The Goods On Oils

[samuri]

Is the small temperature difference experienced by a car in Brisbane or Melbourne going to make any significant difference when choosing an oil eg 10 40w or 20 -50 w in summer.

Temperature differences for Melb and Brisbane are quite large for humans between Melbourne and Brisbane.

How about the same question but throughout the whole year. Melbourne never gets to zero with Brisbane getting to around 4 degrees occasionally.

[Birds]

Cant be too poor if the Red Bull and Renault F1 team use it.

I don't know much about the Elf oils but rest assured the product used in those is vastly different to that sold to the public. Like King Springs on a V8 Supercar

Is the small temperature difference experienced by a car in Brisbane or Melbourne going to make any significant difference when choosing an oil eg 10 40w or 20 -50 w in summer.

Temperature differences for Melb and Brisbane are quite large for humans between Melbourne and Brisbane.

How about the same question but throughout the whole year. Melbourne never gets to zero with Brisbane getting to around 4 degrees occasionally.

Well Melbourne does reach 4-5 degrees regularly in the winter, and certain areas (mountains for example) do see zero degrees. But meh, I run 10w40 all year round and see no issue with it.

The old 20w50 in summer and 15w40 in winter adage wasn't so much to deal with extra heat in summer, but extra cold in winter as those older vehicles (when the saying came about) ran best with a 20w50 but this was a little too thick for cold starts.

[Galois]

ELF make very good oils. I have been using there products for ages and there fully synthetic range is only $50 for 5L. They make a fully synthetic 10W-50

I found it make my engine more quite and when i changed it every 5,000 is wasn't ever black.

skisII care to explain why feedback was negative and some proof to back it up as to why its poor? Cant be too poor if the Red Bull and Renault F1 team use it.

F1 engines are very different to road engines, as are the oils they use. Elf would certainly manufacture a specific oil for f1, and unless research has been banned, they'd be constantly changing the oil formula to tweak a little more life and power out of those 10k rpm monsters

[siksII]

ELF make very good oils. I have been using there products for ages and there fully synthetic range is only $50 for 5L. They make a fully synthetic 10W-50

I found it make my engine more quite and when i changed it every 5,000 is wasn't ever black.

skisII care to explain why feedback was negative and some proof to back it up as to why its poor? Cant be too poor if the Red Bull and Renault F1 team use it.

Hey mate,

The guys I heard from usually changed oil every 5000kms, after around 2-3000kms they reported their motors not running right. After an oil change it would be back to normal (all on sr20s) This is subjective feedback but from multiple people so as much as im against the whole touchy feely judgement of motor oil, when a bunch of guys report negatively....

Although those F1 teams advertise elf I would bet they dont use any off the shelf formulations so thats irrelevant.

[Rolls]

I really doubt it, even if you ran a 25w-50 mineral oil in your skyline sure it would be ever so slightly more sluggish but it wouldn't be 'running not right' after 3000kms.

[Trozzle]

F1 engines are very different to road engines, as are the oils they use. Elf would certainly manufacture a specific oil for f1, and unless research has been banned, they'd be constantly changing the oil formula to tweak a little more life and power out of those 10k rpm monsters

you mean 19k rpm right?

[Birds]

Pfft 10k, I can do that with my RB...

And some severe valve bounce

[Galois]

Sh!t, meant 18k. They lowered the rpm limit a couple of years back to conserve fuel and reduce engine wear.

I was thinking of my 13k kart when i wrote it, had some wire crossing issues :$

[SIR_R32]

Hey mate,

The guys I heard from usually changed oil every 5000kms, after around 2-3000kms they reported their motors not running right. After an oil change it would be back to normal (all on sr20s) This is subjective feedback but from multiple people so as much as im against the whole touchy feely judgement of motor oil, when a bunch of guys report negatively....

Although those F1 teams advertise elf I would bet they dont use any off the shelf formulations so thats irrelevant.

Me and my mates used this oil in SR20s and never had one issue with it.

[siksII]

Me and my mates used this oil in SR20s and never had one issue with it.

Not doubting you. The fact that a group of your mates didnt have a problem and a group of my mates did perceive a problem is a perfect example of why I struggle with people saying 'this oil is good and that oil is bad' just going off their gut feeling which is most of the time all about what they have heard and how much they have paid.

