oil for track cars

[STEVE_POE]

Curious, what grade oil are you guys running for track days or track cars ? 3v 4.6

 

[gzmo]

in to know as well

 

[DusterRT]

I run 5-30 (dual purpose car though)..there's a good thread on CC.com on oil weights for modular engines.

 

[STEVE_POE]

there's a good thread on CC.com on oil weights for modular engines

read it a million times. I'm on a 10-30

 

[Natural1]

Steve, I am a big Rotella T6 Synthetic fan (5W40). I feel the the 5W40 offeres a good medium between maximum lubrication, minimum windage/resistance and temperature stability. It comes in various flavors, in gallon containers, is relatively inexpensive and is readilly available at almost any retailer. I have always used it in my trucks (non-syn) and Kendall GT1 (syn) in the cars, but changed when my local distributor stopped selling GT1. There was a test performed below on serveral manufacturer's products. The test is a bit old, but it will give you good reference material. Notice why the oils that performed well (0w) did so.

http://www.performanceoilnews.com/oils_against_oils.shtml

 

[ArizonaGT]

Mobil1 5w20

 

[Natural1]

Sorry Steve..

Off topic @ ArizonaGT, could I ask you to place a side shot of your car, with the black wheels (in sig pic), in the Pictures and Video section? Are those the Roush? They also look like the Axis Elite? It looks nice!

Tungsten Grey FTMFW!!

Note: I edited this post to say Pictures/Vid Section and not Tires/Wheel Tech Section

 

[SoundGuyDave]

Amsoil 10w40 here, with excellent success, but the car NEVER sees temps below 35*....

 

[ArizonaGT]

Sorry Steve..

Off topic @ ArizonaGT, could I ask you to place a side shot of your car, with the black wheels (in sig pic), in the Pictures and Video section? Are those the Roush? They also look like the Axis Elite? It looks nice!

Tungsten Grey FTMFW!!

Note: I edited this post to say Pictures/Vid Section and not Tires/Wheel Tech Section

They are the Roush Track Pack wheels...will do.

 

[Bizzyb0nes]

10w40 seems a bit excessive Dave, its twice as thick as factory recommendation, is there any main reason behind that decision?

 

[94tbird]

i use the gt500 oil, 5w50 after my oil pump failed on 5w20. 5w20 is like water and is used for emissions, not saftey.

 

[Stangmeister9]

running the 5w-30/Mobil1.

 

[Vapour Trails]

5w20

 

[Kaldar142]

10w40 seems a bit excessive Dave, its twice as thick as factory recommendation, is there any main reason behind that decision?

Oil thins out when it gets hot, and continues to thin out the hotter it gets. I've actually watched my oil temp gauge go up and my oil pressure gauge go down while at the track...

Extra protection, or at least that is why i run 10w40 (same as dave).

I'm just paranoid, because i blew my WRX engine by not running thick enough oil at the track.

 

[SoundGuyDave]

Oil thins out when it gets hot, and continues to thin out the hotter it gets. I've actually watched my oil temp gauge go up and my oil pressure gauge go down while at the track...

Extra protection, or at least that is why i run 10w40 (same as dave).

I'm just paranoid, because i blew my WRX engine by not running thick enough oil at the track.

EXACTLY! Hot idle oil pressure on my car usually sits around 60 or so PSI, but after 20 minutes out on track, that drops to around 18PSI (!!), at least it did with 5W-20. With the 10W-40, that pit-in pressure seems to be around 30PSI, which is a lot more comforting. As I mentioned, my car is a seasonal one, and never sees cold temps, so the "thin" spec on the oil is of little interest to me at all. The 40-weight, however, is. It's my firm belief that the 5W-20 spec oil is there for CAFE purposes, and for no other reason. Since I could care less about the .02mpg that I'm losing to oil-pump related parasitic loss, AND since I flog the car pretty hard, I want all the protection I can get. A little birdie (who was on the Ford engineering team for the 4.6L 3-V) mentioned the following:

"(Shaking head from side to side) You should always run the specified oil, particularly if you track the car. (Starts nodding head up and down) You should never run another weight, like, say, 10W-40..." 'Nuff said, at least as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Stangmeister9]

EXACTLY! Hot idle oil pressure on my car usually sits around 60 or so PSI, but after 20 minutes out on track, that drops to around 18PSI (!!), at least it did with 5W-20. With the 10W-40, that pit-in pressure seems to be around 30PSI, which is a lot more comforting. As I mentioned, my car is a seasonal one, and never sees cold temps, so the "thin" spec on the oil is of little interest to me at all. The 40-weight, however, is. It's my firm belief that the 5W-20 spec oil is there for CAFE purposes, and for no other reason. Since I could care less about the .02mpg that I'm losing to oil-pump related parasitic loss, AND since I flog the car pretty hard, I want all the protection I can get. A little birdie (who was on the Ford engineering team for the 4.6L 3-V) mentioned the following:

"(Shaking head from side to side) You should always run the specified oil, particularly if you track the car. (Starts nodding head up and down) You should never run another weight, like, say, 10W-40..." 'Nuff said, at least as far as I'm concerned.

thanks for that info, i too run the crap out of my car on track days. not sure i've seen a 5w40. in my area the temps are in the high 90's for about 7 months out of the year. will look into the 40!

 

[Flash_of_Yellow]

I've been running the 5W20 Mobil1 Synthetic, but now thinking I might change things up. I run track events and haven't really paid too much attention to my pressures (guess I should). But in winter we also get down low and below freezing. Not that I drive my car in winter, but occasionally have to start it up and move it around to work on other cars. I think I'll change to the 10W40 for summer and track days and keep the 5W20 for winter (non-track).

Also, since the price is only a couple $$ total difference, thinking of changing to RoyalPurple this year. Any thoughts on that? Worth the change or just flushing money?

 

[Vapour Trails]

I think I'm going to change to 5w30 in light of what I've read here.

 

[Bizzyb0nes]

See, I always thought you shouldn't go that thick due to tight engine tolerances....I do plan on hitting some tracks days....I think my work has 5w40 castrol syntec, but I have a preference for mobil...I will wait on the heavier oil though, first event isn't until june

 

[Bizzyb0nes]

We got castrol 5w40, 5w50, and Mobil 0w40....better choice?