What Oil To Run On A Track Day - Road Course...

Idrinkmotoroil · Jun 3, 2004

I've got a Lapping track event coming up at Gingerman Raceway in MI in a couple weeks. Its a 2 mile road course, where we will run 15 minute heats once every hour from 9 am to 5pm. Lots of laps during the day. Trying to decide what oil to run. Weather is usuall pretty hot by then, high 90's weather most years. My car has been known to run hot in track use based on what I've been told.

My car runs a 2.4 L DOHC turbocharged Dodge engine, comes stock with oil cooler, oil cooled pistons and balance shafts. My car has 12,000 kmos on it. It calls for 10w-30 motor oil in the manual. Lots of the Dodge guys recommend Mobil1 15w-50 for track events , my other choice would be Redline 5w-40 or possibly 10w-40.

Anyone have a recommendation for me ?. I normally run Mobil1 10w-30 on the street. I will be switching to one of the oils mentioned above just for this event which I do once a year. It is a 5 hour drive to the event and back home , along with a full day of lapping. I normally put on about 1600 kms for the entire trip, so its worth switching to a different oil just for the event.

All advice greatly appreciated. BTW, up here i can only find Mobil1 in 5w-30, 10w-30, and 15w-50, so please no recommendations on their other oils such as 0w-40 or SUV formula or Moibl1 R, as I just can't find it here. I can get any Redline grade though. thanks !.

Joey

[ June 03, 2004, 06:12 PM: Message edited by: Idrinkmotoroil ]

buster · Jun 3, 2004

For M1- 10w-30 or maybe a 10w-30 + 15w-50 mix?

It's a shame you can't get some M1R bc you'd get the protection and keep the HP.

Idrinkmotoroil · Jun 3, 2004

quote:

Originally posted by buster:
For M1- 10w-30 or maybe a 10w-30 + 15w-50 mix?

It's a shame you can't get some M1R bc you'd get the protection and keep the HP.

yeah it might be years before we get that up here, I'd love to run it though.

JustinH · Jun 3, 2004

I would run a 50 50 mix of 10w30 mobil1 and 15w50 mobil1.

I usually run this combo in my 96 thunderbird (01 bullitt motor, vortech blower)

JH

sbc350gearhead · Jun 3, 2004

I would probably go with the redline, but I think that mobil 1 10w30/15w50 blend would work fine as well.

Richin Chicago · Jun 3, 2004

quote:

Originally posted by Idrinkmotoroil:
I've got a Lapping track event coming up at Gingerman Raceway in MI in a couple weeks. Its a 2 mile road course, where we will run 15 minute heats once every hour from 9 am to 5pm. Lots of laps during the day. Trying to decide what oil to run. Weather is usuall pretty hot by then, high 90's weather most years. My car has been known to run hot in track use based on what I've been told.

My car runs a 2.4 L DOHC turbocharged Dodge engine, comes stock with oil cooler, oil cooled pistons and balance shafts. My car has 12,000 kmos on it. It calls for 10w-30 motor oil in the manual. Lots of the Dodge guys recommend Mobil1 15w-50 for track events , my other choice would be Redline 5w-40 or possibly 10w-40.

Anyone have a recommendation for me ?. I normally run Mobil1 10w-30 on the street. I will be switching to one of the oils mentioned above just for this event which I do once a year. It is a 5 hour drive to the event and back home , along with a full day of lapping. I normally put on about 1600 kms for the entire trip, so its worth switching to a different oil just for the event.

All advice greatly appreciated. BTW, up here i can only find Mobil1 in 5w-30, 10w-30, and 15w-50, so please no recommendations on their other oils such as 0w-40 or SUV formula or Moibl1 R, as I just can't find it here. I can get any Redline grade though. thanks !.

Joey

As mentioned go for a 50/50 mix of 10w30 and 15w50. I have been running that mix (or close to it) for 4 years at Gingerman in my C5. If you haven't been to Gingerman yet you are going to love it!

JohnBrowning · Jun 3, 2004

Go to Advanced Auto Parts or Discount Auto Parts and pick up some Redline 10W40! Get a K&N oil filter. If you are going to be useing M1 go with the 15W50. If you want 5W40 you will need to order it from the Redline site sponsor! After each run let the engine idle a good two minutes to allow the turbo to spool down and cool off and to allow any hot spots in the cylinders or pistons to stablize before shuting off the engine.

Patman · Jun 3, 2004

Since GC is so readily available here in Ontario, why not give it a try? I'd love to see how it handles an event like that. And it would be half the price of Redline, so you won't feel so bad dumping it out so early.

Jay · Jun 3, 2004

I would use a thin 30-weight such as M1 5w-30. It will put more power on the ground for you than a heavier oil and run cooler as well.

kickster · Jun 3, 2004

I use 20W50 AMSOIL on the track for my jetta.

I think you should at least run 15w50!!!

buster · Jun 3, 2004

With a 2.4L motor and the fact it has an oil cooler, I'm leaning towards Mobil 1 10w-30. I've read many testamonials on Mobil's webpage and other forums where many people have 100K + miles useing M1 5w-30, believe it or not. And we know that M1 5w-30 is not an ideal track/racing oil. I think the 10w-30 would hold up well and give you an edge in HP vs the guys running the 50wt oils. If your going to run a thicker oil, the RL 5w-40/Amsoil S2k are heavily friction modified so you might not get too much of a drag.

