Gulf Classic Oil?
Discussion
I see on eurocar parts who have what seems like a perpetual offer code on that they have Gulf 5w50 with extra zinc which works out at £25.50 for 5l. The dealer I bought my car from, a 450, recommended 5w50 and I'm sure I've read that a high zinc content helps protect the cam surfaces. Is this oil worth getting?
Edited by wseed on Tuesday 29th August 21:41
5w 50 is the oil stated in my handbook for the 400 engine, it seems a good choice to me to aid with good quick circulation on cold starts but its not a very common viscosity.
Ive not really used gulf products before but opie oils stock them and they seem to only use quality lubricants.
The most recommended oil by guys on here and respected engine builders seems to be Valvoline racing VR1 (20w 50), its around £30 for 5 litres so isnt that far from the gulf oil.
You will get a million different answers on which oil people use but if the engine experts recommend the Valvoline id personally stick with it.
I currently use this as i liked the idea of going fully synthetic but everyone is different.
http://www.classic-oils.net/Penrite-HPR15
Ive not really used gulf products before but opie oils stock them and they seem to only use quality lubricants.
The most recommended oil by guys on here and respected engine builders seems to be Valvoline racing VR1 (20w 50), its around £30 for 5 litres so isnt that far from the gulf oil.
You will get a million different answers on which oil people use but if the engine experts recommend the Valvoline id personally stick with it.
I currently use this as i liked the idea of going fully synthetic but everyone is different.
http://www.classic-oils.net/Penrite-HPR15
Belle427 said:
5w 50 is the oil stated in my handbook for the 400 engine,
You will get a million different answers on which oil people use but if the engine experts recommend the Valvoline id personally stick with it.
Agree, 5/50 is in the handbook but it is also Mobil 1. No doubt a marketing tie up like most manufacturers.You will get a million different answers on which oil people use but if the engine experts recommend the Valvoline id personally stick with it.
Its interesting how there are so many different views on oil. I don't have a choice as many others will not. If your engine has been rebuilt by Powers Performance, you must use 10/40 or 15/40 semi synthetic or the warranty is void.
Its a minefield
Ah, I hadn't noticed that the gulf oil was mineral. Mine has fully synthetic in at the mo and it has stayed nice and clean. I think I'll stay with the same I may go for the Penrite one, am I correct in thinking that the 5 of the 5w50 and the 15 of the 15w60 is the cold performance and therefore only really important when using in cold weather?
wseed said:
Ah, I hadn't noticed that the gulf oil was mineral. Mine has fully synthetic in at the mo and it has stayed nice and clean. I think I'll stay with the same I may go for the Penrite one, am I correct in thinking that the 5 of the 5w50 and the 15 of the 15w60 is the cold performance and therefore only really important when using in cold weather?
Yes, the first number is the viscosity when cold.Id be interested to know myself why a 20w 50 is specified for these engines, mainly the 20w part. I would have thought a lower winter number would be advisable for cam lubrication.
Edited by Belle427 on Thursday 31st August 07:54
Belle427 said:
wseed said:
Ah, I hadn't noticed that the gulf oil was mineral. Mine has fully synthetic in at the mo and it has stayed nice and clean. I think I'll stay with the same I may go for the Penrite one, am I correct in thinking that the 5 of the 5w50 and the 15 of the 15w60 is the cold performance and therefore only really important when using in cold weather?
Yes, the first number is the viscosity when cold.Id be interested to know myself why a 20w 50 is specified for these engines, mainly the 20w part. I would have thought a lower winter number would be advisable for cam lubrication.
Edited by Belle427 on Thursday 31st August 07:54
But the TVR handbook does say 5/50 Mobil 1.
wseed said:
it does indeed appear to be a minefield. I guess I can't go wrong with the manufacture recommendation of the Mobil 1. That's what was put in it by the dealer that serviced it last time and it's not overly expensive on the continent. I'll stock up next trip.
Mobil 1 is terrible stuff , Its ok for flushing. 
just to add my two penneth i use comma 20/50 classic in normally aspirated engines which is high zinc plus dosent have loads of additives which suit the rovers old design but go to millers 15/60 for forced induction which helps greatly with blowby and is highly respected amongst the racing fraternity.
john
john
Engineer1949 said:
just to add my two penneth i use comma 20/50 classic in normally aspirated engines which is high zinc plus dosent have loads of additives which suit the rovers old design but go to millers 15/60 for forced induction which helps greatly with blowby and is highly respected amongst the racing fraternity.john
Millers Oils CFS 15w-60 is a great oil but at £47 for five litres it gets a bit expensive, IE £66 for the 7 litres a Chimaera takes every oil change.Switch to Penrite's fully synthetic HPR15 - 15w-60 from Classic Oils at £33 for 5 litres and your 7 litre oil changes become a more realistic £46 a pop, a useful 30% saving over the Millers CFS 15w-60. I find this saving allows for more frequent changes, which is always better in the old Rover lump.
http://www.classic-oils.net/Penrite-HPR15
I've been running this high zinc content fully synthetic 15w-60 for years now, with the exception of a freshly built engine, for the money Penrite HPR15 has to be the best quality and most suitable viscosity oil you can put in your mid to higher mileage RV8 without spending silly money.
