Engine Oil Capacity
Discussion
What I keep intending to do, but never getting around to it, is draining out my 0w-40 Mobil 1 (which I personally find way too thin and makes the engine noisy and the oil pressure piss-poor) and putting in some Motul 300v 15w-50 - if you look on ebay, opieoils sell this regularly in dented 2 litre cans (who cares, it's oil not fruit, not like it's going to bruise) for £39.99 delivered for 6 litres of oil that would normally cost about £80-£90 in the shops. From what I've heard it's really good stuff too, fully synthetic ester based oil, some of the best oil you can put in an RV8.
A bit of inside info. I sell Morris's oil in the Motor Factors I run. I have had my oil tested in there labs and there conclusion was to use there 10w/50 Fully Synthetic racing oil. It has less internal friction and as advised I had to up the idle on my car as it noticebly dropped when the oil was fitted (plus it doesn't fall out of the exhaust like a 0w/40). As for the Shell Helix its a semi-sythetic not a fully so there lies your price differance.
ouiseyg said:
A bit of inside info. I sell Morris's oil in the Motor Factors I run. I have had my oil tested in there labs and there conclusion was to use there 10w/50 Fully Synthetic racing oil. It has less internal friction and as advised I had to up the idle on my car as it noticebly dropped when the oil was fitted (plus it doesn't fall out of the exhaust like a 0w/40). As for the Shell Helix its a semi-sythetic not a fully so there lies your price differance.
But semi-synthetic is OK isn't it?
Im using Mobil 1 at the moment, but I am going to switch to Millers Oils CFS 10w60 Competition Full Synthetic. Ive spoken to Millers Technical Team and they said this stuff is "formulated with 100% synthetic base fluids, including a synergistic (!) blend of three esters, combined with latest additive technology for maximum performance!" They reckon its perfect for the Chim.
Sounds good to me ......and its half the price of Mobil 1.
Sounds good to me ......and its half the price of Mobil 1.
Apparently its to do with Viscosity. I pinched this quote off the web:
Most oils are “Multigrades”, which simply means that the oil falls into 2 viscosity grades (i.e. 10w-40 etc)
In a 10w-40 for example the 10w bit (W = winter), means that the oil must have a certain maximum viscosity/flow at low temperature. The lower the “W” number the better the oils cold temperature/cold start performance.
The 40 in a 10w-40 means that the oil must fall within certain viscosity limits at 100 degC. This is a fixed limit and all oils that end in 40 must achieve these limits. Once again the lower the number the thinner the oil, a 30 oil is thinner than a 40 oil at 100 degC etc.
Most oils are “Multigrades”, which simply means that the oil falls into 2 viscosity grades (i.e. 10w-40 etc)
In a 10w-40 for example the 10w bit (W = winter), means that the oil must have a certain maximum viscosity/flow at low temperature. The lower the “W” number the better the oils cold temperature/cold start performance.
The 40 in a 10w-40 means that the oil must fall within certain viscosity limits at 100 degC. This is a fixed limit and all oils that end in 40 must achieve these limits. Once again the lower the number the thinner the oil, a 30 oil is thinner than a 40 oil at 100 degC etc.
The differance between a semi to fully sythentic oil is the amount of synthetic properties in the additive pack used. This is where the price is based. Semi synthetic oils these days are of very high quality and would easily exceed the milages that service intervals dictate with the filter life being the determining factor. Modern fully synthetic oils are used to get the viscosities down to low levels to offer the same protection as thicker oils but with the added benfit of very low friction so to help with fuel economy. In my opinion you could use a semi in your TVR without a problem but with a performance engine where loads are greater I would always use the best. My Chimaera has done nearly 84k, it has always been TVR serviced so I would imagine it would of have had fully Syn oil fiited. Yesterday I replaced the sump gasket and can honestly say it was as clean in there as the day it had its first oil in the engine. This is where you see the differance!!
For the amount of use my car gets, I would not consider using mineral oil or semi synthetic. Both are more prone to breaking down under high temperatures/pressures than fulling synthetic oil, and in the grand scheme of things, you're looking at £30 for 6 litres of semi-synth Castrol GTX or similar, £20 maybe if you buy a less established brand, and £40 for the top-notch fully synthetic stuff that's much less likely to allow any harm to come to your engine. The RV8 is an ancient engine and we all know how hot it can run even if it's not on the track. For the sake of an extra £10 or £20 running costs over the course of a year, cheap oil is a very very false economy.
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