Some background-
Back in the spring I spun a bearing in my 2000 Firebird. At the time I was out on Road Atlanta and the engine had a good sized cam that required spinning the thing to around 6500 rpm on a stock bottom end. It had 55K "hard" miles on it. Had roughly 250-300 1/4 mile passes on it, roughly the same amount of AutoX passes and something like 8 twenty minute sessions on Road Atlanta. Also had alot of "hard use" up in the N. Ga. mountains. I ran 10W30 for the first 10-20K miles on the engine, then switched to either 0W30 German Castrol,5W40 Castrol, M1 5W40, or 5W40 M1 depending on availability. I think my spun bearing might have been due to oil starvation during heavy breaking {got some good brakes on it, it will do 60-0 in less than 100ft} and cornering {lots of cornering forces due to 315/35/17 DOT race radials on all four corners}.
I just had a LS2 based 402 built for me that I want to last a LONG time. It's putting down 540RWHP at 6200 RPM and the rev limiter is set at 6700rpm which I'm assured is super easy on this engine. I will be installing an accusump so my oil starvation issues will hopefully be a thing of the past. Usage will change slightly from all the drag race and AutoX stuff to alot more open track/land speed events.
Finally, to my question. I know that German Castrol 0W30 is good stuff but availability is spotty around here and honestly I'm wondering if a 40W oil might fit my needs better for my application. I want something that is readily available anywhere because I might need make up oil at any time or any place. I was very curious about the synthetic 5W40 Rotella to tell you the truth. If none of the readily available oils will fit my needs, how about M1 Delvac {or whatever it's called now} 5W40? I can get it at my local heavy truck stop.
I know this is a question that repeatedly comes up and I did do some searching {alot actually} but I think due to the hard usage and possibly slightly "looser" build toleraces due to the inteanded usage of the egine it may need a slightly different oil than a normal LS1/LS2 engine. It's also just plain hard to digest all the information this site has to offer.
Back in the spring I spun a bearing in my 2000 Firebird. At the time I was out on Road Atlanta and the engine had a good sized cam that required spinning the thing to around 6500 rpm on a stock bottom end. It had 55K "hard" miles on it. Had roughly 250-300 1/4 mile passes on it, roughly the same amount of AutoX passes and something like 8 twenty minute sessions on Road Atlanta. Also had alot of "hard use" up in the N. Ga. mountains. I ran 10W30 for the first 10-20K miles on the engine, then switched to either 0W30 German Castrol,5W40 Castrol, M1 5W40, or 5W40 M1 depending on availability. I think my spun bearing might have been due to oil starvation during heavy breaking {got some good brakes on it, it will do 60-0 in less than 100ft} and cornering {lots of cornering forces due to 315/35/17 DOT race radials on all four corners}.
I just had a LS2 based 402 built for me that I want to last a LONG time. It's putting down 540RWHP at 6200 RPM and the rev limiter is set at 6700rpm which I'm assured is super easy on this engine. I will be installing an accusump so my oil starvation issues will hopefully be a thing of the past. Usage will change slightly from all the drag race and AutoX stuff to alot more open track/land speed events.
Finally, to my question. I know that German Castrol 0W30 is good stuff but availability is spotty around here and honestly I'm wondering if a 40W oil might fit my needs better for my application. I want something that is readily available anywhere because I might need make up oil at any time or any place. I was very curious about the synthetic 5W40 Rotella to tell you the truth. If none of the readily available oils will fit my needs, how about M1 Delvac {or whatever it's called now} 5W40? I can get it at my local heavy truck stop.
I know this is a question that repeatedly comes up and I did do some searching {alot actually} but I think due to the hard usage and possibly slightly "looser" build toleraces due to the inteanded usage of the egine it may need a slightly different oil than a normal LS1/LS2 engine. It's also just plain hard to digest all the information this site has to offer.