My 5,000 mile oil changes actually consist of 5 litres of Penrite HPR15 topped off with 2 litres of Classic Oils Heritage 20w-50, this cost £35.70 for the 7 litre oil change.
https://www.classic-oils.net/Classic-Oils-Heritage...
I then use the remaining 4 litres of Heritage 20w-50 as my top up supply between changes, I know my engine consumes 0.75 litres every 1,000 miles.
4 litres / 0.75 litres x 1000 = 5333miles, so when I've used up that remaining 4 litres of Classic Oils Heritage 20w-50 its time for me to change my oil again, each 5333 mile change interval therefore costs me £51 in engine oil or a shade under a penny a mile.
ChimpOnGas said:
Belle427 said:
I use the Penrite too but is it advisable to mix the 2 different brands?
There is absolutely no reason why not, it's oil mixed with oil, not oil with water.
As the two oils in the question are of different viscosities it would seem a reasonable question. Can you please be more specific, Dave, to help numpties like me understand better? Every day's a school day, and i am still learning at 64 and not ashamed to admit it.
For example, would you mix synthetic, semi-synthetic and mineral oils? As a matter of principle? Or when caught short and one of the mismatches was all that the petrol station had at 2 am? I have been there with a newly-acquired Saab that had a piston ring issue and had, unbeknownst to me until I checked, lost a couple of litres in 500 miles driving. It needed fully synthetic, and all the petrol station had was semi. (Engine rebuilt since, now uses 1/4 litre in 18,000 miles - thank you Mr Mat Smith).
TIA
Honestly guys, mixing oils like this is not an issue.
The Heritage 20w/50 is a mineral and the Pernrite HPR15 is a 15w/60 synthetic, all you're creating by mixing the two is a semi-synthetic. Actually there are different levels of synthetic engine oil and just because an oil is synthetic doesn’t automatically mean its better than all other conventional oils.
Ester oil is synthetic base oil that has been chemically synthesized, esters are the most common synthetics in group V and "Fully synthetic" is actually a marketing term, it is not a measure of quality, from V you could then step up to a group IV Poly-alpha-olefin (PAO) but it really is massive overkill in old Rover.
The Pernrite HPR15 15w/60 is a Group V synthetic, its not right at the top of the synthetic tree but it is still massively over specified for the old Rover V8, use 5 litres of it with 2 litres of Heritage 20w/50 and all you're creating is a quality high zinc content semi-synthetic with the synthetic element being the dominant percentage.
The Millers CFS 15w60 used by Engineer1949 on his supercharged cars is actually a blend of group IV and group v, using both polyalphaolefins (PAO) and ester synthetics, personally I believe the Pernrite group V synthetic HPR15 15w/60 is more than enough engine oil for any Rover V8, even a blown one on the track.
For everything else the Comma Classic 20w/50 recommended by Engineer1949 which is API SE/CC or Classic Oils Heritage 20w/50 which is API SL/CH are totally adequate, just change them regularly as you would any of the other expensive synthetics and you'll be fine assuming you're not tracking the car.
Both are 20w/50 mineral engine oils with plenty of zinc but it has to be said SE/CC is a rather old API rating that dates back to 1979 and is now considered obsolete by API themselves. SE/CC is not obsolete and was the standard in 2001 to be used in cars from that era and any car made earlier than 2001, the truth is the Classic Oils Heritage 20w/50 is quite a bit better than the Comma Classic 20w/50 and costs no more.
The Heritage 20w/50 is a mineral and the Pernrite HPR15 is a 15w/60 synthetic, all you're creating by mixing the two is a semi-synthetic. Actually there are different levels of synthetic engine oil and just because an oil is synthetic doesn’t automatically mean its better than all other conventional oils.
Ester oil is synthetic base oil that has been chemically synthesized, esters are the most common synthetics in group V and "Fully synthetic" is actually a marketing term, it is not a measure of quality, from V you could then step up to a group IV Poly-alpha-olefin (PAO) but it really is massive overkill in old Rover.
The Pernrite HPR15 15w/60 is a Group V synthetic, its not right at the top of the synthetic tree but it is still massively over specified for the old Rover V8, use 5 litres of it with 2 litres of Heritage 20w/50 and all you're creating is a quality high zinc content semi-synthetic with the synthetic element being the dominant percentage.
The Millers CFS 15w60 used by Engineer1949 on his supercharged cars is actually a blend of group IV and group v, using both polyalphaolefins (PAO) and ester synthetics, personally I believe the Pernrite group V synthetic HPR15 15w/60 is more than enough engine oil for any Rover V8, even a blown one on the track.
For everything else the Comma Classic 20w/50 recommended by Engineer1949 which is API SE/CC or Classic Oils Heritage 20w/50 which is API SL/CH are totally adequate, just change them regularly as you would any of the other expensive synthetics and you'll be fine assuming you're not tracking the car.
Both are 20w/50 mineral engine oils with plenty of zinc but it has to be said SE/CC is a rather old API rating that dates back to 1979 and is now considered obsolete by API themselves. SE/CC is not obsolete and was the standard in 2001 to be used in cars from that era and any car made earlier than 2001, the truth is the Classic Oils Heritage 20w/50 is quite a bit better than the Comma Classic 20w/50 and costs no more.
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