What is the best sports car motor oil ever?

[unclebilly]

Seems like it’s been a while since we’ve discussed the finer points of motor oil…

I like Valvoline VR1 for my sports cars and Pennzoil Synthetic for the gassers in my daily fleet.

[recycled sixtie]

I am long in the tooth. I will go with Castrol. And pair it with Lucas electrics......

[Shaun @ Tru6]

I have used VR1 forever in my M491 and '73 with a 3.2. Cayenne and BMW get Liqui Moly Leichtlauf. Ducati gets Motul.


A high end shop on the West Coast uses this stuff.

[rfuerst911sc]

Best is very difficult to have a conversation about because oil formulas are constantly changing . Without oil analysis to compare it comes down to seat of pants . Having said that I have been using Liqui Moly # 2040/2041 for several years in both Porsche's . Oil analysis has been solid . It is a 5w40 synthetic . I know Porsche now recommends a 5w50 and I believe their branded oil is a European Castrol product but I can't confirm that .

Because it is so hot here in Georgia in the summer I am thinking about going to 5w50 or 15w50 . I haven't figured out what brand yet but may use Driven . For those that don't know Driven is the result of Jake Raby/Charles Navarro/Lake Speed Jr in collaboration with Joe Gibbs racing to come up with an oil that was " better than what was available " . Ultimately use what you are comfortable with and change it often .

[Tim Hancock]

I use Walmart Super Tech synthetic oil for nearly all my vehicles and have for years.

Prior to Super Tech I used Castrol dyno and Oreillys synthetic in everything.

My 911SC gets Rotella 15W40

My old dirt race car got O'Reillys 20w50

I have never had an oil related engine failure in any of my vehicles with many going past 200k miles. I also only change oil when manual says to but have gone over many times.

[herr_oberst]

Just the other day I saw that Castrol now had a new GTX with Zinc. It turns out they'd stripped out the zinc a while ago, now they've put it back. It's just as expensive as the synthetic. Targeting classic car owners and hotrodders.

I should have specified it's marketed as classic GTX, now with ZDDP. Dino oil, not synthetic.

[greglepore]

Originally Posted by Tim Hancock

I use Walmart Super Tech synthetic oil for nearly all my vehicles and have for years.

Prior to Super Tech I used Castrol dyno and Oreillys synthetic in everything.

My 911SC gets Rotella 15W40

My old dirt race car got O'Reillys 20w50

I have never had an oil related engine failure in any of my vehicles with many going past 200k miles. I also only change oil when manual says to but have gone over many times.

I'm with you. In non racing, non hauling situations, pretty much any reputable oil is fine. I love Rotella and have used in in my 911, MB's and BMW's forever.
I am most definitely not a fan of the 0-whatever weight synthetics. They're fuel economy driven and I see no purpose unless you live on the tundra.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by unclebilly

Seems like it’s been a while since we’ve discussed the finer points of motor oil…

I like Valvoline VR1 for my sports cars and Pennzoil Synthetic for the gassers in my daily fleet.

I've been watching the Lake Speed videos on YT. He's the guy that's running the Speediagnostix site (like Blackstone, but better). He's a tribologist, and has worked with various companies designing and testing motor oils. Actually, he was one of the guys that designed some of the "Driven" oil in Shaun's post below. I guess back then it was "Joe Gibbs Driven" or something like that.
I've learned so much more about oil than I even knew before (and I'm sure am just scratching the surface.

What I've found interesting is that aluminum engines need oils with moly (molybdenum) because it bonds with the Al, and is a "friction reducer". Iron components need Zinc (ZDDP) which is an "anti-wear" additive (although it actually increases friction). But if you have too much ZDDP, it can/will actually cause premature failure.

Originally Posted by Shaun @ Tru6

I have used VR1 forever in my M491 and '73 with a 3.2. Cayenne and BMW get Liqui Moly Leichtlauf. Ducati gets Motul.


A high end shop on the West Coast uses this stuff.

I've been using Driven DT40 in my boxster for about a year now and plan to stick with Driven oil.

