful of times a year. Most of my driving is A roads and B roads. Car gets a full service once a year, about 6000 miles.
So to give you an idea, here are some roads that I use on a regularly, as you can see I'm talking 30 to 60 mph roads, but quite narrow and twisty.
So, after all that rambling. Is Millers nanodrive a good idea in a daily driver? Or stick to Elf? Or maybe something else altogether? I'm sort of thinking due to my driving a higher TBN would be better (I.e more detergent and dispersant additives due to lots of fairly short trips).
Anyway, on many car forums, clubs, parts shops, people you talk to over here in the UK seem to love Millers Nanodrive. Which is fine, but not many people have any technical idea on it, just word of mouth, and most of that is performance (makes car go faster) point of view. Not long term health of the engine. Plus it does seem to be marketed as a racing oil, not a street oil.
The oil in my car, and recommended by Renault is elf evolution 900 sxr 5w40 (Renault have recommended Elf Oils for as long as I can remember, also Elf, Total and Fina are all the same company)
Website
http://catalog.elf.com/automotive/cars/evolution-900-ft-5w-40
Data Sheet
http://www.total-distributor-partners.com/media/66832/evolution_900_sxr_5w-40_042015_en.pdf
It talks about diesel a lot, although my car is petrol. This is what Renault recommends in my engine.
MSDS
http://www.quickfds.com/out/17429-74849-04186-015168.pdf
As you can see its easy to find out info from elf, its all on there website.
Millers, wells there is their website, which really doesn't tell you much.
http://www.millersoils.co.uk/nanodrive.asp
It fact most of the info I could get about it was from this site.
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2999173&page=all
and the info on the link at the top of that thread.
DESCRIPTION:
Competition Fully Synthetic Triple Ester Nano Technology formulation. Suitable for fast road/street modified engines, race, rally, sprints and hill climbs. Ideal for engines with hydraulic tappets. Ultra low friction, nano technology additives.
APPLICATION:
Use as received for competition or modified engines where maximum power release is the preferred criteria. Formulated for high revving engines used in circuit racing or for larger engines for short duration i.e. hill climbs and sprints. Also suited for street cars recommending a 0, 5, or 10W40.
USER BENEFITS:
Fully synthetic Triple Ester Nano Technology Oil provides:
• Significantly reduced friction
• Reduced component wear promotes longer engine life
• Reduced heat production
• Increased power output and torque
• Improved reliability
• Improved energy efficiency
• Superior anti-friction and anti-wear characteristics
PERFORMANCE PROFILE:
• Manufactured to far exceed the requirements of API SM/CF and ACEA A3/B4
• Ideal for fast road or track day use
• Dyno proven by JB Racing to add power over other racing synthetics
• Suitable for continuous operation at 260°F with peak temperatures up to 300°F
TYPICAL CHARACTERISTICS:
SAE Viscosity Grade 5w40
Specific Gravity@15°C 0.860
Kinematic Viscosity@100°C 14.0 cSt
Kinematic Viscosity@40°C 81.7 cSt
Viscosity Index 177
HTHS >4.4 cP
Pour Point °C Flashpoint °C >210
Cold Crank Viscosity@-30°C 6,600 cP Maximum
Right on to the car itself. It's no race car (And on a american site this is going to seem puny, but I'm sure you know Europe with small engines and high petrol prices etc)
It is a Renault Twingo GT, with a whole madding 100 bhp. Sadly I think Renault have recently taken the info about this engine off their site due to them not producing this engine any more (they still make the N/A verison though).
But the promotional video for it is still on youtube, giving you some idea.
So, its a 1149cc (Which I think works out to 70 cubic inches).
Single over head cam 16v ((No VTI etc, just 8 U shaped rocker arms (that push down two valves at once) and it uses a old school locknut system, so no hydraulic tappets or anything like that).
It's a 4 pot, cast iron engine. With a low pressure ( 0.6 to 0.7 bar / 8.7 to 10.15 psi) twin scroll turbo (mitsubishi TDO25). With a little intercooler and oil / coolant heat exchanger on there too. Plus as shown on the video it sprays oil onto the bottom of the pistons to cool them down. Its port injected, not direct injected too.
As for driving, it does quite a lot of short trips. Work is just under 9 miles away, so London suburban driving in takes just over half an hour to get there.
But it is very stop start driving (I think there are 24 sets of traffic lights in the 8.7 mile trip, and most of the roads are 40 mph limit (well, in the morning you can do 40 mph, coming home its probably nearer to 25 mph). So its accelerate to 40, slow down, stop, accelerate to 40, slow down, stop, repeat 24 times. Which is a bit of a stupid way of doing things, but that's the way the roads are designed around here. It does a longer trip say every 3 or so weeks. (But I don't mean 100's of miles here, more like a 60 mile trip) It probably only goes on a trip of more than a 100 miles twice a year or so. It only goes on the motorway (highway) a handful of times a year. Most of my driving is A roads and B roads. Car gets a full service once a year, about 6000 miles.
So to give you an idea, here are some roads that I use on a regularly, as you can see I'm talking 30 to 60 mph roads, but quite narrow and twisty.
So, after all that rambling. Is Millers nanodrive a good idea in a daily driver? Or stick to Elf? Or maybe something else altogether? I'm sort of thinking due to my driving a higher TBN would be better (I.e more detergent and dispersant additives due to lots of fairly short trips).