Being a fan of both Red Line and Chevron, perhaps I can insert some helpful thoughts into this thread … or maybe I’ll just make things worse. Who knows?
Tearing apart race motors may or may not tell you about the oil in them, especially ones which suffered sudden catastrophic damage. Few should show any sludge and if you see a pile of shavings at the bottom of the pan, you can only guess what went wrong in order to cause the mess. Maybe oil, maybe something entirely lubrication un-related. Surviving endurance motors are another story.
However, seeing hundreds of used oil analyses on this site and multiple interpretations of each, says a lot about an oil’s ability to prevent wear, stave off oxidation and resist thinning/thickening.
I like Delo 400 in 15W40 a lot. As far as conventional oils, it and Pennzoil Long Life 15W40 are my favorites for high-temp, high-stress applications. For this reason, I used both in my lawn & garden equipment as well as gas-powered electrical generators which sit for long periods of time and then run mercilessly … sometimes for days at a time. I’d also use these oils in motorcycles or older cars which need a thicker oil, etc …
Having said that, I have switched many of my smaller engined machines over to Schaeffer 15W40 (synthetic blend) because of the molybdenum anti-wear package. Still, it was not because I found the previous oils to be underperformers. I just like overkill.
But, for a specialty application like a high-RPM turbocharged engine, I can think of no better oil than Red Line. You’ll get better protection without resorting to a thicker (power-robbing) base oil.
Use Mobil 1 SuperSyn if you want to … but as noted, they are formulated on the thin side for fuel economy gains. Backyard blending is often resorted to in order to achieve an ideal viscosity … and if you have to do this, maybe you’re using the wrong oil.
I say stick with Red Line.
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Bror Jace
