I have a 94 formula and dont know what to put in it... its daily driven and has 66000 miles, I run through the gears pretty hard only a few times a week AT MOST and otherwise its babied heavily. Can anyone suggest an extremely good oil to use, price is not a concern, and also what sorts of things to look for in the oils I choose? I also need help choosing a filter. I also live in texas where it never goes below 20 degrees farenheit and is usually close to 100 in the summer.
Oil for my 94 formula
- Thread starter 94 formula
- Start date
- Status
Well, if I take the Dragboat approach, I would say read all prior posts, 1million of them, and learn and study them and you will find your answer on here somewhere. But I'm not him so don't worry. I would go with a 10w-30 Mobil 1 or even a 0w-40. 94 Formula....is that a Trans-Am?? Being in the Great state of Texas, there probably isn't any reason to go below a 10w-30. From reading many posts over the last two weeks I've come to realize there are many great oils. But the best oil for your money that you can easily buy is Mobil 1. Viscosity, Heat Shear, pour point, wear properties are all important and you'll find M1 is at the top of the list. Amsoil, Redline and others are just as good but are not as easily available. I would go with a Puralator Pure One oil filter, or M1 if you have an Autozone near by. Amsoil is another great oil, but based on data analysis, the benefits are minimal. I think where Amsoil really excels is extended drain intervals and even with there "25,000 mile claims", data has shown otherwise that there oil really shouldnt be taken that far. All in all, just go with a top synthetic from Mobil and stick with a 10w-30 or 0w-40 weight. Both are very durable oils.
[ November 29, 2002, 11:59 PM: Message edited by: buster ]
[ November 29, 2002, 11:59 PM: Message edited by: buster ]
Thanks for the advice and I am reading up as soon as I get a chance... started to before but lost interest for some reason. If anyone else has an opinion just shoot. OH and yeah a formula is like a trans am.
[ November 30, 2002, 12:19 AM: Message edited by: 94 formula ]
[ November 30, 2002, 12:19 AM: Message edited by: 94 formula ]
No Problem. I was only joking about reading all the posts. It can be very over whelming and technical if your not too familiar. I'm sure by tommorrow others will respond with much more detail and knowledge then I have. I am new at this and there are some extremely great people on this board who know there oil. Personally, I would wait and listen to them before making any decisions.
[ November 30, 2002, 01:18 AM: Message edited by: buster ]
[ November 30, 2002, 01:18 AM: Message edited by: buster ]
Patman
Staff member
Welcome aboard fellow Formula owner! I also have a Formula, a medium red 95 hardtop, 3.23 automatic. In the past I've owned a 95TA and a 98 Formula as well.
I highly recommend the K&N oil filters for a hard driven car. They outflow the M1 and PureONES, and still filter down to 18 microns.
There are a lot of great oils out there, so it's hard to choose just one. I am running Schaeffer Supreme 7000 10w30 in my LT1, but Mobil 1, Amsoil or Royal Purple would serve you well also.
What kind of oil change intervals are you planning on? With the above mentioned oils you could go to 10k intervals quite easily.
What mods do you have on your car? Mine is bone stock for now, but I have run a best ET of 13.89 at 98.2mph (on a 2.04 60ft). The car currently has 76k on it and runs like a new car still (other than the typical intake leak)
I highly recommend the K&N oil filters for a hard driven car. They outflow the M1 and PureONES, and still filter down to 18 microns.
There are a lot of great oils out there, so it's hard to choose just one. I am running Schaeffer Supreme 7000 10w30 in my LT1, but Mobil 1, Amsoil or Royal Purple would serve you well also.
What kind of oil change intervals are you planning on? With the above mentioned oils you could go to 10k intervals quite easily.
What mods do you have on your car? Mine is bone stock for now, but I have run a best ET of 13.89 at 98.2mph (on a 2.04 60ft). The car currently has 76k on it and runs like a new car still (other than the typical intake leak)
Hey man! I dont know how long of an interval I want to go, figure just as long as it does its job I'll replace it whenever... but I guess a longer interval would be nice
. Mine has 66000 miles on it and eats gas much faster than it should for some reason other than that and some valvetrain noise it runs great. Other than longer change intervals whats the advantage to the oil your using now? As for whats done to it I have a ram air box tuner cat and lt4 knock module on the way, and already done I have a home ported MAF sensor, throttle body bypass, 160 thermostat (still runs at 185-190 for some reason), slp clutch, some kind of high flow cat and performance muffler from the dealership (stock size exhaust), hotchkis lowering springs (1.5 in front and 1 in the rear about), 32mm solid front swaybar and 21mm solid rear, strut tower brace, LCA's with LCA lowering brackets, panhard rod, and a BMR torque arm. Havent decided what I want after all the regular "bolt-ons". I also heard some guy on cz28.com say bad things about the royal purple after seeing some oil analysis results from only 3000 miles...didnt see the numbers though (not that I'de know what the heck they meant anyways
)Good Luck.
[ November 30, 2002, 09:02 AM: Message edited by: 94 formula ]
[ November 30, 2002, 09:02 AM: Message edited by: 94 formula ]
I think a 10w-30 synthetic like Mobil 1 or a 10w-30 synthetic blend like the schaeffer Supreme 7000 would both work well. You should also be able to find the Royal Purple 10w-30 synthetic at retail stores in Texas, since they are based down there. The RP is a PAO based synthetic that also seems to perform very well ....
If you want something even heavier, the Redline or Amsoil 10w-40 synthetics are both excellent, ACEA "A3/B3" rated oils and work well in severe service applications or in older, worn engines. Both these are now up around 14.5-15.0 centistokes @ 100C, so that would be significantly thicker than a 5w-30 or 10w-30 ....
TooSlick
If you want something even heavier, the Redline or Amsoil 10w-40 synthetics are both excellent, ACEA "A3/B3" rated oils and work well in severe service applications or in older, worn engines. Both these are now up around 14.5-15.0 centistokes @ 100C, so that would be significantly thicker than a 5w-30 or 10w-30 ....
TooSlick
I didnt put the thermostat on there, it sort of came like that but it only takes about a couple minutes to reach 160 degrees and maybe another 5 minutes to get to 185-190 which is the highest it gets so I dont think its a problem really. Plus most people say the best operating temp for the LT1 engine are around 175-180 but I live in Texas so its hot as hell and in the winter it never gets under 20*.
[ November 30, 2002, 10:23 AM: Message edited by: 94 formula ]
[ November 30, 2002, 10:23 AM: Message edited by: 94 formula ]
Patman
Staff member
Even with a 160 thermo your engine is going to run hotter than this, as that's simply the temperature at which it opens, so the coolant temp will always be 15-20F hotter than this.
As far as the benefits of the Schaeffer oil I'm using, in addition to the longer drain intervals, it has a very good additive package which ensures lower wear metals and a cleaner engine.
I was probably the one on CamaroZ28.com who mentioned that he saw an unfavorable Royal Purple oil analysis result. I do believe their latest SL formulation is greatly improved though, and I'm running it in my wife's car right now.
As far as the benefits of the Schaeffer oil I'm using, in addition to the longer drain intervals, it has a very good additive package which ensures lower wear metals and a cleaner engine.
I was probably the one on CamaroZ28.com who mentioned that he saw an unfavorable Royal Purple oil analysis result. I do believe their latest SL formulation is greatly improved though, and I'm running it in my wife's car right now.
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked
