Ferrari F355 oil recommendations

[slybunda]

Originally Posted By: rooflessVW
Originally Posted By: slybunda
doesnt have to be naturally aspirated, forced induction is what cars use today and have considerably more power per litre. look at the civic type r for example.

AND YOUR CIVIC ENGINE HAS NO RELEVANCE TO THE FERRARI ENGINE IN QUESTION!

The F355 does not have a modern engine. It is a high-revving, fragile, state-of-the-80s, race engine.


technology moves on. you should too. f355 engine may have been special 30 years ago. but not by todays standards.

 

[SteveSRT8]

^^^Hahaha, that's a funny one.

You actually believe a 40 valve V8 is mundane by todays standards? 375 hp from only 213 cubic inches? Please update your knowledge, that "old" Ferrari was likely 30 years or more ahead of it's competition...

 

[slybunda]

engines these days are doing over 300bhp from 122cubic inches with half the cylinders of the v8 and getting better mpg.
not taking anything away from the ferrari engine, it was good for its time but cars these days have shifted to smaller capacity with forced induction. eventually everything will be electric. and after being in a tesla model s i can honestly say electric engine is the way of the future once they get the batteries sorted out.

 

[RooflessVW]

I can't tell if you're missing my point or just ignoring it.

My point is: how great modern engines are has no relevance to an oil recommendation for an F355. You've got us off on a tangent that bears no meaning with regards to the topic of this thread.

 

[slybunda]

hence why any modern oil will be more than adequate for an old engine designed to run on the oil available at the time of its production.

how far has oil tech advanced in 30 years? was the f355 specced for synthetic or dino?

 

[RooflessVW]

It's not just some old engine. It is an engine which, by itself, eclipses the value of all three of the cars in your signature.

A modern oil will most likely be "good enough," but you don't want "good enough" in your brand new Ferrari F355 engine. You want the best to protect your investment and I'm sorry, "any modern 10W-40" isn't adequate.

If it were my personal car, I would run TWS 10W-60.

 

[slybunda]

dont know why your comparing the ferrari to the cars that i have, your argument has been made null and void since there is proof that engines with considerably smaller cubic inches are producing more power these days than the Ferrari.

as for the oil from reading on this forum the thicker the oil the engine needs the worse the engine design is. but thats to be expected from old engines no?

 

[edyvw]

Originally Posted By: rooflessVW
I can't tell if you're missing my point or just ignoring it.

My point is: how great modern engines are has no relevance to an oil recommendation for an F355. You've got us off on a tangent that bears no meaning with regards to the topic of this thread.

He has no idea what he is talking about.

 

[RooflessVW]

Originally Posted By: edyvw
Originally Posted By: rooflessVW
I can't tell if you're missing my point or just ignoring it.

My point is: how great modern engines are has no relevance to an oil recommendation for an F355. You've got us off on a tangent that bears no meaning with regards to the topic of this thread.

He has no idea what he is talking about.

Clearly clueless. He reminds me of an Ultra Fan, if you catch my drift.

 

[edyvw]

Originally Posted By: slybunda
dont know why your comparing the ferrari to the cars that i have, your argument has been made null and void since there is proof that engines with considerably smaller cubic inches are producing more power these days than the Ferrari.

as for the oil from reading on this forum the thicker the oil the engine needs the worse the engine design is. but thats to be expected from old engines no?

Man, with every post you sound more ridiculous.
Raw numbers do not have anything to do with it. It is the way that power is produced.
Modern engines (which are the way they are because Ferrari was ahead of its time) use much lower rpm's and different materials which is know how acquired by producing engines like the one in F355.
That car was specd. for synthetic oil and if you think that Fiesta ST somehow has more strain on bearings etc. then one in that Ferrari, you have no idea what you talking about. 10k rpms is not same as 6k rpms, forced induction or not.

 

[4WD]

Heard that - at some of the places I've lived the red rockets would come out on Saturday am - and to hear them redline was a sound like no other ...

 

[Olas]

There's no tone of voice with words on a screen, and it's very easy to misread or misinterpret. Hence the entertaining discussion above lol!

Redline xW40 fits the bill perfectly

 

[robertcope]

Food for thought: the F355 spins to about 8300rpm, about the same as my NSX. My NSX specs 10W-30 dino oil. Granted, the F355 does make more power (107hp/L vs 90hp/L). My S2K spins to 9000rpm, makes 120hp/L, and also specs 10W-30 dino oil.

