Good Morning Everyone,
I've spent a good deal of time researching both on here and other forums along with discussing with a couple engine builders and road course enthusiasts. However I wanted to get the input from some of you oil guru's as well.
A little background first, I track (road course) my 2013 Camaro ZL1 (6.2L supercharged engine). it is lightly modded: full exhaust, intake, injectors, tune, some suspension and cooling things, making just shy of 600 rwhp. I've been doing HPDE events for about a year now and have logged about 500-600 track miles. I started off with the factory oil, Mobil 1 5w-30 and made the switch fairly early on to Pennzoil Platinum under the suggestion of one of the engine builders I know. Unfortunately I didn't have access to 5w-30 or the Ultra Platinum (only Platinum) so I've been using 10w-30. I live in Houston Texas and combine that with a forced induction engine doing 20-30 minute track sessions, the heat that is generated is something that would make the devil himself sweat. Generally my oil temps get to around 290-295 at the end of a session. Hot I know, but oil analysis shows the viscosity is still good and no signs of sheering/degrading.
My last track event Alec Udell, pro driver of the #17 GMG Porsche GT3 Cup car in the Pirelli World Challenge did a 20-30 minute stint in my car with me ridding shotgun and unfortunately we got an engine overheat warning, the radiator coolant temp was maxed out on the analog gauge (can't remember what temp that is) so we did a cool down lap and brought it in to sit and cool. Later that day I was really pushing the car and it started to overheat again, so with that being the second time in the day (and first track event to overheat) I decided to call it a day. Last week I changed the radiator fluid and supercharger intercooler fluid to Engine Ice and it seems to have brought daily driving temps down 20-25 degrees. How that will translate to the track, I'm not sure yet but I suspect that will only delay overheating.
My most recent oil analysis (see below) shows increased aluminum and iron contents, possibly suggesting piston scuffing from what I would assume to be result of either oil thinning or slight starvation (no dry sump on this car). This past oil analysis was conducted last week, I have since changed to Pennzoil Ultra Platinum 5w-30. At the suggestion of one of the engine builders I know who is also an avid track enthusiast he told me to blend the 5w-30 with maybe 1 qt of heavier oil. In this case it looks like my only option would be Pennzoil Ultra Platinum 0w-40. The ZL1 holds 8 qts of oil, so I'm thinking 7 qts 5w-30 and 1 qt 0w-40, but I'm not really sure. I contacted Pennzoil confirming that blending the oil would be OK without any adverse serious affects. Still waiting on their response. I haven't blended yet, so right now it is pure 5w-30.
The main reason I haven't gone to a really heavy oil such as a 15w-50 is due to the fact that this isn't a dedicated track car. While it isn't my daily either, I still drive it on the weekends and to various car meets. I've had the car for three years (almost to the day) and I'm just about to tick 17k miles. But maybe it would make sense to go to a heavier oil, I just know GM suggests that if you go to a heavy oil for road course applications you need to change it back out to 5w-30 when you're done and I rather not change the oil after a single road course event if possible.
What say you?
The oil analysis below has three different samples/logs. Each with increasing mileage and number of track events. The first sample was done with only 1,000 miles on the sample and 1 track event this was Mobil 1 5w-30 and obviously it came back completely fine. The second sample was with 2,730 miles on the oil and two track events plus one autocross event. Oil still appeared to be OK. Third (most recent) sample is with 5,029 miles on the oil, 4 track events plus two autocross events. Both the second and third sample were with Pennzoil Platinum 10w-30.
I've spent a good deal of time researching both on here and other forums along with discussing with a couple engine builders and road course enthusiasts. However I wanted to get the input from some of you oil guru's as well.
A little background first, I track (road course) my 2013 Camaro ZL1 (6.2L supercharged engine). it is lightly modded: full exhaust, intake, injectors, tune, some suspension and cooling things, making just shy of 600 rwhp. I've been doing HPDE events for about a year now and have logged about 500-600 track miles. I started off with the factory oil, Mobil 1 5w-30 and made the switch fairly early on to Pennzoil Platinum under the suggestion of one of the engine builders I know. Unfortunately I didn't have access to 5w-30 or the Ultra Platinum (only Platinum) so I've been using 10w-30. I live in Houston Texas and combine that with a forced induction engine doing 20-30 minute track sessions, the heat that is generated is something that would make the devil himself sweat. Generally my oil temps get to around 290-295 at the end of a session. Hot I know, but oil analysis shows the viscosity is still good and no signs of sheering/degrading.
My last track event Alec Udell, pro driver of the #17 GMG Porsche GT3 Cup car in the Pirelli World Challenge did a 20-30 minute stint in my car with me ridding shotgun and unfortunately we got an engine overheat warning, the radiator coolant temp was maxed out on the analog gauge (can't remember what temp that is) so we did a cool down lap and brought it in to sit and cool. Later that day I was really pushing the car and it started to overheat again, so with that being the second time in the day (and first track event to overheat) I decided to call it a day. Last week I changed the radiator fluid and supercharger intercooler fluid to Engine Ice and it seems to have brought daily driving temps down 20-25 degrees. How that will translate to the track, I'm not sure yet but I suspect that will only delay overheating.
My most recent oil analysis (see below) shows increased aluminum and iron contents, possibly suggesting piston scuffing from what I would assume to be result of either oil thinning or slight starvation (no dry sump on this car). This past oil analysis was conducted last week, I have since changed to Pennzoil Ultra Platinum 5w-30. At the suggestion of one of the engine builders I know who is also an avid track enthusiast he told me to blend the 5w-30 with maybe 1 qt of heavier oil. In this case it looks like my only option would be Pennzoil Ultra Platinum 0w-40. The ZL1 holds 8 qts of oil, so I'm thinking 7 qts 5w-30 and 1 qt 0w-40, but I'm not really sure. I contacted Pennzoil confirming that blending the oil would be OK without any adverse serious affects. Still waiting on their response. I haven't blended yet, so right now it is pure 5w-30.
The main reason I haven't gone to a really heavy oil such as a 15w-50 is due to the fact that this isn't a dedicated track car. While it isn't my daily either, I still drive it on the weekends and to various car meets. I've had the car for three years (almost to the day) and I'm just about to tick 17k miles. But maybe it would make sense to go to a heavier oil, I just know GM suggests that if you go to a heavy oil for road course applications you need to change it back out to 5w-30 when you're done and I rather not change the oil after a single road course event if possible.
What say you?
The oil analysis below has three different samples/logs. Each with increasing mileage and number of track events. The first sample was done with only 1,000 miles on the sample and 1 track event this was Mobil 1 5w-30 and obviously it came back completely fine. The second sample was with 2,730 miles on the oil and two track events plus one autocross event. Oil still appeared to be OK. Third (most recent) sample is with 5,029 miles on the oil, 4 track events plus two autocross events. Both the second and third sample were with Pennzoil Platinum 10w-30.
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