The Goods On Oils

[niZmO_Man]

What brands would you suggest? Or doesn't really matter as long as its fully synthetic?

This engine won't have been started in about a year either, am I best off buying some helper stuff to put in at first start up then changing the oil once I know it's running fine?

I like Penrite. SIN 5 if you can find it, otherwise Racing 10

[Booki]

Have read the last few pages of the thread but to be honest it's a bit all over the place. Just wanting to know what brand/weight of oil to use in my car.

RB25DET Neo with 130xxx k's on it. Will be my daily but I will hopefully be doing a few track days and 6-7 drift days per year and I will be driving it fairly hard. Where I currently am the temperature he's down to about 0 overnight and about 20 during the day.

Not really sure what brands are good and what weights for climate/engine age so any info would be handy, thanks!

You will probably find there is no "clear" answer, due to there are so many opinion's, and so many different types of oil...

You have to make up your own mind on what works for you.

My advice is, change it frequently, use a 5w-40 if your driving on the street, try and get a full synthetic.

[NISMO.SKYLINE]

Been looking further into what oil to use for my service. As this will be my first service since owning the car, i want it professionally done. Will do my own servicing further down the track.

At the place where i am getting it serviced, they're using Shell Helix. Haven't heard anything negative about Helix so far. But in doing my own research, i'm thinking of perhaps getting one of the following...

Castrol EDGE 5W-30

Penrite HPR 5W-40

Royal Purple HPS 5W-30

Again, just a recap of info about my car... '98 R34 25GT Coupe, RB25DE NEO, AUTO, 92,500 km. Happy to spend big $$$ for the best. Any opinions?

[NISMO.SKYLINE]

Also open to other oils too such as Mobil 1 and Motul 300V.

[NYTSKY]

^^^Any semi synthetic 10w40 will be fine.

[NYTSKY]

Ill be trying Nulon 15w50 Street and Track next as it states it is ok to use in engines running E85. Will post my thoughts in a few weeks.

[NISMO.SKYLINE]

How much of a difference is there between 5W-30/40 and 10W-30/40? Might be a silly question but both levels of viscosity have been suggested to me and i really don't know which one to go for. I know u gotta take into account the number of kms done and the average weather conditions but that's about all i know about those numbers.

[niZmO_Man]

Been looking further into what oil to use for my service. As this will be my first service since owning the car, i want it professionally done. Will do my own servicing further down the track.

At the place where i am getting it serviced, they're using Shell Helix. Haven't heard anything negative about Helix so far. But in doing my own research, i'm thinking of perhaps getting one of the following...

Castrol EDGE 5W-30

Penrite HPR 5W-40

Royal Purple HPS 5W-30

Again, just a recap of info about my car... '98 R34 25GT Coupe, RB25DE NEO, AUTO, 92,500 km. Happy to spend big $$$ for the best. Any opinions?

Daily driver I presume? No point spending on $80 oils. HPR5 will be fine. What sort of climate does your car live in? I would go with HPR10 (10W-50)

Note: This is a generalised explanation.

Lower the number the thinner it is (look up viscosity). The number before W is the 'cold' viscosity. E.g. 5W will be thinner than 15W. The number after the hyphen is the 'hot' viscosity. So a 5W-40 is thinner than 15W-50. For colder climates, you want a lower cold viscosity, e.g. 0W-40. For warmer climates, you want a slightly thicker oil (since there are higher atmospheic temperatures, the oil will heat up quicker and run hotter). So, for exampe, if you live in Cairns, you would use a 10W-50 oil, in Tasmania, same engine, use 5W-40. How new the engine is (tolerances between bearings, rings, etc.) is also a factor. If you put 0W-30 oil into a 100+k km/20 years old engine, it'll burn it because the oil is so thin it seeps past rings etc. But if your engine is a fresh rebuilt, or you have a new car, you can run thinner oil because of the tighter tolerances.

Thinner oil = better flowing = less loss (due to lower flow resistance).

Thicker oil = better protecting in higher temps or for older engines.

The difference between the two numbers also is an indicator of its stability. E.g. 10W-30 is a lot more stable than 5W-60, but the operating temperature range is also a low narrower. If you lived in a cold country (e.g. Scandanavian), you would be using 0W-30 on a relatively new engine because it's fricken cold outside.

So, factors include: operating temperature range, engine design, how worn the engine is. For a non-turbo NEO engine, I would use 5W-40 (HPR5). Note that you can use oil with a 5W to 15W cold and 30 to 50 hot viscosity. The RB engines are designed to use oil in that range. Remember that the Penrite range has "extra 10", so e.g. their HPR5 is actually 5W-30 oil with additives to increase the hot viscosity up to 40.

I recommend Penrite because it's Australian. You are free to use any semi-syn or full-syn oil. If you notice that your car is using a bit of oil, change to a higher viscosity (e.g. from 5W-40 to 10W-50). Remember to use engine flush when changing oil brands/types/viscosity.

For reference, Nissan 200SX oil is 7.5W-30 (what was used in you car when it was new).

[NISMO.SKYLINE]

Cheers niZmO_Man, appreciate you taking the time to explain that to me.

I'm in Melbourne. The weather fluctuates like crazy here in Melbourne. The winters here are relatively cold but not to the extreme. In saying that, i have never had a problem doing a cold start. However, this winter has been unusually chilly. In summer, the mercury can hits levels of low to mid 40's but that's the extreme. It's usually quite pleasant here in summer in my opinion.

You are correct in presuming a daily driver. It will never see the track. However, it does have coilovers and sway bars and every now and then, i like to put my foot down and take some corners a little aggressively. Based on the number of kms I've done and my local climate, i'm leaning towards something in the 5W-30/40 range. Your probs right, i don't need to spend too much on the oil but i want nothing but the best for my R34 and want it running as smooth as possible. Have mate who has the same car as me, except his a GT-V. He swears by Mobil 1.

