HerkZ06

All,

Interested in how you are all handling the oil change required in the owners manual for racing. I would have to drive to the event and back so wondering if it's ok for an hour trip each way to have the 5w-50 in plus racing. Anybody not changing the oil? This would be for an 1/8 mile run and on a 17 Z.

xkilo16x

I think it only applies to HPDE or road course racing. Drag racing is fine with whatever the 5W-30 spec is.

HerkZ06

Thanks for the response. Kind of hard to tell from the manual that's why I was asking.

383vett

When I am at the strip, I worry about the oil not being hot enough to lubricate properly. If you let the car cool down 45 minutes or an hour, unless you let it intentionally idle for a while in the staging lane (which defeats the purpose of cooling the engine down), the oil temperature will be pretty cool. The 5-30 will be better for the motor than 15-50 in that situation.

Cjunkie

5w-30 for drag racing

AzDave47

I've had some strong race engines and the advice was always to have the oil up to 160*F before going full throttle, so it doesn't have to be 200* .

OP, M1 5W-30 is good to 260*F which is well above what you should see in drag racing.

I run M1 0W-40 for HPDEs as the oil temp gets to 280-290*. I don't run M1 15-50 (the recommended HPDE oil) as when I leave home for the Valley in the winter it is sometimes in the 20's, even though it will be in the 70-808 range in the winter down there.

Bill Dearborn

Even in the 20s there is no reason why you can't run the 15W50 oil. It is good for cold starts anywhere above 0 deg F and probably into the single minus digits. If you are driving from a warm garage it definitely is OK.

Bill

Bill Dearborn

I just re-read that section of the manual. Everything in the section is pretty much related to road racing. You sure wouldn't need to have the alignment changed to the track settings for drag racing. I suspect they didn't even consider drag racing when they wrote it.

Due to the short duration of a drag race I don't think there is much chance the engine oil temp will get high enough to warrant having the higher weight oil. On the road course most of us see oil temps in the mid 270 range and it takes a couple of miles to get that high starting from the pits. You would be done with your run and parked in the pits or staging lanes before we finished one or two laps.

Bill

AzDave47

Any info on cold oil pressure with 15-50 at 20*? With the 0W-40 I am already at 70 PSI cold in that weather.

HerkZ06

Thanks all for the responses. Knew the tire stuff was for road racing but just wanted to get thoughts on drag racing. Don't want anything blowing up and having to argue with GM..

383vett

Drag racing blowups should be covered under warranty if stock.

3 Z06ZR1

Also really no reason to use it ! The 5-30 is fine. In 20 degree's the 5-30 is easy the better choice . Only in real hot weather would I use the 15-50 then only at the track. Car will put out a little better on 5-30 as well.

AzDave47

I run HPDEs where my oil temps get up around 290* and I would not consider running M1 5W-30 at those temps. Anything over 260* is beyond that oil's ability to properly lubricate. Bill was responding to my HPDE needs and the fact that I'd leave home with the temps in the 20's to go to a track event where my oil would get to 280+. At this point I think I will stay with M1 0W-40.