Racing Oil
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 3,271
Likes: 182
From: Manassas VA
The main difference between racing oil and regular oil is in the racing oil they leave out most or all of the detergents. The reasoning is a. in a race car you change oil more often and b. detergents can help cause pre ignition at the higher temperatures sometimes involved with racing. For cars that use alcohol or nitromethane there are race oils that are a little more compatible with these fuels.
Since none of the above really apply to a street car there is no good reason to switch to race oil. BTW very few people today use high viscosity oils such as 50w. In fact the trend in race cars has been to go in the other direction for a long time now.
Since none of the above really apply to a street car there is no good reason to switch to race oil. BTW very few people today use high viscosity oils such as 50w. In fact the trend in race cars has been to go in the other direction for a long time now.
Safety Car
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 4,730
Likes: 32
From: Northern VA
Cruise-In 7-8-9-10-11-12 Veteran
Wounded Warrior Escort '11
St. Jude Donor '05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12
On the other hand, Lingenfelter Performance Engineering requires you to use 15W-50 Mobile 1 in their 403 engine to maintain the warranty.
At least I can buy 5-quart jugs and 1-quart jugs of this at my local Wal-Mart at a reasonable price ($5.15/quart) versus the $9.50/quart at the dealership if I give them a week's heads up notice that I'm bringing the Vette in for service.
At least I can buy 5-quart jugs and 1-quart jugs of this at my local Wal-Mart at a reasonable price ($5.15/quart) versus the $9.50/quart at the dealership if I give them a week's heads up notice that I'm bringing the Vette in for service.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,174
Likes: 1
From: NOVA VA
With a 50 weight oil, I would worry about starvation issues in the valvetrain at warm/operationg engine temperatures which would lead to even more noise/damage.
I tried doing this on my old LS1 and worsened the lifter tick that I had.(im talking about it sounded like a deisel). Conversely, I ran a 20 weight oil and it made things sound better.
I tried doing this on my old LS1 and worsened the lifter tick that I had.(im talking about it sounded like a deisel). Conversely, I ran a 20 weight oil and it made things sound better.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 5,529
Likes: 1,943
From: Austin Texas
Racing oil does not have the additive package that protects well in street driving with 6 month or 5K mile oil change intervals.
5W-50 oils have several problems. Even top notch synthetics have to have lots of shear prone Viscosity improvers added, so a couple of sessions on the race track and the oil will be sheared down to 5W-40 weight, after a weekend it might shear down to a thick 5W-30. Starting with a 10W-40 oil that does not shear will provide equivalent engine protection.
In general (very general) unless you are seeing oil temperatures in the 300dF range you have no business using such a thick oil. If you are seeing oil temps in the 300dF range, I suggest an oil cooler is better overall investment than xW-50 oils.
5W-30 with HTHS in the 3.1 range (Say M1) is good to 250dF, 5W-30 with HTHS in the 3.6 range (Say RedLine) is good to 265dF. 5W-40 with an HTHS in the 3.8 range (say M1 T&SUV recent relabled as Turbo Diesel) is good to 280dF.
5W-50 oils have several problems. Even top notch synthetics have to have lots of shear prone Viscosity improvers added, so a couple of sessions on the race track and the oil will be sheared down to 5W-40 weight, after a weekend it might shear down to a thick 5W-30. Starting with a 10W-40 oil that does not shear will provide equivalent engine protection.
In general (very general) unless you are seeing oil temperatures in the 300dF range you have no business using such a thick oil. If you are seeing oil temps in the 300dF range, I suggest an oil cooler is better overall investment than xW-50 oils.
5W-30 with HTHS in the 3.1 range (Say M1) is good to 250dF, 5W-30 with HTHS in the 3.6 range (Say RedLine) is good to 265dF. 5W-40 with an HTHS in the 3.8 range (say M1 T&SUV recent relabled as Turbo Diesel) is good to 280dF.
Race Director
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 11,280
Likes: 949
From: Carlsbad Ca
Originally Posted by C6V3tt3
Im thinking of putting the racing out thats like 5w 50. Whats the pros and cons, will it hurt my engine, how much hp will I loss.
The thinner the oil,the less pumping losses for the engine. Therefor,more power can be used for propulsion.
A thin oil doesn't mean it's a "bad" oil. Just an "FYI."
