New to the site, though I've browsed quite a bit on many an occasion. I'm sure you're all sick of oil recommendation requests, but any help is appreciated.
Car:
2000 Acura Integra GSR
Stock B18C1 1.8L VTEC Engine, 5 spd manual trans.
Currently at 123k miles.
Engine was rebuilt at 100k miles using factory OEM parts due to the somewhat typical (on these engines) oil past the rings.
I purchased the car from the original owner about 2 months ago, and the rebuild was done under his ownership.
Current Oil/Filter:
"German" Castrol Full Syn 0W30, with a NAPA Gold. Reading here turned me on to the 0W oils, and my last car (2005 Subaru STi) performed/sounded/felt SIGNIFICANTLY better on this GC than on several different weights of Mobil 1 oils I tried in it. I ran GC in the STi for 5k mile intervals, and was planning on doing the same with this car.
Climate:
Arizona, so mostly hot (but its finally cooling off here now!)
Driving:
Daily Driving... Each way includes about 5 miles/15 minutes of stop & go getting to the freeway, and then about 20 miles/20 minutes of highway driving on the freeway. While DD'ing, I do not redline the car everywhere, but I do like to get out of my own way. So you could say my driving style is moderately aggressive, I suppose.
Autocrossing... I autocross fairly regularly. I've taken this car once so far and plan to do so about once a month. While not anywhere near the abuse of track driving, the car does see very high rpm and throttle inputs for extended periods of time (compared to DD'ing) while autocrossing.
Problems with the car:
Rough Idle - I have a very slightly rough idle, hot or cold. It does not hunt, and it idles about where it should be (800 rpm or so) once its warmed up, but still rough. I've replaced everything in the ignition system, so it's something else. I'm hoping its buildup in the engine/fuel injectors/something...
Oil Consumption - I'm using some oil. I dont see any smoke ever, nor any drops on my garage floor. I'm still working on tracking the exact rate, but I'm going to estimate about 1 qt every 1000 miles. I do see some seepage around my oil pan, but there's no way that much is leaking out of there without any drops on my floor... it has to be using it. I'm hoping for whatever reason, carbon buildup on the pistons/rings is hurting the seal of one or more of my combustion chambers.
Ugly Pistons - Looking through the spark plug holes, I can see black deposits on my pistons. I want to clean this up in the hopes that it may be causing some of my problems.
Oil darkens quickly - I've got about 1000 miles on my current GC fill, and the oil on the dipstick is significantly darker than it ever got on my STi even after 5k miles. I know every engine is different, so I'm thinking this GC may just not be right for this car.
Other than these problems, the car runs great. Power is there, revs quickly, although I wouldnt mind quieting it down a bit... since changing to the GC, it seems slightly louder compared to whatever the previous owner had in it.
So...
What oil would you recommend?
I'm very maintenance-conscious, and am not opposed to changing oil more/less often then my usual 5k, changing weights or brands, or anything else if it will help the performance/longevity/cleanliness/etc of the engine. I am a big fan of synthetics due to my usage of the car and because i view it as cheap insurance against whatever...
I'm thinking about trying the Pennzoil Ultra for its cleaning abilities in a 5W30. Hopefully the slightly thicker 30 weight oil will help with the consumption and the cleaning abilities will clean things up internally. If not, I'm not opposed to running like an AutoRX or MMO or the like to clean things up... which I may do anyway.
Thoughts?
Thanks in advance.
Car:
2000 Acura Integra GSR
Stock B18C1 1.8L VTEC Engine, 5 spd manual trans.
Currently at 123k miles.
Engine was rebuilt at 100k miles using factory OEM parts due to the somewhat typical (on these engines) oil past the rings.
I purchased the car from the original owner about 2 months ago, and the rebuild was done under his ownership.
Current Oil/Filter:
"German" Castrol Full Syn 0W30, with a NAPA Gold. Reading here turned me on to the 0W oils, and my last car (2005 Subaru STi) performed/sounded/felt SIGNIFICANTLY better on this GC than on several different weights of Mobil 1 oils I tried in it. I ran GC in the STi for 5k mile intervals, and was planning on doing the same with this car.
Climate:
Arizona, so mostly hot (but its finally cooling off here now!)
Driving:
Daily Driving... Each way includes about 5 miles/15 minutes of stop & go getting to the freeway, and then about 20 miles/20 minutes of highway driving on the freeway. While DD'ing, I do not redline the car everywhere, but I do like to get out of my own way. So you could say my driving style is moderately aggressive, I suppose.
Autocrossing... I autocross fairly regularly. I've taken this car once so far and plan to do so about once a month. While not anywhere near the abuse of track driving, the car does see very high rpm and throttle inputs for extended periods of time (compared to DD'ing) while autocrossing.
Problems with the car:
Rough Idle - I have a very slightly rough idle, hot or cold. It does not hunt, and it idles about where it should be (800 rpm or so) once its warmed up, but still rough. I've replaced everything in the ignition system, so it's something else. I'm hoping its buildup in the engine/fuel injectors/something...
Oil Consumption - I'm using some oil. I dont see any smoke ever, nor any drops on my garage floor. I'm still working on tracking the exact rate, but I'm going to estimate about 1 qt every 1000 miles. I do see some seepage around my oil pan, but there's no way that much is leaking out of there without any drops on my floor... it has to be using it. I'm hoping for whatever reason, carbon buildup on the pistons/rings is hurting the seal of one or more of my combustion chambers.
Ugly Pistons - Looking through the spark plug holes, I can see black deposits on my pistons. I want to clean this up in the hopes that it may be causing some of my problems.
Oil darkens quickly - I've got about 1000 miles on my current GC fill, and the oil on the dipstick is significantly darker than it ever got on my STi even after 5k miles. I know every engine is different, so I'm thinking this GC may just not be right for this car.
Other than these problems, the car runs great. Power is there, revs quickly, although I wouldnt mind quieting it down a bit... since changing to the GC, it seems slightly louder compared to whatever the previous owner had in it.
So...
What oil would you recommend?
I'm very maintenance-conscious, and am not opposed to changing oil more/less often then my usual 5k, changing weights or brands, or anything else if it will help the performance/longevity/cleanliness/etc of the engine. I am a big fan of synthetics due to my usage of the car and because i view it as cheap insurance against whatever...
I'm thinking about trying the Pennzoil Ultra for its cleaning abilities in a 5W30. Hopefully the slightly thicker 30 weight oil will help with the consumption and the cleaning abilities will clean things up internally. If not, I'm not opposed to running like an AutoRX or MMO or the like to clean things up... which I may do anyway.
Thoughts?
Thanks in advance.
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