What oil should I use for my Lotus Exige?

[advocat3]

1. What kind of vehicle you have
2006 Lotus Exige


2. What your owner's manual says -- not just viscosity, but certifications (look for acronyms like API SM, ILSAC GF-4, etc.) and change intervals as well
Viscosity: 5W/40
Quality Standard: API SJEC, ILSAC, ACEA A3
Normal driving oil change interval: 7500 miles
With vigorous driving: 4000 miles

3. Where you live
Bay area, California. Very mild all year round. Temps from 60F to 94F. Average is 70-80 most of the year.


4. How you drive (easy? hard? fast? slow?)
Hard once or twice per commute trip, never until oil is sufficiently warmed up. If the oil is cold I always shift before 3,500 RPM and double clutch each shift. (sounds like a lot but it's a challenge to shift sooner in a lotus haha)
Occasional autox, less than once a month.

5. What your daily drive is like (short trips? long trips? city? highway?)
Commute is either 7,10, or 12 miles long. Usually half city half highway.
Will be going to a lot of meets though and going on 30-40 mile trips, maybe longer.

6. Whether your car has any known problems
The engine is pretty high strung. Here's the specs:
Designation: 2ZZ-GE (toyota celica GTS, toyota corolla XRS, toyota matrix XRS, lotus elise, lotus exige)
cylinder configuration: inline 4
capacity: 1793cm^3 (1.8L)
bore: 82mm
stroke: 85mm
camshafts: chain driven DOHC 4 valves per cylinder. Power camshaft engages at 6,400 RPM.
valve actuation: inlet: variable timing and lift
exhaust: variable lift
compressoin ratio: 11.5:1
firing order: 1,3,4,2
Max continuous engine speed: 8000RPM. Ocassionally allowed to 8500, not continous.
Minimum octane: 91
Peak power: 190bhp @ 7,800 RPM
Peak torque: 138lb/ft @ 6,800 RPM

Known engine problems:
http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f25/camshaft-cover-defect-causing-rocker-arm-breakage-p1302-50594/



My question:
I want to run a 10W-40 instead of a 5W-40 to help protection at higher engine temps. The engine normally stays between 190-200F consistently while running. It can get as high as 210F in traffic or waiting in line to autocross. I heard 5W-40 breaks down easier at higher temps due to the VII additives so I figured a 10W-40 would be better but I wanted to ring the experts first.

Here's the oil I'm looking at using:
http://www.amsoil.com/storefront/amo.aspx

 

[david_ES2]

think most folks here are going to recommend Mobil 1 0w40 and thats exactly what i would do!

 

[cp3]

lol....beat me to it!

 

[jaj]

I'm sure the Amsoil experts (we have a few) will give you some good guidance on this.

I will say that the notion that 5w-40 doesn't stand up to high performance use as well as a 10w-40 is somewhat out of date. Modern additive packages pretty much allow formulators to produce excellent products with wide viscosity ranges that will perform as specified for the full usage interval. As others have already said, Mobil 1 0w-40 would be a good choice for this application.

 

[dparm]

Mobil 1 0w40 is cheap and readily available. ($6/qt, most auto parts stores)

Plenty of race-oriented oils out there too, but they cost double (Motul, Redline, RLI, etc).

 

[brandini]

Better Amsoil option:

http://www.amsoil.com/storefront/afl.aspx

 

[oggb]

Mobil 1 0w-40.

 

[CATERHAM]

Yes I'd recommend M1 0W-40 as well which is heavier (HTHS vis 3.8cP) than many 5W-40's including the Ferrari spec' oil, Pennzoil Ultra 5W-40 (HTHS 3.68cP).

We have a Honda Racing engineer on this forum that runs a 5W-30 dino is his Elise. Keep in mind the spec' oil in the original Toyota application was 5W-30. Of course your car is super charged.

The engine temp's you referred are coolant temp's and not oil temp's and autocrossing doesn't generate high oil temp's.
So M1 0W-40 is the safe bet, but if you want to fine tune your oil viscosity to your own use you'll need to install an oil pressure gauge.

