Oil Recommendations for a Lotus Esprit

[chandrab]

I am a new, (one month) owner of a 1991 Lotus Esprit SE. To give you a background, the Esprit has a 4 cylinder turbocharged motor thats pretty quick - it can do 0-60 in 4.7sec. I'm not planning on racing it, just enjoying it as a weekend fun car.

I like say most exotic cars are like beautiful women - they get the best of everything..so I'm trying to do whats best for the car.

My first hurdle is figuring out which oil to use..the car is in storage for the winter, but does get moved around in these frigid Boston winters. Lotus recommends Valvoline Racing 20W50, but would prefer to use synthentic. Locally I can get Mobil 1 15W50 or Castrol Syntec 5W50. Because it the car gets moved around in low temperatures I'm thinking the Castrol 5W50 would be the way to go, but I understand it's not a true synthetic oil. But it should give me a higher degree of protection right? Should I be concerned about a lot of friction modifiers to get that 50W protection?

Is Mobil 1 OK to use in low winter (0-30 degree) temps as well as summer temps?

My second question regards the use of oil thermostats. The Esprit has twin oil coolers, but no thermostat (why I have no clue) - and it takes forever for the 7 quarts of oil to come up to operating temp (never happens in the winter though). Would it be a good idea to add a oil thermostat in...or would it be a waste of money considering the car will be used mostly in the summer.

Thanks
Chandra

 

[Pablo]

I can recommend two oils:

a) Amsoil Series 2000 20W-50 synthetic. Flows like a 10W and meets your 20W-50 requirement.
b) Amsoil synthetic 15w40. Not a 20W-50, but your engine probably won't know the difference. Flows really well when cold and great in turbos.

 

[Jay]

I think if I had the car I would put inexpensive 5w30 conventional in it for the winter, because you have it in storage, and only move it occasionally. Then, change it out to Mobil 1 15w-50 for the summer. The Castrol 5w-50 would probably shear a great deal, and not start up and circulate as well as a good 5w30 anyway.

I almost forgot.

 

[Johnny]

The two products Pablo recommends are good choices, but of the two you mentioned I would choose the Mobil 1 15W50.

 

[Dominic]

I agree with Jay - run 15W-50 Mobil 1 yearround. Run a cheap 0W-20 or something oil when it's in storage.

 

[theguru]

Which motor is this? Lotus, at least now, use other manufacturers motors. I would question the use of such a heavy oil in a 4 cylinder motor. It is probably due to fuel dilution, however, if you look around the board there are many 4 cyl turbo cars and these use 30 & 40w oils. A good synthetic, I believe, is important with a turbo. A 30w or 40w synthetic would hold up better than most thick conventional oils. Mobil 1 0w-40 could be a good choice but their are others. My son and I both have 4 cyl turbos and we run either 5w30 or 10w-40, but in the Motul 300v range. The thick oil could be detrimental to the turbo and valve train, particularly in cold weather and warm up, and you have it in this state for some time.

I would absolutely put an oil thermostat/s. You want the oil to get up to operating temp as soon as possible. Too cold an oil, especially wih those thick starting viscousities, is not going to be good for the motor.

 

[theguru]

Done a bit of looking about and came across this site. Esprit Fact File Interesting reading if you haven't been there before.

Look under FAQ's for information on which oil to use. The other sections are quite good as well.