DER951

I certainly don't want to start another "what is the best oil" thread, but I've been looking at oil for my track car, and see several brands (Mobil 1, Red Line, etc.) sell a racing oil as well as a regular synthetic. Price difference from regular to racing within one brand seems to vary by $5 to $10 per quart/liter.

My car is an '86 944 turbo, making about 275 rwhp, and I plan to bring that up to about 350 rwhp. Car is used for track only (PCA DE), and my priority is maximizing engine life, rather than extracting every last hp.

I've been using regular synthetic, and changing oil about every 5-6 track days.

What would I gain, if anything, from the extra $$ for racing oil?

Veloce Raptor

Racing oils, IIRC, have extra zinc additives, etc that benefit highly stressed motors.

Serge944

Exactly. Better for your engine, slightly worse for your catalytic converters.

Gary R.

On an over stressed 944 turbo it won't matter much, it's all going to end up on the track anyway....

67King

There is a whole lot more to it than just the ZDDP, but that is a big factor. Good racing oils should have about 1200-1300 ppm of ZDDP. Anything you can buy from Pep Boys or your favorite parts store probably only has 800.

But there is also the base stock of the oil. There are five types. Groups I is for your old Model A. Very high wax content, not very refined. Group II is a good "conventional" oil. Group III has, since Castrol Syntec beat Mobil in a court case over the use of the term "synthetic", been used as a synthetic, but in reality, it is a very highly refined petroleum based product. Group IV is PAO - Polyalphaolefin. It is what Amsoil is. Group V is ester.

A good oil has combinations of III, IV, and V, as they all have good things, and bad things. PAO is not polar, so it doesn't want to stick to the metal. Ester is, but too much means it competes against the ZDDP for surface area of the metal. One makes rubber seals swell, one makes them contract, so again, you need a balance. Group III adds lubricity.

There are also the additive packages that handle the pressure better or worse than others.

When I first got the car, I used Mobil 1. Then at the advice of some guys of whom you've all heard, I started to run Valvoline VR1, the stuff you buy at Napa, before I got in the business and learned. Unfortunately, I managed to screw up my rod bearings in only a few events, though I think I caught it in time. I then put in Motul 300V, and got much better oil pressure with that than I did with the VR1. From all of the testing I have seen, I will say that I would run Torco, 300V, or Joe Gibbs, but not the other common stuff. I will be switching to Millers Nanodrive oil at the Club race at Road Atlanta.

rlm328

If you have not resealed your engine recently, I would stick with the Dino oil. I use VR1, as stated earlier you will go through any where from 1/4 to 1/2 qt per day at the track. These engines are not tight tolerance like modern engines so they have a blow by tendency. I would not put a high dollar synthetic in as the retention time is fairly low. You will want to carry 3 to 4 qts with you when you go to the track. You will also want to change your oil every 3 to 4 times to the track because of the blow by putting combustion by products in your oil.

333pg333

Ouch!!

winders

Red Line, Motul 300V, and Fuchs Titan are all great and are all either fully ester-based or heavily ester-based.

Red Line is the only automotive oil I know of that starts out as fully polyol ester-based and then is formulated for automotive use. Red Line uses PAO (Group IV) as an additive carrier oil with all of the remainder being polyol ester. It is my understanding that Red Line is the only pure Group IV/V synthetic oil on the market today.

Ester-based oils handle high heat the best and resist shearing the best.

Scott

Scott

Lemming

I was under the impression that racing synthetics also contain much less detergent and therefore less foaming.

flatsics

67king, where are you getting the Millers oil from in the USA. I can't find a USA distributor.

67King

Karl Poeltl (Racer's Edge) and I started a company to do so. www.performanceracingoils.com. We are ordering a few pallets, and are having a few dyno tests run over teh next couple of weeks, then we will probably start working on getting our name out there. We already have a few dealers lined up (Paragon, Apex, Essex, and a few others), but are actively seeking more. We will also sell direct.

flatsics

67King

Thanks for the website link.

67King

Also, I had forgotten about this article, but this is a good read. I forget the publication this came from, but it was from an external source: http://www.performanceracingoils.com...ngine_Oils.pdf.

mclaudio

I used to be in the motorsports fuel and lubricant business. Good post. There's a lot of tribal knowledge out there, which leads to more confusion. The one thing I would add is that oil pressure is not the whole story; rather oil flow is really the key. Unfortunately, this measurement is not readily available or illustrated.

67King

This is a pretty good article that goes over that. I found it quite interesting, but there is a caveat. The author, "Dr. Ali Haas" writes leaving one with the impression that Dr. refers to Ph.D. But not many PhD's have the kinds of cars he has, so I looked him up. Dr. is a plastic surgeon. He is certainly extremely educated, and I'm not saying that to discredit him in any manner, whatsoever. But I have read contrary opinions to his, and I don't want for anyone to discount other points from educated people based on any kind of false impression: http://www.minimania.com/web/display...8/ArticleV.cfm