Oil recommendations for daily + track car?

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Hi all, hoping you can help with some advice about what is important in an oil for my two cars. I'd like to share the same oil if it isn't a compromise.

My daily-driver is a 2003 Volvo S60 with a non-turbo engine. The car is at ~140,000kms and seems to run well except for some moderate noise which is probably old age. The car is manual and revs quite a bit more than most, I am somewhat hard on it. Manual suggests 5w-30 or 10w-40 for my temperature range.

My other car is a custom built car with an SR20DET (S14) turbo engine, well worn w/ stock internals. It gets about 80% of its use on the track (very hot), with the rest gentle road driving for maintenance or to/from track. It has an air/oil cooler and if anything takes a bit too long to warm up - I am yet to measure oil temps however.

Temperatures here in Aus are never below 0, and most of the year is 25-35C.

Currently I am using Penrite HPR5 which is 5w-40 in both and claims 'full zinc'. http://www.penriteoil.com.au/pis_pdfs/7HPR 5 June 2013.pdf

I feel that I might need something a little better for the track use, perhaps a 10w-40 with the highest hths possible?

How does Delvac 1 ESP 5w-40 perform in this kind of environment? Is it really better with carbon than other oils? The SR20 turns oil black very quickly and will be retuned shortly - hopefully this will improve.

Mobil1 5w-50 was another thought but it might be too heavy for the daily duties?
 
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Why would you choose them? I'm not sure what I need other than a high hths and some reasonable zinc or similar for the SR20?
 
Originally Posted By: Mobs
Why would you choose them? I'm not sure what I need other than a high hths and some reasonable zinc or similar for the SR20?



M1 0w40 is a streetable race oil. Tons of guys here use it on their DDs that go to the track; there are a lot of M3 owners who use it year-round as well.
 
SR20DET is a monster little motor. Talking about that for years when I owned a 240SX and lived over at Fresh Alloy.com

Want to blow your mind? Try Redline 10-40 motor oil.Best motor oil you'll ever use.It will feel like a different motor.

Please try it.
 
Originally Posted By: dparm
Originally Posted By: Mobs
Why would you choose them? I'm not sure what I need other than a high hths and some reasonable zinc or similar for the SR20?



M1 0w40 is a streetable race oil. Tons of guys here use it on their DDs that go to the track; there are a lot of M3 owners who use it year-round as well.


Hope it is as available there as it is one of the best.

OP, without knowing the real temp and psi values when at the track there is no way you can pick a viscosity.

Thicker oil simply means hotter temps in most tracked cars.
 
Originally Posted By: Raybo
SR20DET is a monster little motor. Talking about that for years when I owned a 240SX and lived over at Fresh Alloy.com

Want to blow your mind? Try Redline 10-40 motor oil.Best motor oil you'll ever use.It will feel like a different motor.

Please try it.


What this guy said. I haven't tried every motor oil but I've ran a lot of them. This one makes a difference. I'm glad I found Bobistheoilguy because if nothing else it led me to try Redline in the performance engine. I have specific issues that redline literally fixed, but even if I didn't have those issues my study of oil says this is the best stuff. I think Motul is basically the same, just French made not USA, but either would be great for your application.
 
Got an oil temp gauge in your SR20? If not, I'd suggest you get one, it will help you know what grade is most appropriate. If your oil temps at the track are over 120*C an oil cooler is probably a better modification than different oil.

Do you have some reason to believe the Penrite is not doing well? Have you done oil analysis? I don't know that much about Penrite, but the PDS you linked seems to indicate it's pretty good stuff. It's pretty similar to Rotella T6 and Mobil 1 Turbo Diesel Truck, a Full-SAPS 5w40 mixed fleet (petrol/diesel) oil not suitable for engines with diesel particulate filters. Delvac 1 ESP is a "low-saps" oil for engines with DPF, it may result in fewer deposits in the intake tract, but in a track car all it really means is you won't have to clean the intake as often. I would bet Delvac 1 ESP and Penrite HPR5 perform very similarly, they're very similar from a viscosity perspective.

Highest HTHS is not necessarily better, as long as your oil has "enough" there's no benefit to having more. If you're not seeing substantial amounts of lead or copper from engine or turbo bearings in the UOA, and your oil temperatures are under control, I don't think more HTHS is necessary. With HTHS of 3.9 the Penrite is already quite high, as I said before, the better solution is cooler oil. I don't know if the SR20 (or your particular SR20) has piston cooling jets, but if it does, cooler oil equates directly to a cooler combustion chamber and more margin against detonation.

If you must switch oils, commonly cited street/track oils are Motul 300V and Redline. They've been joined recently by Joe Gibbs Driven, but I have no idea if that's available in OZ. Depending on your oil temps, I would actually suggest Redline 5w30 (HTHS 3.7) instead of the 10w40 mentioned above. Joe Gibbs driven LS30 would be a good choice if your oil temps are under good control(
I use Redline 5w30 in my WRX and have been very happy.

Good luck!
 
I use mobil 0w-40 in my 300kw rb26dett. I have an oil cooler and keep the temp under 120 degC at the track. If you're in Sydney you can get the Mobil via an ebay seller who imports quarts from the US, to avoid the Australia tax. eg around $70 for 6 quarts vs $95 for 5 liters. Dont know if he delivers.
 
HPR 5 should do as good a job as any other full saps Euro 5w40. It even has official LL-01 and 229.5 approvals where most others don't. M1 0w40 is the most respected in this class and would do the job well but it's just so expensive here.

I have a similar application and ended up choosing D1 ESP 5w40 also. Other options I concidered were Penrite Racing 10w40 or M1 5w50.
 
Thanks all, I really appreciate the insight. The next step is to measure oil temps and pressures on the track and get back to you. Car is currently being rewired and will be up and running soon.

Should I have any concern running the M1 0W-40 when I would normally run a 5W-40 or similar? Is it just a matter of checking for sufficient oil pressure at lower operating temps?
 
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Shouldn't be any concerns with M1 0w40. 5w40s are usually slightly more shear stable and maybe a bit more resistant to fuel dilution, but M1 0w40 is good stuff. Your engine would have to be right on the edge of having problems for the difference to matter.
 
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