 

[The_Intimidator]

First off, welcome! Second, (which should have been first) that is a beautiful, beautiful car. Before you get worried about these "thin" recommendations people are making, it is good to know people (not on here) unfamiliar with oil chemistry make the mistake and never realize that with a 0w-XX oil, you actually provide a superior level of protection for the engine due to it fundamentally being superior during cold/cool start ups. You suggesting a 10w as a thicker oil is just slightly "incorrect". You would get more "warm" protection from a XXw-50 weight oil. With an engine as "high strung" as yours, you would want the superior start-up protection even more. The oil just gets to the places it needs to be faster with a 0w-XX than a 5w-XX. As an engineer, I can tell you Mobil 1 is really just a fantastically formulated oil, and the stock for a 0w-XX has to be top notch to even exist at that weight. The way your particular engine works [vs lets say, my slow-joe 12V-OHV(but quite torquey and MPG sipping) Monte Carlo] it would ESPECIALLY need[benefit from] the flow of a 0w (aforementioned as 0-dubbs haha, J/K). Will your engine eat itself with 5w-40, 10w-40, 5w-50, 10w-50 ect...? Not a chance. Are you in on the "secret" if you move to a zero weight (zero dubbs!) yes, you will be. You can go Mobil 1 0w-40 and never look back, or you could just toy around with some formulas and other brands of oil. You could always go the marvel mystery oil way, and add some of that to w/e you use to make it nice and thin at start-ups during the winter(didnt look to see where you live). MMO would be great if you went with a 10w-50 and it was sucking wind and you wanted to thin it up w/o draining it. I never have driven one of those little beasts, so I really have no idea if you would need to thicken it up a little. For the next 8,000 miles, go Mobil 1 0w-40 and enjoy the extra MPG and its excellent protection/cleaning ability.
Cheers

 

[advocat3]

Wow guys lots of great info in a short amount of time so thanks for that.

BTW I have an 06 exige so it's not supercharged.

I guess I'll go return the 10W-40 I just bought haha.

 

[Lead Shoes]

Intimidator is totally right, the first number is the winter weight or the cold temp weight, the second is the weight of the oil warmed up, when the oil reaches temp it will be the same thickness if it was a 15w40 or a 0w40, with the obvious advantage being that 0w40 will be up to temp faster.

I am sure the consensus will be M1 0w40 here, because it is a great performer with excellent value and is easily found.

Amsoil 5w40 is a slightly better oil, but the extra benefit will not be noticeable besides the instant warm feeling you get from knowing its protected by Amsoil.

Best of luck with your choice! Throw up a few pictures for us too!

 

[cp3]

Still a very beautiful car and I can only imagine how fun that it must be to drive. Not sure I'd ever get used to getting in and out of one everyday but I think I'd be willing to try!

I had to say something after Intimidator's post as I was feeling kind of ashamed because it is one of my favorite cars and I can't believe I didn't comment on that before the oil...lol

 

[advocat3]

No problem let me grab some pictures for you guys.


http://i.imgur.com/faf4H.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/xkG42.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/imKSr.jpg

 

[cp3]

 

[The_Intimidator]

Holy [censored], it's ORANGE and gorgeous! (Orange is easily my favorite color on cars other than Black. As a man of such stagger proportions ( I am 5'3 and 130lbs haha), I feel as if this car truly was/is made for me.
Well done sir.

 

[advocat3]

Originally Posted By: The_Intimidator
Holy [censored], it's ORANGE and gorgeous! (Orange is easily my favorite color on cars other than Black. As a man of such stagger proportions ( I am 5'3 and 130lbs haha), I feel as if this car truly was/is made for me.
Well done sir.


You are correct. You can see I have to have the roof off just to autox it because I can't fit with my helmet inside.

I barely fit without my helmet inside. But I don't care it's too much fun to drive to care about the rattles and the bumpy ride and the fact that I can't see anything when reversing.



So Mobile 1 0W-40 is the most recommended. Does anyone think it's a terrible idea to run the 10W-40 AMSOIL I already bought or should I go and return it?

 

[Pablo]

No don't return the Amsoil and no, Mobil is not "the best".

Use the Amsoil, you'll be more than fine.

 

[advocat3]

Originally Posted By: Pablo
No don't return the Amsoil and no, Mobil is not "the best".

Use the Amsoil, you'll be more than fine.


You're right I changed my wording. Thank you for your opinion.

 

[advocat3]

I have been kindly reminded by a fellow lotus owner that the exiges oil coolers don't open until the oil is completely warmed up which means that during oil changes, a quart or two of oil is inaccessible. It usually takes a couple oil changes to get that oil completely out of the car's system.

 

[CATERHAM]

Yes definitely return the Amsoil 10W-40 as it's way OTT heavy with it's HTHS vis of 4.3cP and if you want to stick with Amsoil exchange it for their AFL 5W-40 (HTHS 3.8cP, VI 171).

As you can see the AFL has the same HTHS vis as M1 although a significantly lower VI; M1's is 185. What this means is that while both oils will provide the same high temperature protection, M1 will be lighter on start-up at all temp's.
For example the AFL with be 15% heavier at room temperature and almost 25% heavier at 0C and even more so at lower temp's.