Corvette C6 Z06 oil for road racing/street

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jlvink

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I am a newbie on this site and I don't know all of the acronyms yet so take it easy on me. I have a '06 2006 Z06 Corvette with the LS-7 motor. I am looking for an oil that will withstand the higher temperatures that I'm seeing on the track but still be OK on the street. So here are the details;
  • I live in Northern Calif and almost never see freezing temps.
  • I have about 20,000 miles on the car and about 25% is on road race tracks.
  • I drive to and from the tracks and also do some occasional street driving. My miles are about 1/3 track and 2/3 street.
  • The GM recommended oil is M1 5W30 and I have been using that until the last oil change when I switched to M1 10W30.
  • My oil temps while racing are typically 230F TO 260F. At a few events with high ambients, I have seen temps as high as 290F.
  • The stock LS-7 motor runs some pretty high oil pressures but at the end of a hot track session the idle pressure can be as low as 10-15 psi. A check that I do at the end of each session is to record the oil pressure at 3,000 RPM. With oil temps of 240F I 'm seeing oil pressures of 41 psi.
  • The LS-7 has a 8 qt. dry sump system that is susceptible to pressure losses in long hi-G sweepers. I have added an additional 3-qt. (for a total of 11 qts.)capacity to the tank to help mitigate this.
  • I race about every 6 weeks on average and have been changing the oil about every 3 races. A typical race day is 4-5 25 minute sessions spread through the day.
  • I sent an oil sample off to Blackstone a while back but have not got the results back yet.

    So my question is should I consider a higher weight oil or a racing oil? I am worried about the higher temperatures and the need to still get good oil pressures to help at the 6,500-7,000 RPM shift points. These are some of the oils that I have been thinking about;
  • Mobil 1 0W40 European Formula
  • Mobil 1 0W30 Racing oil
  • Amsoil 0W30 SSO (what is SSO?)
  • Amsoil 10W30 ATM (what is ATM?)
  • Amsoil 10W40
  • Redline 30W Race oil
  • Redline 40W Race oil
  • What do you suggest?

    Thanks in advance,
    John
 
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to BITOG!

Mobil 1 0w-40 is a staple of many professional race teams straight out of the bottle, and has almost every high-stress OEM approval in the book. Can't go wrong with that. This is definitely my first pick.

Mobil 1 0w-30 racing oil might be a good alternative, but I don't know enough about it to recommend it or not. Might want to ask Mobil. I have a feeling that at the oil temps you see, the 0w-40 would be a better choice just to be safe.

SSO and ATM are just names for Amsoil's fully synthetic 0w-30 and 10w-30 street oils. Either would probably work pretty well; however, I would probably prefer the 10w-40, which IIRC is one of their stoutest oils.

Red Line's race oils are not really for street use. I don't think there's really a need for them, anyway.

If Red Line is on your radar, you should definitely consider their 5w-30 and 10w-40.

But again, if I had to pick one, I'd start with Mobil 1 0w-40, see how the UOAs and oil pressures and temps turned out, and go from there.
 
I would opt for 10w30 Mobil1 redline amsoil etc.....I am running 750+ HP in mine , used M1 for years, although i do not abuse the car , but, i do push it.......
 
I would agree that if you are doing any street driving then avoid Redline "Race" oils. I have used Redline 10w-40 in my 9 second turbocharged camaro for some time now. My car is laying down quite a bit more than your LS-7 and has had zero oil related issues to date.

Mobil 0w-40 is a great oil as well although I prefer Redline from tear down results using it. This was in a LSX platform with a bit of forced induction!
 
I don't know what your definition of abusing it is but I am running between 4,000 and 7,000 RPM for 25 minutes at a time. Every corner is a drag race to the next corner.
 
Redline all the way - it's designed for racing and high temps.

Amsoil 'Dominator' 10W-30 racing oil might be an option to look at.
 
Originally Posted By: d00df00d
welcome2.gif
to BITOG!

Mobil 1 0w-40 is a staple of many professional race teams straight out of the bottle, and has almost every high-stress OEM approval in the book. Can't go wrong with that. This is definitely my first pick.

Mobil 1 0w-30 racing oil might be a good alternative, but I don't know enough about it to recommend it or not. Might want to ask Mobil. I have a feeling that at the oil temps you see, the 0w-40 would be a better choice just to be safe.

