Amount of engine oil vs engine power
- Thread starter irekm
- Start date
dnewton3
Staff member
Once again, LSJr's video is about 90% boring and could be summarized in about 2 minutes, but that won't monetize his pockets ....
What they proved isn't new by any means. Overfilling causes aeration of the lube and also parasitic loses, which can be huge of you grossly Overfill.
But, these results also show that normal daily driving with a tad of Overfill (1/2 qrt or less) won't be noticed by Joe Average. The losses are in the upper rpms, and only are significant when doubling the sump capacity.
What they proved isn't new by any means. Overfilling causes aeration of the lube and also parasitic loses, which can be huge of you grossly Overfill.
But, these results also show that normal daily driving with a tad of Overfill (1/2 qrt or less) won't be noticed by Joe Average. The losses are in the upper rpms, and only are significant when doubling the sump capacity.
I'm shocked that 5 quarts of oil isn't enough at mid rpm, and 7 quarts at high rpm. I'd run it with no less than 8 quarts of 15W-40
You really weren't surprised that they lost 60hp?
And yes the max hp is in upper rpm, I don't think that this video is meant for any Joe Average driving toyota corrola for example....
As an eye opener for car enthusiast, I think that it is
dnewton3
Staff member
Not at all. Why do you think windage trays have been common for decades in race cars?
Also note that they are using 15w-40 lube for the tests, at up to 7k rpm. Most engines which truly are 100% made for sustained racing run fairly thin lubes, to reduce every fractional HP loss. It's common to see weekend-warrior racers use thicker lubes; they don't have multi-million dollar annual budgets for engines to be rebuilt, and often even drive their cars to/from the track. So the w/w racers will trade off some HP loss for "longevity" (perceived or real).
And yet most BITOGers here are often fond of taking things out of context. So it bears mentioning ... these results are not typical; they must be shown at the extremes of operation to get extreme results. (and the common YT viewer is even less informed than the average BITOGer, which means they are really easily duped by PF and LSJr videos ....)
There are LOTS of tests that exist at some feathery-edge of an envelope, to find out how things respond at an extreme. But that resultant data and the summarizations thereafter often do not translate well into the world of Joe Average. But that doesn't stop Joe from (mis)using the info to draw conclusions in some bastardized form. Take, for example, the infamous GM "filter study" ... the amount of soul-sucking marketing garbage that "study" generated is atrocious. Yet it doesn't stop people from buying into the hype.
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I’ll take my losses in hp I’m not keeping a 5Qt jug with 3.2oz hanging around.
