cs jeff

Most of the spec boxster racers change oil after either 1 or 2 race weekends. It's pretty common practice.

TIM COSTA

Why? Isn't That part of the reasoning behind using a "better" oil, less breakdown.

bgiere

many people change oil because it makes them feel better...it's not about the oil in most cases! In my experience a quality race oil (with detergents) will Easily last 10-2 hours and still be acceptable for use. Of course if your engine is out of tune or you have fuel dilution,etc. that won't be the case. But changing the oil after 3-4 hours of race time is likely a complete waste.

eric523

Yeah we swear by this stuff in my shop. It's in ALL of the track cars. Including my spec boxster. Oil changes after every other event as well.
This stuff has higher film strength than Mobil-1 so it keeps stuff coated decently for cold starts as well, or least enough in our opinion.
It is a partial synthetic blend, from the same refinery as the old Kendal GT1 before it was sold. Made in Bradsford Pennsylvania, hence the name. The Kendal name got sold elsewhere, and this refinery still pumps out close to the same product.

cs jeff

On a typical race weekend with practice sessions, qualifying, actual race, etc. we would probably have 6-8 track hours per weekend x 2 = 12-16 hrs between oil changes. For those who race, how long do you go between oil changes?

dbryant61

Just FYI: Valvoline VR-1 comes in two varieties - Dino that I buy off-the shelf at Advance Auto (or Pep Boys or AutoZone) and full synthetic that you can only find online.

I use Valvoline Dino VR-1 and change after two weekends of racing/track-time. Reason - I rebuilt my own engine and don't want to do it again for as long as possible.

cs jeff

Yep, that's the other advantage. I can get the Dino 20w50 locally and it's relatively inexpensive.

944CS

I've found the VR-1 Synthetic (its blue!) locally at some National Auto stores and also at certain Napa's

jdistefa

Change my oil every 2 events.

dbryant61

Black bottle?

Werkstatt

How about Rotella?

flyingpenguin

Check out the oil analysis on a M1 15W50 I just got back after just 2,500 (mostly track) miles. I had turned into a 10W30.

Even though the High Temp / High Shear of this M1 is pretty good (on paper) I am considering switching to something even more "resistant".

JP

smlporsche

I don't think the report is bad at all if you've put almost 2500 track miles on the car (~ 10 weekends??)
All oils will shear. Most of the people I run with would never go that long between oil changes on a track car though.

flyingpenguin

The 2,500 mi is actually combined street and track (2 weekends ~ 600 mi total on track).

I agree that 2 track events is the most you should run on an oil change. Hey, the numbers don't lie!

In any case, I won't be using M1 15W50 for my next oil change anymore. Still undecided what to put in there though.

Imagine folks running the M1 0W40 for combined street and track and stick to Porsche's recommended intervals. Not good! Does anyone have a UOA for this kind of scenario to share?

JP

utkinpol

issue i had with 0w40 was not as much about lubrication as about foaming. you can see that funny 'X51 oil pan' item in my signature - it has different baffles with rubber gaskets which get tight with block edges so it prevents oil from foaming as car get thrown around during auto-x as most oil gets kept in the middle.
so without it essentially I had valve lifters knocking as they were running dry. oil change to 15w50 helped a bit but not totally, oil pan remedied that as it makes oil level substantially higher and supply more evenly distributed down below.
i ran all current season on that oil since spring and had oil level reduced by 1 line only. did 3 DE days so far as well. IMHO it is a normal usage for one oil cycle. I was told to change oil after each 5-6 DE events and it looks to be most likely to be exactly as much for me per season in average, so, regular 2 annual oil changes will still fit, perhaps with moving spring oil change more into summer as 5w50 is OK for track as well.

as of oil choice - it is pretty personal but IMHO I will stay with M1 15w50. a lot of people I know use it, 997 and 996 cars and nobody had issues because of oil yet.