[siksII]

I really doubt it, even if you ran a 25w-50 mineral oil in your skyline sure it would be ever so slightly more sluggish but it wouldn't be 'running not right' after 3000kms.

Yeah i doubt it too.. but your example of using a 25w-50 instead of a 5 or 10w 40 im pretty sure you would tell a difference on startup. a 25w will be massively thicker when cold than a synthetic 5 or 10w which prob = noisy motor when cold and relatively excessive wear until its at normal temp.

[Rolls]

just going off their gut feeling which is most of the time all about what they have heard and how much they have paid.

exactly, end of the day I'm confident that even some of the cheaper oils will still provide good enough protection for my motor.

[Birds]

No matter how much you say you don't trust gut feeling rah rah - if you changed your oil over to one that felt crap or sounded noisey, I sincerely doubt you would go against your gut feeling that it isn't the right oil for your engine. And that's what it's about, driving is an experience...you don't want it to feel like shit. And when it comes down to it, instinct takes over. There's a reason your friends ditched the Elf oil, and rightly so. If you're not as in tune with your vehicle then I can only sympathise, as it is wonderful thing having that connection with your vehicle.

[Trozzle]

as it is wonderful thing having that connection with your vehicle.

No it's not. Mine drives me up the wall sometimes. I'm so in tune with the farken thing, that I pick changes in the vibrations I feel through my left foot as it sits on the rest while driving. I hear things that nobody else EVER can no matter how hard they try. I notice even the slightest difference in engine note, and even freak out when I start my car in the garage as the exhaust sound reverberates and resonates to make a slight knock sound when in the cabin idling.

Being one with your car is great, but it can also drive you insane if you're over-cautious like I am

[SS8_Gohan]

for those with Ethanol concerns, i ran AMSoil 10w40 in my 34 when it was exclusively on E85, bout 18months. No milky issues etc - no UOA, but didn't seem to be any issues with it at all. And being a Yank oil i had more confidence in it being able to handle Ethanol.

I believe it is a Group IV/V blend - i got it from Harold at performancelub.com

[Trozzle]

for those with Ethanol concerns, i ran AMSoil 10w40 in my 34 when it was exclusively on E85, but 18months. No milky issues etc - no UOA, but didn't seem to be any issues with it at all. And being a Yank oil i had more confidence in it being able to handle Ethanol.

I believe it is a Group IV/V blend - i got it from Harold at performancelub.com

$$?

[Birds]

No it's not. Mine drives me up the wall sometimes. I'm so in tune with the farken thing, that I pick changes in the vibrations I feel through my left foot as it sits on the rest while driving. I hear things that nobody else EVER can no matter how hard they try. I notice even the slightest difference in engine note, and even freak out when I start my car in the garage as the exhaust sound reverberates and resonates to make a slight knock sound when in the cabin idling.

Being one with your car is great, but it can also drive you insane if you're over-cautious like I am

You have to own a Skyline to know of the paranoia, don't you? I can only explain it to other Skyline drivers lol. The only time I don't have the paranoia is when I'm thrashing the thing, then it's pure bliss...they seem to want to be driven hard. My mate has had enough of it and is selling his R34! But it can certainly be a good thing when you want to diagnose a problem, or when you want to maintain control over everything it is doing.

I bet you listen to the way your car starts to see if it starts with perfect timing or whether it struggles at all

[Trozzle]

Birds my man, you have NO idea. That's barely even the beginning

The start is the MAIN part

But yes, I agree. You have to drive them hard It just feels like a heap of shit when I'm driving it soft (like cold start etc)

[Rolls]

And that's what it's about, driving is an experience...you don't want it to feel like shit. A

Sure if it makes you not enjoy the car then don't use it, doesn't mean it is a bad oil or that people shouldn't use it though. Scientists don't ever base results on a vibe.

Edited November 9, 2010 by Rolls

[Trozzle]

Sure if it makes you not enjoy the car then don't use it, doesn't mean it is a bad oil or that people shouldn't use it though. Scientists don't ever base results on a vibe.

They do however base it on profit.