I realize via the sticky thread that owners prefer Mobile 1. Has anyone sent any samples to blackstone? Has anyone used something else? I prefer to use Redline in all of my vehicles

 

Many years ago, I had a Honda Del Sol stick, that I drove very hard! It had 253,000 miles on the odometer and another 20,000 during a period when it was out. I had gone through two clutch pads during this time period.

When, I sold the car, the engine was fine. It was the small, non-engine things that were nickel and dimeing me to death.

I have been using Mobil 1, ever since.

 

I have been a diehard Valvoline fan for about 40 years. When I've used 5W30 in my Vettes, it's always been Valvoline. It wasn't until Chevy changed their recommendation to Dexos 0W40 for my Z06 did I ever consider using Mobil1. I actually used Mobil1 Dexos 0W30 at the last oil change because I have a hard time justifying $12 per quart for what I consider overkill for street driving.

Anyway, for street driving I don't believe that it makes any difference what brand of oil that you use as long as you change it at the proper interval. Most modern engines are extremely reliable. It's everything else on the car that typically fails.

 

I have never had the occasion to send a sample off to Blackstone.
However the engine oil, in my 2016 Stingray 2LT Z51, gets regular service and I use Pennzoil Platinum Full Synthetic 5W-30. It's the product with the DEXOS certification.
I figure if its good enough for Hennessey Performance then its good enough for me.

https://www.hennesseyperformance.com...ey-x-pennzoil/

 

If you prefer a bouquet oil go for it. Chances are the engine will be fine with that or Mobil 1 or Costco synthetic (Kirkland). Most engine problems are not because of oil unless it is ran too long in which case any brand will be compromised. I never heard of a frequent oil changes damaging a car.

 

I have always used Mobil 1 since I had my first C4 - a long time ago. Never have sent a sample off for analysis, but never had an oil related problem either.

 

As you see, preferences vary. Use whatever you like that meets all GM specs. Granted, unless you have an extended drive-train warranty, that aspect is irrelevant now for most of us. All the best.

 

I use the 0-40 Mobil1 mostly because of the dexos certification. I am not 100% sure what that does but I believe it helps keep the emissions stuff running well. I know that so many current cars get some oil from the pvc system into the intake. I know that pulling the hose from my intake bellows showed a small amount of oil. I don't mind Mobil1 other than the cost but 2 oil changes per year I can put up w/ the price. I suspect that any other name brand oil w/ the same dexos rating would be fine also.

 

I really like BITOG;

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/th...-based.364956/

I figured I'd ask here in case there was a larger sample group being specifically a corvette forum. The above thread is a lot of what I was looking for. I will stay with Redline for its insanely good HTHS.

Thanks for the feedback

 

Came across a good article explaining dexos - I know it's probably been covered here many times but the article was timely and I found it very informative. Knew about dexos, but didn't understand the "gen" significance on labeling.

 

I've used Mobil 1 in my vehicles forever, just because I choose too. My previous car, a Porsche Cayman S, was notorious for 'bore scoring', so I would send an oil sample (Mobil 1 0w-40) to Blackstone Labs on each oil change. I only drive my 'fun' car enough to warrant one oil change a year, so no biggee. It is nice to have peace of mind that your oil isn't filled with metal shavings, etc. I plan to use Mobil 1 (5w-30) in my C7, as well. Strictly a street car, N/A engine. Don't need anything too fancy, oil-wise.

 

Don't use Mazola Corn Oil.

 

I use Penn Grade Select 5w-30, Dexos 1, GM approved- Gen 3 (full syn) in my stock 2016 Z06 LT4.
Superior quality oil for $6 per qt.
My experience with Mobil 1 engine oil is not good.
Plus the Vette and NASCAR tax on Mobil 1 annoys me.
I use Driven DT40 5w-40 syn in my heavily modded LT4. 930 rwhp
YMMV.

