We're planning to run the 24 Hours of Lemons in Houston in February '09 in an '86 Toyota MR2. It has a newer JDM motor, or so the prior owner says. It's a 1.6L I-4 N/A. Some of these cars have stock oil coolers and some don't, and I'm not sure if ours does or not. If not, we will probably add one prior to the race. This car will be used exclusively on the track. We will probably get in some testing on it before the race, but I don't expect (or need) the oil to last more than 1,500 miles before we change it out. I'm looking for some good suggestions for an endurance racing oil.
To give you an idea about the race, it's held on 2 consecutive days with about 6-7 hours of continuous racing each day, plus usually about 30 minutes to an hour of yellow flag parading before the start of the first day of racing to find leaking cars, etc. Last year the total race time over those two days was 12.5 hours and the winning car did nearly 1100 miles on the 2.4 mile road course.
Clearly we want to maximize HP, but we don't want to blow the motor up in hour 5 just over an extra couple horsepower. Our first goal is to finish the race in running condition, then finish as high as possible. We don't want to be DNF, and we'd like to try to use the car again later in the summer/fall for another event if the body is still in useable condition.
I'm a total racing newb, other than a lifelong fascination with racing. But this is my first time prepping and racing a car (albeit a junker). Given that this particular motor tends to run hot due to its midengine placement, what would be the best oil to run? I'm not opposed to doing an oil change at the end of day one if that would help with the endurance.
Thanks in advance for the advice.
To give you an idea about the race, it's held on 2 consecutive days with about 6-7 hours of continuous racing each day, plus usually about 30 minutes to an hour of yellow flag parading before the start of the first day of racing to find leaking cars, etc. Last year the total race time over those two days was 12.5 hours and the winning car did nearly 1100 miles on the 2.4 mile road course.
Clearly we want to maximize HP, but we don't want to blow the motor up in hour 5 just over an extra couple horsepower. Our first goal is to finish the race in running condition, then finish as high as possible. We don't want to be DNF, and we'd like to try to use the car again later in the summer/fall for another event if the body is still in useable condition.
I'm a total racing newb, other than a lifelong fascination with racing. But this is my first time prepping and racing a car (albeit a junker). Given that this particular motor tends to run hot due to its midengine placement, what would be the best oil to run? I'm not opposed to doing an oil change at the end of day one if that would help with the endurance.
Thanks in advance for the advice.