I don't personally put dino oil in mine, but the point is that there is nothing really magic about the F355 motor in terms of hp/rpm numbers that means it needs to crazy oil to survive. I'm going to guess bearing and other engine design choices would impact the oil choice more.

 

[f355spider]

Originally Posted By: slybunda
hence why any modern oil will be more than adequate for an old engine designed to run on the oil available at the time of its production.

how far has oil tech advanced in 30 years? was the f355 specced for synthetic or dino?


The F355 was specd for full synthetic from day one. Ferrari has specd semi synthetic oil (AGIP) starting in the 1970s, then made the switch to full synthetic with the switch to Shell in the 1990s.

 

[f355spider]

Originally Posted By: KenO
Originally Posted By: Mitch Alsup
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Right, but does an actual Ferrari spec exist, and if so, what are the requirements?


The original Ferrari F355 spec oil (Shell Helix) has 14 cSt of operating viscosity (a medium thick 40 weight) and an HTHS of 4.2 cP, and unless you are driving this car below zero, it really does not matter a lot what thee xxW- number happens to be.

If you are going to run the snot out of the engine (safely and legally) it is the HTHS number you should be choosing. You can also use the oil temperature gauge to tell you whether the oil you have chosen is acceptable. If you drive and the oil temperature never gets over 250ºF, then any xxW-40 oil will be acceptable. as you get to 275ºF you need that 4.2 HTHS. If you get over 275ºF, you need a xxW-50 oil with an HTHS number in the high 4s or low 5s.

It should be pointed out that the F355 engine has direct valve actuation (no rollers in the valve system. A new (or heavily rebuilt F355 engine) should have at least 1200 ppm of lithium (ZDDP) and if you intend racing the car, the oil you arrive on track with should have 1400 ppm.

M1 TDT USED to have 1100 ppm but apparently this has dropped out of the required amount; TDT used to have a HTHS number of 4.2 also.

I did a quick check and had a hard time finding any oils that have HTHA equal to or above 4.2 cP and a 40 weight operating viscosity. M1, Redline, AmsOil all failed. A long time ago (10 odd years) there were a couple of xxW-30 oils that had HTHS viscosity above 4.0 cP.



Shell Helix is NOT the original spec F355 engine oil. I've already posted what the original spec oil was.


That is incorrect. The owners manual for my 1997 F355 spider listed Shell oil, 5w-40 synthetic to be specific. The data plate in the engine compartment also specd the same Shell oil, as well as Shell coolant and transaxle fluid. Ferrari switched from AGIP to Shell in the early to mid 1990s. I believe my 1987 328GTS referenced AGIP oils. I know my previous 1978 308 GTS definitely specd AGIP 10w-50 semi synthetic oil for that engine.

Mitch's post is spot on, the guys knows his stuff, and really knows his way around the F355.

 

[riggaz]

https://www.motul.com/gb/en/lubricants/recommendations/bd44f5a9d904f7e25f968a7bad9706fe?type_name=F355+F1+%281997-1999%29

 

[mightymousetech]

I thought Ferrari recommended Shell Helix Ultra 5W40 for all cars driven on the street now, and 10W60 for track use?

 

[Buhwheat]

Originally Posted By: mightymousetech
I thought Ferrari recommended Shell Helix Ultra 5W40 for all cars driven on the street now, and 10W60 for track use?


For an F355?

 

[f355spider]

Originally Posted By: mightymousetech
I thought Ferrari recommended Shell Helix Ultra 5W40 for all cars driven on the street now, and 10W60 for track use?


I think it is hard to generalize. Probably for most Ferraris, but there are certainly model specific exceptions.

 

[f355spider]

Originally Posted By: KenO
FWIW - directly from the service manual:

Agip Sint 2000 SAE 10W-40


KenO, if this is true, it is no longer the case. It may have been spec'd when the F355 first came out in mid/late 1994 launch (as a 1995 model), but Ferrari fully endorsed Shell by 1995, so only the earliest of F355s would have received AGIP as the factory fill. You would be hard pressed to find AGIP oils in a Ferrari dealer today... (I actually have a copy of the factory workshop manual on CD rom and never noticed the AGIP reference...I will have to take a look sometime )