Here's a good video comparing various oils. If I remember correctly, some of the cheap stuff was actually really good (NAPA oil maybe).


One of the things that I am concerned with using most oils is what happens when they change the additive package and I have no idea.

Another good video. I think this Pennzoil stuff is getting very high marks.


and another that might be interesting to some folks.

[Jeff Higgins]

VR-1 in all of the toy cars and bikes. Whatever the dealer puts in the wife's Scooby-Doo-Baru. Whatever is on sale in the Land Cruiser.

[ted]

Originally Posted by Shaun @ Tru6

A high end shop on the West Coast uses this stuff.

Both the race cars use Driven xp6 synthetic.
It was recommended by my shop/ex Engineer at RCR racing.
Each dry sump race car holds 5 gallons of oil.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Tim Hancock

My 911SC gets Rotella 15W40

Originally Posted by greglepore

I'm with you. In non racing, non hauling situations, pretty much any reputable oil is fine. I love Rotella and have used in in my 911, MB's and BMW's forever.

Years ago, early-mid 90s, I worked in a FLAPs, and I remember a lot of guys swearing by Rotella for gas engines (and it was also well loved for diesels).

I'm not expecting you guys to run out and change your oil, but you may find this interesting.

He discusses how diesel oils are different from gas oils (primarly focused on the additive package) and shows how the additive changes that are specific to diesel engines are actually reducing the effectiveness of those oils when they are in a gas engine (potentially by increasing some wear). Apparently, diesel oils are particularly bad for direct injection engines potentially causing catastrophic failure due to detonation.

[TimT]

You're all wrong..

Its the oil that is the factory fill oil for a Miata...

You could use Miata waste oil and your engine will run better for thousand of miles

Because I said so

[p911dad]

Best oil ever, hmmm. Depends on the car. I think for later Porsche air-cooled motors it is 20W50 Mobil 1. For the water cooled 997.1 I use Mobil 1 05W40. Seems to have always worked well. That Miata oil is hard to find.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by TimT

You're all wrong..

Its the oil that is the factory fill oil for a Miata...

You could use Miata waste oil and your engine will run better for thousand of miles

Because I said so

Or add a few unicorn tears, same end result.

[unclebilly]

I can start selling used VR1 from our Spec Miata as a high dollar oil additive for some of you guys… might even make your cars into sports cars… maybe.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by TimT

You're all wrong..

Its the oil that is the factory fill oil for a Miata...

You could use Miata waste oil and your engine will run better for thousand of miles

Because I said so

LMAO!
Absolutely correct!

[fanaudical]

Anecdotal evidence only:

My dad's El Camino was at 485k+ miles when we sold it after he died. He bought that car at ~20k miles and ran Rotella 15w40 exclusively. Never had the engine apart. Still tested at factory compression numbers when I helped him with that test years ago.

My Audi's have always preferred Lubrimoly's Synthoil Premium (5w40), which eliminated some cold lifter clatter that I had on one car when running Mobil 1. No oil consumption with the Lubrimoly either (would burn ~1 qt per oil change with Mobil 1).

My Dodge truck, 5.7L Hemi, needs 5w20 because of the cylinder deactivation feature, was having some weird crankcase carbon build-up running Valvoline synthetic, even with frequent oil changes. I switched to Amsoil for a couple of years which solved that issue, but the Amsoil seemed to get thin (as evidenced by lower oil pressure when warm) after ~2500 miles. Am currently trying Lubrimoly 5w20 and that seems to be holding up.

And I'm not talking about what's in the 911...

[1990C4S]

Whatever CP says. As soon as he weighs in I will be switching to his recommendation. Why? A: Because CP B: Because Miata

I'm half kidding, I am interested in what he runs since he races year-round.

For all the 'Rotella' suggestions, there are lots of 'grades' of Rotella. T1, T4, T6. I assume most of you run T6.

In the end, this is as subjective as the 'most beautiful women' thread. I use product X, and my engine didn't blow up.

[edgemar]

Though on my next oil change..i'm going to try Valvoline Restore & Protect.