Red Line's race oils are not really for street use. I don't think there's really a need for them, anyway.


Thanks for the welcome! I have heard that the professional race teams do not use the "out-of-the-bottle" Mobil 1 formulas. The big teams apparently have custom formulas made by Mobil. I have not tried to find the M1 0w40, but I am a little worried because it is an "European formula".

Why are Redline's race oils not good for the street? (I change my oil about every 1,500 miles.)

Thanks for the great info.
John
 
Redlines RACE oils do not contain the detergents required for a street engine. For your application 5w-30 or 10w-30 would work very well and contain the detergents necessary for street duty. 10w40 in that LSX would be a little much.

One more thing, call Dave at redline oil 707-745-6100 and let him know what you are doing. RL is very helpful as they deal with many race teams and weekend warriors like you and me. I am willing to bet he will tell you 5w-30 or 10w-30.
 
Last edited:
I probably have seen you on the track before as I frequent them in my 94 LT1: http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1306952#Post1306952
I am not an authority on the LS7's but my vote is for Redline 10w-40 street oil: http://www.redlineoil.com/product.aspx?pid=5&pcid=21
high ZDDP levels, ester based, moly, extra viscosity for higher temps. Give Dave a call, he is very knowledgable. Be sure to check out the norcal Vette forum:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/northern-california-126/
 
Solaris went with AMSoil 5w-30 in his LS7 and got discouraging results.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1661388&page=all


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On the other hand...

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1679374#Post1679374


15w-40 Delo in a 2002 engine


Looks like low/baseline wear. Good for reference. Normal "high" Cu at 31. Same additives, with Boron working with the low Mg but more visc.



Delo 15w40 LE 2002 Camaro Z28
camarolt76


Registered: 08/21/03
Posts: 20
Loc: Colbert, WA I got this sample done because I found an air leak between the filter and the MAF early last summer. This is 4 qts Delo 15w40 LE and 2 qts Delo 5w40. Oil was changed in October, 2008, and sat all winter. I put it away for the winter October 31, 2009, so there is one year and 2806 miles on the oil. Total mileage is 29547.

No makeup oil. I used a Napa Gold oil filter.

Aluminum 3
Chromium 1
Iron 6
Copper 31
Lead 2
Tin 2
Molybdenum 55
Nickel 0
Manganese 0
Silver 0
Titanium 0
Potassium 2
Boron 250
Silicon 11
Sodium 3
Calcium 2320
Magnesium 216
Phosphorus 1090
Zinc 1386
Barium 0

Viscosity 70.1 SUS / 12.97 cSt at 100C
Flashpoint 410F
Fuel Antifreeze 0%
Water 0%
Insolubles 0.3%

Refilled with Delo 5w40 LE synthetic.
 
I'd stick with a very high quality 5W30. As long as you see 10psi per 1000rpm, your oil psi is fine. Keep this in mind, GM torture tested the LS7 with M1 5W30, and their certification torture test is worse than anything you can throw at your Vette.
 
Originally Posted By: pavelow
I'd stick with a very high quality 5W30. As long as you see 10psi per 1000rpm, your oil psi is fine. Keep this in mind, GM torture tested the LS7 with M1 5W30, and their certification torture test is worse than anything you can throw at your Vette.

True in the case of a street driven car but people that are taking these things to the track are having issues. There are numerous threads on the Corvette Forum related to this, it is unlikely that the failures have anything to do with M1 5W30, it is some sort of design issue. As for professional racing teams using "LS7's" their dry sump systems are not stock based, what they do may not work for a stock LS7.
 
I think your best choice overall is Mobil 1 0w-40.

You could also use M1 5w30 and spike it with a qt of 15w50.

Redline would also be on my list.
 
Doesn't Mobil 1 make a 0W30 racing oil? why not use that instead of the SM/GF4 5W30 and 10W30 or whatever else? It has more ZDDP and I think Moly, and tends to run thicker I think than the 5W30.
 
Originally Posted By: mechanicx
Doesn't Mobil 1 make a 0W30 racing oil? why not use that instead of the SM/GF4 5W30 and 10W30 or whatever else? It has more ZDDP and I think Moly, and tends to run thicker I think than the 5W30.


Someone mentioned that the "race" oils don't have the detergents they need for use on the street, and since he runs 2/3 of his time on the street, that might not be the best choice for him.
 
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