Oil advice and recommendations here!

[bilton_d]

you talk about the Valvoline Syn-Power but what about their racing oil?

[opieoilman]

bilton_d said:

you talk about the Valvoline Syn-Power but what about their racing oil?

Their racing oil could be quite good, I have not had it tested yet and will not knock it till I do so. I need to get some tech data so I can make some comparasons.

Cheers

Guy.

[bilton_d]

Does it honestly make that much difference if you are just using the vehicle as a normal form of transport where excessive heat build up isn't an issue and your not bouncing it off the rev limiter every gear change?
As a rule i try not to take it above 2000 rpm for the first 5 mile and maybe 3000 rpm for the next 5 mile or so and it only rarely goes above 4000 rpm.

[opieoilman]

bilton_d said:

Does it honestly make that much difference if you are just using the vehicle as a normal form of transport where excessive heat build up isn't an issue and your not bouncing it off the rev limiter every gear change? As a rule i try not to take it above 2000 rpm for the first 5 mile and maybe 3000 rpm for the next 5 mile or so and it only rarely goes above 4000 rpm.

It depends,

If you are talking about a daily driver which is not a sports car then the standard recomended oil with regular changes is fine, however if you are driving a sports car hard or not, than good quality oil makes large difference from engine protection to inreased mpg.

Cheers

Guy.

[MGBV8]

Back to Back testing info

www.performanceoilnews.com/oils_against_oils.shtml

[GCCK]

Guy - most impressed with what you're doing on here. We'll never know how much money you've saved folks who've NOT destroyed their engines as a result of authoritative advice.

Currently using Carlube Triple R 5W/40 fully synthetic in my Lotus Elise S1 '99. The packaging states it was developed in association with Lotus Motorsport. Bought the car 9/04.

The standard 1.8 Rover K-series puts out 118bhp, mine is now 170+ with a VHPD head, direct-to-head throttle bodies and new, re-mapped ECU. Went to a track day late last year and was concerned that the engine sounded "thrashy" on the way home. Fine starting from cold the next day. Level was checked before, during & after event and no perceptable use in 200 miles and half-way between markers on dipstick. Previously had a std Elise and relative to that one, the tuned car runs hotter (road or track).

Once saw a thread suggesting VHPD heads (as per Exige) need thicker oil than standard engines but not been able to track it down lately. Could you substantiate this and if appropriate, recommend an alternative oil to try?

Thanks in advance,
Graeme

[pesty]

what would you recomend for a


1993 VW corado 2.9 V6 116k miles on the clock recent new head.

Cheers

[opieoilman]

GCCK said:

Guy - most impressed with what you're doing on here. We'll never know how much money you've saved folks who've NOT destroyed their engines as a result of authoritative advice. Currently using Carlube Triple R 5W/40 fully synthetic in my Lotus Elise S1 '99. The packaging states it was developed in association with Lotus Motorsport. Bought the car 9/04. The standard 1.8 Rover K-series puts out 118bhp, mine is now 170+ with a VHPD head, direct-to-head throttle bodies and new, re-mapped ECU. Went to a track day late last year and was concerned that the engine sounded "thrashy" on the way home. Fine starting from cold the next day. Level was checked before, during & after event and no perceptable use in 200 miles and half-way between markers on dipstick. Previously had a std Elise and relative to that one, the tuned car runs hotter (road or track). Once saw a thread suggesting VHPD heads (as per Exige) need thicker oil than standard engines but not been able to track it down lately. Could you substantiate this and if appropriate, recommend an alternative oil to try? Thanks in advance, Graeme

Graeme,

The problem here could be the quality of the oil, Carlube is kind of cheap and chearful oil, even though it says it is a fully synthetic it is not, it is a hydrocracked mineral oil, it was developed with Lotus because Carlube payed a lot of money to be associated with the Lotus name as it is great for marketing, if you get the picture. After a track day a 5w-40 H/C oil will be functioning as a 5w-30 or lowever hense the thrashy sound as the oil thins down under temps.

I would suggest you stick around the same grade 5w-40 is good for the K-series but an improvement on quality would be a good idea. The likes of Motul and Silkolene both do ester/pao synthetic 5w-40 that are ideal for track use as the esters can take sustained temps and basically a general beating before it will start to break down.

You can find tech specs on these oils here www.opieoils.co.uk/lubricants.htm

Also it might be worth going to have a look at the BlatChat boards as we have done a lot of work with these guys sorting out the best options.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Guy

[opieoilman]

pesty said:

what would you recomend for a 1993 VW corado 2.9 V6 116k miles on the clock recent new head. Cheers

The recomended oil for the car is a 5w-40 full synthetic or a 10w-40 semi synthetic that meets the VW505.00 spec. Being a V6 I would go for a full synthetic, if the car is modiefied or used on a track then it may be worth considering a slightly thicker oil like a 10w-50 to cope with the extra temps, if not just stick with a good quality 5w-40, plenty to look at here www.opieoils.co.uk/lubricants.htm

Cheers

Guy.

[Fatboy]

Hi Guy,

Got another oil question for you - I've just bought a 1988 Porsche 944 Lux (2.5 engine, 138,000 miles), and would like to know what oil you recommend I use in her? I'm planning on doing an oil and filter change as I don't know what's in her at the moment.

I don't do track days, but do like giving it some serious beans every so often, with a fair few drag races thrown in over the summer, and probably quite a few motorway miles.