 

I bought a high performance supercharged Mustang Cobra new in 2003. Changed to amsoil signature series at 5000 miles. Had the engine torn down at 72k miles for rebuild to race spec and engine internals were in excellent shape. Was able to reuse the OEM forged crank shaft and forged connecting rods in the new build. Recently changed my Z51 from M1 0w40 to amsoil Signature series 0W40 and will get a blackstone analysis at the oil change in the spring. Expect nothing but good results based on my past experience.

 

We've been using Mobil1 in our Corvettes (2001, 2006, 2009, 2017) for 250k+ miles total, and usually send a sample to Blackstone from each oil change.
Usually they show low-to-normal wear, occasionally there will be an temporary upward blip in wear like a particle smear in a bearing. Blackstone tells me not to worry about it.
The only "complaint" we've had is that the 0W-40 Supercar seems to start out barely making the "high" temp 40 weight spec, and sometimes it drops below spec after a longer run. I think that's because that oil is really about a 0W-35, which sounds bad but even after a long run it still has noticeably higher viscosity than even brand new 5W-30. Since the 15W-50 is authorized for track use only, the 0W-40 seems like the best choice. Especially since I track our car a few times each summer and don't want to do the back and forth switching that 15W-50 would require.

There may be other brands of 0W-40 that hold their high temp viscosity better, but there's a lot more to oil performance than just viscosity and the other parameters Blackstone measures. The Mobil1 0W-40 Supercar has been working well for us and others for several years and totaling many millions of miles, I'm not going to try sharp shooting oil performance that I can't really measure.

Our resident oil expert is member "LDB", see what he has to say.

 

I stay away from brand recommendations unless there is incontrovertible evidence of major harm or benefit, both of which are rare. Oil specs are a good example. It’s a crying shame that the industry was never able to settle on a common set of oil specs like they have sort of done with gas (the “sort of” referring to California). Trouble is, there are too many people (including both engineers and enthusiasts) wedded to one or two numbers, like HTHS, zinc, etc, etc, etc. I believe that once you are talking about full synthetics, meeting your vehicle’s viscosity recommendations, that meet at least one major manufacturer spec (it doesn’t have to be your vehicle’s manufacturer), differences aren’t worth talking about. There’s of course a big caveat to that statement.

If your car is still in warranty, you should stick with your manufacturer’s spec (ie, Dexos for GM) to avoid a potential warranty hassle. But I’ve seen a whole lot of engine test data without ever seeing anything that suggested GM’s Dexos spec was better or worse than Ford’s, Chrysler’s, BMW’s, etc, etc. Mostly, the myriad of specs simply adds to the price because of the expense of blending and stocking to meet the differences of all the various manufacturer specs.

As we’ve talked before on related topics, I think the third most important choice you have with oil (after choosing full synthetic that meets your vehicle’s viscosity recommendations), is not to exceed 25 spread between W and summer viscosity numbers unless you have a solid reason for doing so (5W30 is 25 spread, and 0W40 is 40 spread). The reason is to avoid VI improvers in the oil, which can degrade and lose viscosity on the high end. But even there, I recognize the issue with cars driven on both street and track like you do, which qualifies as solid reason for doing so. And it’s perfectly safe if, as you do, you change oil more frequently than the oil life monitor suggests.

 

Been using AMSOIL Signature oil for 15+ years.

 

I remember Royal Purple being commonly mentioned in the past, but you never hear it now a days.

I use Mobil-1, and last year switched to the 0W-40 "Supercar."

 

I switched over to the 0W40 Supercar oil when GM first recommended it for the 2019 model year. Up until that time, I had been running the Mobil 1 5W30 during the off-season and Mobil 1 15W50 during the track season which was most of the year. However, as Tadge mentioned in the Tadge Answers forum 6 or 7 years ago the reason the Mobil 1 15W50 oil was not recommended for the street was the lower fuel mileage the car had with that oil and the shortened cat life that may have increased the number of warranty claims on their 8 year/80K mile emissions warranty. The shortened cat life concerned me especially since my car comes off the emissions warranty at the end of this month. I definitely don't want to hasten a cat replacement as they aren't cheap.

I have been tracking the car for 8 seasons using Mobil 1 oils and the engine is doing fine.

Bill