oil change interval after track days
07-17-2018, 12:45 PM
#46
Rennlist Member
Would you mind posting up some 300V UOA's with track use?
07-17-2018, 06:27 PM
#47
Rennlist Member
07-18-2018, 09:48 AM
#48
Rennlist Member
Thanks. Is that showing 2 hour and 8 hour intervals?
07-18-2018, 02:08 PM
#49
Rennlist Member
that might have been a data entry error. my long intervals might be 8 hours... thats 4-5 weekends of racing, generally, i always change at 3 weekends. Oh, the 2 hour was not an oil change, it was a sample because i thougth i had hurt the motor ... turns out it was fine.
07-19-2018, 11:17 AM
#50
Rennlist Member
UOA history can take months/years to gauge and evaluate...need to establish a base and trend...looking at one UOA from someones car/oil combo is kinda pointless.....done a lot of this over the years on race cars, trucks, and farm equipment....it ain't that simple. Pick a high quality race oil with detergents...run it 8 hours or so if your nervous or start testing and gain some confidence to extend your oil change intervals accordingly. We get the most out of our OCI's but we work at it.
02-27-2023, 11:54 AM
#51
Instructor
Ive been racing and track running for over 20 years, and have always followed a 3,000-5000mile period for my street cars (or 2 times a year for street car or 1 time a year for a hardly used street/perforance car) regardless of the oil, and 3-4 weekends of racing between oil changes. UOAs done every year show that the oil qualities are intact after these periods . but yes, running the car on the race track does "HARM" the oil, because temperature and repeated heat cycling will change the oils chemical /physical properties. two weekends and the oil is notably darker as going WOT for these hours is MUCH harder on the oil and exposes it to many more byproducts of the engine running at full capacity. stop and go driving is not hard on an oil. thats just the engine, idling at normal operating temp... heat cycling the oil, (2-3 heat cycles per day for short trips ) is a factor . but racing, bringing the oil temps to over 250Fs, and all the chemical process that can occur with the oil at high temps , higher cylinder pressures, exhaust gas blow by and other contaminants etc etc will absolutely "harm " the oil sooner than driving around town. UOAs confirm this. my oil on the same engine used for street driving looks clear and golden after a year or even two of street driving low , stop and go driving, where two weekends at the track shows much more foreign residue. Extreme temperature and oxidation are not friends to any oil. the viscosity break down at the higher temps are the first casualty.. this may not be an issue for a street car that doesnt see high oil temps, but its a concern if the oil breaks down while racing, and this can happen by being exposed to high temp heat cycles. (racing)
this is not actualy true. as i mention above, there is short distances and there is stop and go driving. two diferent cases, and unrelated to the wear or aging of the oil in a racing or DE environment. most street driving is just idling around for the most part. short distances means, more heat cycles and more of a chance of contamination of oil due to cold start bypass of combustion by products into the oil past the rings. take a look at what actually ages oil and breaks down viscosity and you will see that racing is absolutely worse for the oil and would shorten change periods dramatically.
this is not actualy true. as i mention above, there is short distances and there is stop and go driving. two diferent cases, and unrelated to the wear or aging of the oil in a racing or DE environment. most street driving is just idling around for the most part. short distances means, more heat cycles and more of a chance of contamination of oil due to cold start bypass of combustion by products into the oil past the rings. take a look at what actually ages oil and breaks down viscosity and you will see that racing is absolutely worse for the oil and would shorten change periods dramatically.