What oil for a performance engine?

[CATERHAM]

It looks like you have added oil gauges.
That being the case run the lightest high VI oil that gives you the oil pressure you want when the oil is as high as it ever gets.
If you don't road race the car presumably the oil temp's never gets very high. If drag racing is the maximum abuse the car will get you might be able to run a light 0W-20 oil.

 

[addyguy]

Nice car. My buddy had a 2001 GP GTP 4-door as his DD for several years, that he got from his dad - very reliable and powerful right up to 160k miles.

I'd use Redline 10w30 in that.

 

[CATERHAM]

Originally Posted By: addyguy

I'd use Redline 10w30 in that.

RL makes some great oils but their 10w30 grade isn't one of them.
It's been rendered obsolete by their own 5w30 grade (same HTHS 3.8cP vis and also contains no VII's).

If the OP's interested in Red Line I'd suggest their 0w30 or even considering their heavy 0W-20 assuming it still provides adequate oil pressure.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: CATERHAM
If the OP's interested in Red Line I'd suggest their 0w30 or even considering their heavy 0W-20 assuming it still provides adequate oil pressure.

Don't you think Red Line 5W20 is heavier than its 0W20, IIRC the HTHS of 5W20 is around 3.3-3.4 and 0W20 is below 3.0.

 

[aquariuscsm]

I`d go with either Royal Purple 10W40 street,or Royal Purple 10W40 XPR.

 

[boxcartommie22]

take care of that beautiful motor with redline or ,motul 300v oils i would use 5w30 or redlines 5w20

 

[CATERHAM]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
Originally Posted By: CATERHAM
If the OP's interested in Red Line I'd suggest their 0w30 or even considering their heavy 0W-20 assuming it still provides adequate oil pressure.

Don't you think Red Line 5W20 is heavier than its 0W20, IIRC the HTHS of 5W20 is around 3.3-3.4 and 0W20 is below 3.0.

Yes it's heavier in fact there is nothing 20wt about Red Line 5W-20, with a HTHS vis of 3.3cP it's heavier than their 0W-30. That in addition to it's VI of only 145 make it a totally uncompetitive synthetic oil.
Red Line's 0W-20 is heavier than most 20wt's, has a naturally high VI of 166 which is achieved without the use of VII's and has proven to be impervious to shear. The reason for suggesting this oil is because the OP is into drag racing and cool oil temp's is a problem in drag racing. I suspect this oil might provide adequate oil pressure for normal street use and an advantage at the drag strip.

 

[Boss302fan]

I know guys that actually use Mobil 1 High Mileage 5w30 and 10W30 oils in racing applications. Great add packs...

 

[CATERHAM]

Originally Posted By: Boss302fan
I know guys that actually use Mobil 1 High Mileage 5w30 and 10W30 oils in racing applications. Great add packs...

Why bother when Mobil 1 0W-40 is superior to both while having a lower start-up viscosity. And if you don't need an oil that thick blend in some Mobil 1 0w30 or 5w30.

 

[dan_erickson]

wow tons of different opinions her Ha Ha, but all great suggestions! Seems like a lot of people recommend Redline so I will look into that. With PP I am getting 60 - 65 PSI of oil pressure right now and I remember that Mobil 1 was slightly less then that.

 

[CATERHAM]

That's plenty of hot oil pressure. If I'm not mistaken doesn't your oil pump go into bypass at 65 psi?

Pennzoil Platinum 5w30 is a light 30wt oil (HTHS 3.1cP)so you don't what to run an oil any heavier than that. In fact I don't think you're going to benefit much from deviating from what you're running now.
If you are considering Red Line, their 0W-20 or a blend of their 0W-20 and 0w30 would be the only grades to use; everything else would be way too thick for your application.

 

[Artem]

^even the Redline 5w30? Is it really THAT thick of a 30 weight?

 

[CATERHAM]

Originally Posted By: Artem
^even the Redline 5w30? Is it really THAT thick of a 30 weight?

With a HTHS vis of 3.8cP it's a solid 40wt oil, make no mistake.
In fact because of it's lowish VI of 162 it is heavier than Mobil 1 0W-40 at all temperatures.
I've had plenty of experience running both these oils. Since the Red Line oil contains no VII's it's impervious to shear so it retains it's high viscosity unaffected through an entire OCI; fuel dilution notwithstanding.

 

[CATERHAM]

One other point.
Red Line recommends that you drop a grade when switching to their 5W-XX or heavier oils. It's unfortunate that most users of RL products don't heed that advice and inevitably windup running an oil way heavier than they expected.
Since most cars don't come equipped with oil pressure gauges most RL users don't notice the fact they're running a heavier oil. This is likely offset by RL's lower coefficient of friction than most oils likely because of their high moly content.

 

[artificialist]

I don't see how a higher ZDDP race oil could help here, because that engine has a roller cam, and high ZDDP was recommended for cars that had flat lifter cams subjected to high rpm and flat lifter cams with huge lift numbers.

 

[steve20]

ZDDP has anti wear benefits in other areas as well. I even boost my Honda DD with a samll amount of ZDDP-UOAs have been spectacular