Thomas Pyrek · Jun 3, 2004

does he particularly need more HP? Is he racing for big bucks or money? Doesn't really sound like it. Not like a few HP will be noticed anyway from running a 30.

I'd say either the 50/50 or straight 15w/50.

Or if you wanted to save a little money, VR1 Dino 20w-50 is a fine oil to use.

Idrinkmotoroil · Jun 3, 2004

wow thanks for all the replies, some great opinion. This is going to be my 4th event at Gingerman Raceway (I'm the head organizer !), but the first event for my 04 SRT-4. I do love the track, lots of fun.

My main concern is the protection of the engine, I dont care if I am down a few hp, its a lapping event more than racing but we do get a bit competitive chasing eachother down at times. It's a five hour trip each way so I dont want to blow her up at the track, most important !.

This car has an oil pan that is wide open (not a single baffle to speak of !) , and I've heard that there is no windage tray either, plus it uses balance shafts. So proper oiling is critical in the corners I think, I need the most protection I can get under load.

Patman I think I want to go with an oil that has a bit more robustness to the additive package than GC, so likely Mobil1 15-50 or Redline 40 weight, or some combination as suggested. GC seems to have a good stable base fluid but not many additives to give you that extra margin of safety.
thanks for the great info, and thanks for the cool down tips JohnB, very important as well.
Joey

Patman · Jun 3, 2004

quote:

Patman I think I want to go with an oil that has a bit more robustness to the additive package than GC, so likely Mobil1 15-50 or Redline 40 weight, or some combination as suggested. GC seems to have a good stable base fluid but not many additives to give you that extra margin of safety.

Don't go by the look of it's additive pack though, just look at how well it does in UOAs! I drive my Firebird very hard and it shows very low bearing wear, so whatever they are using for a base oil, it flat out works awesome!

Motorbike · Jun 3, 2004

Is the synthetic Castrol R4 5w-40 Superbike oil available in Canada ?

It's a 100 dollar bill for a 12 quart case shipped here in the USA .

VI 40c 80
vi 100c 13.0
HT/HS 3.9
Shear Stability " KV Loss " 0.1
Volatility 5.0
Flash Point 208c
TBN 8.3
API SG

427Z06 · Jun 3, 2004

If you decide to use something as "thick" as Mobil1 15w-50, here's a trick I saw one racer use. He had an oil heater installed in his oil pan and made sure the oil was close to operating temperatures before he started racing. I don't know how much of a hassle it would be for you to do the same thing, but I thought it was quite the ingenious solution.

pedaltothemetal · Jun 4, 2004

Keep an eye on your oil pressure guage. If it is dropping too much by getting too hot and thinning out, change the oil and increase the viscosity.

Also overfill it by half a quart so you don't loose oil pressure in the turns.

[ June 05, 2004, 12:13 AM: Message edited by: pedaltothemetal ]

Leo · Jun 4, 2004

427Z06, you make it sound as if M1 15W50 is as thick as honey? It isnt! Ive used 50wts in my car before and it was perfectly fine.

I wouldnt hesistate to use the M1 15W50. Tyre pressures would make much more difference to lap times than the magical 1hp lost to viscocity increase.

Otherwise try Motil 300V or Redline.

427Z06 · Jun 4, 2004

quote:

Originally posted by Leo:
427Z06, you make it sound as if M1 15W50 is as thick as honey?

I apologize if I mislead anyone into that conclusion. However, you have to admit the 17.2 cST vis @ 100C of M1 15w50 is a bit of a jump from the 10.0 cST vis @ 100C of M1 10w30, comparatively speaking.

My main purpose of my post was just to get the creative juices flowing. My suggestion may not even be applicable is this case, but I did see it successful used by someone. And in my experience in racing, it's the person that pays attention to the hundreds of little details that usally gets the checkered flag on a regular basis.

pedaltothemetal · Jun 4, 2004

quote:

Originally posted by 427Z06:

quote:

Originally posted by Leo:
427Z06, you make it sound as if M1 15W50 is as thick as honey?

Click to expand...

I apologize if I mislead anyone into that conclusion. However, you have to admit the 17.2 cST vis @ 100C of M1 15w50 is a bit of a jump from the 10.0 cST vis @ 100C of M1 10w30, comparatively speaking.

My main purpose of my post was just to get the creative juices flowing. My suggestion may not even be applicable is this case, but I did see it successful used by someone. And in my experience in racing, it's the person that pays attention to the hundreds of little details that usally gets the checkered flag on a regular basis.

427Z06, I also have a 427 c5r blocked engine with over 25000 miles already. Currently it is running with 15w50 and my oil pressure is a little higher than it was running 15w40 Royal Purple. Around 45psi at 2500rpm. The oil galleries are larger with the c5r block, and with the larger tolerances of my engine, it is the best weight for summer. Winter I'll be running 5w50 Syntec in California. Doing OCI of 6000 miles without any problems.

What Oil To Run On A Track Day - Road Course...

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