Cheers Mate,

Fatboy

[opieoilman]

Fatboy said:

Hi Guy, Got another oil question for you - I've just bought a 1988 Porsche 944 Lux (2.5 engine, 138,000 miles), and would like to know what oil you recommend I use in her? I'm planning on doing an oil and filter change as I don't know what's in her at the moment. I don't do track days, but do like giving it some serious beans every so often, with a fair few drag races thrown in over the summer, and probably quite a few motorway miles. Cheers Mate, Fatboy

Fatboy,

The stock recomendation for the car is for a 5w-40 full synthetic, or 10w-40 semi, with the kind of use you have suggested I would only go full synthetic, also if you were to use a grade like 10w-50 it will be the best compromise for all your driving habits.

I would suggest the Silkolene Pro S 10w-50 ester/pao synthetic as it is a top quality oil and also Porsche approved.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Guy.

[Sparks]

I have a yr2000 Saab 9-3 diesel (2.2 vauxhall engine) on 87000 miles, which goes to the dealer every 9K for a service. Not sure what they put in, but I have noticed it only takes about 2000 miles for the oil to get very dirty. It often does alot of short journeys and I wonder if I should be changing the oil more often. If so, what do you recommend, considering the regular short (1-7 miles) journeys.

Thanks in advance, a very interesting thread.

Sparks

[opieoilman]

Sparks,

The recomended grade for your car is a 5w-40 full synthetic. I am assuming this is what the stealer has put in, or should have anyway.

If the dealer has put in good quality oil then the 9k service with your described use is fine, the fact that it goes black is a sign the oil is doing its job, however diesels are dirty engines anyway and will produce a lot of by products.

Much as I would like to try and sell you some oil, everything seems fine here. Unless your going to modify the car then there is no need to step out of the standard grade and drain interval.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Guy.

[Sparks]

Thanks for the advice. I also like the deliberate typo (highlighted)

Sparks

opieoilman said:

Sparks, The recomended grade for your car is a 5w-40 full synthetic. I am assuming this is what the <b>stealer</b> has put in, or should have anyway. If the dealer has put in good quality oil then the 9k service with your described use is fine, the fact that it goes black is a sign the oil is doing its job, however diesels are dirty engines anyway and will produce a lot of by products. Much as I would like to try and sell you some oil, everything seems fine here. Unless your going to modify the car then there is no need to step out of the standard grade and drain interval. Hope this helps. Cheers Guy.

[optimanc]

Hi Guy

My 2.0ltr E36 is due a service and it has now clocked just over 168,000. I usually use Castrol GTX Magnitech 10w 40.
Considering its mileage would you recommend using oil designed for high mileage such as Valvoline Max Life or should I stick with Castrol?

Many thanks

[opieoilman]

optimanc said:

Hi Guy My 2.0ltr E36 is due a service and it has now clocked just over 168,000. I usually use Castrol GTX Magnitech 10w 40. Considering its mileage would you recommend using oil designed for high mileage such as Valvoline Max Life or should I stick with Castrol? Many thanks

Some high mileage oils will contain an addative to encourage the seals to swell, a well maintained car should not need this. Most high mileage oils are market reaserch to see who is buying their oil, along with most diesel oils, in reality they are generally the same as petrol.

The magnatec is a semi synthetic, however much better semi synthetics are available, in terms of base stock used and addatives, magnatec is the result of clever marketing!

Or you could move up to a full synthetic, 5w-40 grade for all year round use.

Cheers

Guy.

[nig-gtv]

Hi Guy,

Good of you to offer your expert advice!...

MAKE: Alfa Romeo
MODEL: GTV
ENGINE: 3.0 V6 24v
YEAR: 1999

The car has always been run on Selenia 20k (10w/40). However, last time I had it serviced the garage used 5w/40, saying that it would give better engine protection. Its now due another service, and I am not sure whether to get 5w/40 again, 10w/40 as per usual, or lash out on some 10w/60 (which is mentionned in the handbook as an alternative.

Which is going to give me all round best engine protection and quiet running?

Cheers!

[MGBV8]

Guy,

Can you expain Exactly why Magnatec (readily available) is not considered a good oil, as its the only Part synthetic oil, as far as I am aware, that has stated ester content rather than just synthetic which could be just GIII.

High Mileage oils do have a different specification


http://home.comcast.net/~dsmphotos/cgtx.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~dsmphotos/himile.jpg

[opieoilman]

nig-gtv said:

Hi Guy, Good of you to offer your expert advice!... MAKE: Alfa Romeo MODEL: GTV ENGINE: 3.0 V6 24v YEAR: 1999 The car has always been run on Selenia 20k (10w/40). However, last time I had it serviced the garage used 5w/40, saying that it would give better engine protection. Its now due another service, and I am not sure whether to get 5w/40 again, 10w/40 as per usual, or lash out on some 10w/60 (which is mentionned in the handbook as an alternative. Which is going to give me all round best engine protection and quiet running? Cheers!

The recomended grade for all year round running for a fully synthetic is for a 5w-40, if you use a semi synthetic then a 10w-40.

For all year ro9und use the 5w-40 will give you the best cold stasrt protection and mpg, the 10w-60 is recomended in the handbook for hard driving, but not in our climate, over here a 10w-50 is more apropriate, a 10w-50 will help keep the engine quiet if it is a little noisy.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Guy.

[opieoilman]

MGBV8 said:

Guy, Can you expain Exactly why Magnatec (readily available) is not considered a good oil, as its the only Part synthetic oil, as far as I am aware, that has stated ester content rather than just synthetic which could be just GIII. High Mileage oils do have a different specification http://home.comcast.net/~dsmphotos/cgtx.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~dsmphotos/himile.jpg

It is only a part synthetic, it does contain ester, however for ester to be really effective in an oil you will need 20% content plus, the magnatec contains only a few % at best (marketing).

On those data sheets the figures that indicate poor base stock and shear strength is the VI Index number and HTHS numbers, they should be higher.

Cheers

Guy.