Valvoline, Pennzoil, or Castrol?????

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I want to know which oil is the best out of these three:


Valvoline VR-1 20w50 race oil.

Pennzoil 25w50 race oil

Castrol GTX 20w50 oil.

Thanks
 
VR1 being Group I would be good for break in IMO.

If you get good OP with 10w30, why go 20w50? How about 15w40 HDEO like Shell Rotella instead? Plenty of zddp. VR1 also comes in thinner grades like 10w30 and straight weights.

As for synthetic, I would go with Redline as there is a lot of zddp and moly and it will take more abuse than the other synthetics. Costs more though. Redline says you can go one grade thiner than with conventional oil.

I don't think you need to worry much about cold temp for the break in oil as you will be through that before cold weather. The synthetic will be pretty good for cold temp, especially if you step down from 50 weight.

Check out Break In Secrets at Moto Tune USA.
 
quote:

Originally posted by TallPaul:
VR1 being Group I would be good for break in IMO.

If you get good OP with 10w30, why go 20w50? How about 15w40 HDEO like Shell Rotella instead? Plenty of zddp. VR1 also comes in thinner grades like 10w30 and straight weights.

As for synthetic, I would go with Redline as there is a lot of zddp and moly and it will take more abuse than the other synthetics. Costs more though. Redline says you can go one grade thiner than with conventional oil.

I don't think you need to worry much about cold temp for the break in oil as you will be through that before cold weather. The synthetic will be pretty good for cold temp, especially if you step down from 50 weight.

Check out Break In Secrets at Moto Tune USA.


Thanks.

I am going to try rotella t 15w40.

I broke/am breaking in the engine like motoman suggested, but I like to put 1000 miles on it before going to synthetic.......rotella should be good enough for the next 800miles.
 
I agree no harm playing safe with extra miles before synthetic. Redline site says wait 3000 miles.

The thing I worry about with Mobil 1 synthetic is it has modern levels of ZDDP, unless you get Mobil Delvac in synthetic which is HDEO.

That's why I like Redline. Plenty of zddp and moly too. Great cold properties and best HT/HS viscosity. You probably could run 10w30 year round with Redline or maybe 5w30 since you are way up north there.

Get a good oil filter, no fram. Me thinks you have a 67 Mustang from your name, so definitely need the added zddp of HDEO (though the latest spec on that is lower for emissions, so I hear). Motorcraft filters are good, so are Wix. Both have the bypass valve in the threaded end which Ford likes. Probably a FL1A filter which also comes in heavy duty version, maybe good for you.

Hey, how come no other of the over 13,000 members have commented on this thread? Am I saying everything so perfectly right that they have nothing more to add?
shocked.gif
Naaaaa, me an armchair tribologist
lol.gif
Well maybe I did a good job absorbing the good info here and spitting it back out. But I speak to you like I would do if it were my car, armchair or not.
 
When I helped on a sprint car team in the late 80's we used Pennzoil 25W-50 with excellent results. It's a great product. Is this for a methanol application?
 
Check the manufacturer's data sheets. I know the VR1 has higher zddp and would guess the Pennzoil race oll should too, but the Castrol may be lower since it is not designated as a race oil.

Nice thing about VR1 (and maybe Pennzoil's is too) is that it has the necessary detergents and dispersants for street use. Here are some specs on VR1 20w50:

Heavy Group I base oil (per MSDS and search of CAS # on this site), which would seem fine to me as you would want a thicker base oil.

Then from the Valvoline product data sheet:
TBN = 8
Flash point 248 C (very good, but typical for 20w50)
Zinc 1300 ppm
Phos 1200 ppm
Calcium 2500 ppm
 
Castrol only lists the Viscosity at 100 degrees C, I called them and they have no data on the 40 degrees C.

I have great oil pressure at cold start with 10w30, so I really wanted to keep my low temp visc as low as possible.

I am leaning towards the VR-1 oil........I think it would be the best of the bunch untill she is broken in and running on some good synthetic.....M1, RP, or Amsoil.
 
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