Just another quick question, how will i know if 5W-30 is too thin? I don't want any oil seeping into places where it shouldn't so is there any sort of indication?

[NYTSKY]

IMO 5w is too thin. Manufacturer states 10w40. As said, there is not point spending big $$ on oil if is only a daily.

I use Valvoline Engine Armour 10w40 in my new daily and any shitty 20w50 in my Starlet which has over 300,000km and still runs like a clock

[niZmO_Man]

Best way I know is when I dump the oil (For a change) less comes out. E.g. on my R31 when I first got it, I used Magnatec (I was a noob back then), poured 5L in, when I dumped it just a bit under 4L came out. Way too thin on a 200,000+km 25 years old engine. Been using HPR15 ever since, 5L in, ~5L out (couple hundred mL stays into the oil filter).

5W is probably a bit too thin on an engine approaching 100,000km. I would say get a 10W-40 (e.g. HPR10) so you don't have to worry about it burning a little bit of oil when cold. No idea on how hard of a life your engine has had (wear), you could get away with 5W. I used SIN5 (5W-60) in my GT-R (150+k km) and it didn't burn oil. Harder to find these days, so I just switched to Racing 10W-40 (same price, $70).

I've heard good things about Vavoline. That engine armour one stopped an SR20DE from smoking oil.

[NISMO.SKYLINE]

5W is probably a bit too thin on an engine approaching 100,000km. I would say get a 10W-40 (e.g. HPR10) so you don't have to worry about it burning a little bit of oil when cold. No idea on how hard of a life your engine has had (wear), you could get away with 5W.

Yeah, the bloke who will be servicing my car is pretty convinced that a 5W-xx oil will suit it better than a 10W-xx. While i've never had a problem starting or running my car, i don't know much about it's life before me. So probably best to stick with a 10W-xx oil and be safe rather than risk burning oil and letting it seep within the engine. Maybe down the track if i feel comfortable, i might go for a 5W-xx oil.

Cheers for the assistance and info guys. Will let you know what i end up with and how it runs.

[fusion07]

I've always used Amsoil 10W40 in my R34, no complaints at all. 86,000km and 10W40 is holding up fine considering I bought the car with a leaky cam cover seal. If you want to try thinner oils make sure you go down in viscosity gradually and that your block doesn't have hairline cracks and seals are in good condition as the thinner oil will escape easier.

Edited July 5, 2013 by fusion07

[iruvyouskyrine]

Daily driver I presume? No point spending on $80 oils. HPR5 will be fine. What sort of climate does your car live in? I would go with HPR10 (10W-50)

Note: This is a generalised explanation.

Lower the number the thinner it is (look up viscosity). The number before W is the 'cold' viscosity. E.g. 5W will be thinner than 15W. The number after the hyphen is the 'hot' viscosity. So a 5W-40 is thinner than 15W-50. For colder climates, you want a lower cold viscosity, e.g. 0W-40. For warmer climates, you want a slightly thicker oil (since there are higher atmospheic temperatures, the oil will heat up quicker and run hotter). So, for exampe, if you live in Cairns, you would use a 10W-50 oil, in Tasmania, same engine, use 5W-40. How new the engine is (tolerances between bearings, rings, etc.) is also a factor. If you put 0W-30 oil into a 100+k km/20 years old engine, it'll burn it because the oil is so thin it seeps past rings etc. But if your engine is a fresh rebuilt, or you have a new car, you can run thinner oil because of the tighter tolerances.

Thinner oil = better flowing = less loss (due to lower flow resistance).

Thicker oil = better protecting in higher temps or for older engines.

The difference between the two numbers also is an indicator of its stability. E.g. 10W-30 is a lot more stable than 5W-60, but the operating temperature range is also a low narrower. If you lived in a cold country (e.g. Scandanavian), you would be using 0W-30 on a relatively new engine because it's fricken cold outside.

So, factors include: operating temperature range, engine design, how worn the engine is. For a non-turbo NEO engine, I would use 5W-40 (HPR5). Note that you can use oil with a 5W to 15W cold and 30 to 50 hot viscosity. The RB engines are designed to use oil in that range. Remember that the Penrite range has "extra 10", so e.g. their HPR5 is actually 5W-30 oil with additives to increase the hot viscosity up to 40.

I recommend Penrite because it's Australian. You are free to use any semi-syn or full-syn oil. If you notice that your car is using a bit of oil, change to a higher viscosity (e.g. from 5W-40 to 10W-50). Remember to use engine flush when changing oil brands/types/viscosity.

For reference, Nissan 200SX oil is 7.5W-30 (what was used in you car when it was new).

Thanks for this write up niZm0_Man, easy to understand and very helpful! I think i may also run a 10W-40 or similar in my engine as i am unsure of the life it has had before me, although it came out of an auto R34 so should have been fairly easy. I don't think running it on 5W-40 would have any negative effects, maybe just burning a little oil which isn't too bad if i monitor it.

[HotRodderJoe]

Been using Valvoline Synpower 5w-40. Makes the RB25DET run very very smooth. I'd recommend it. Think I'll try Penrite HPR 5 full synthetic 5w-40 for next oil change in about 200ks. A little bit cheaper and I've always thought Penrite was a very good brand. Got Penrite manual gear 80 80w-85 in the 5 speed box and it's a bit notchy when cold 1st to 2nd but once it warms up very smooth. I'll try Castrol VMX-80 with Nulon G70 in the box and see if it's any better cold.

[AngryRB]

IMO 5w is too thin. Manufacturer states 10w40. As said, there is not point spending big $$ on oil if is only a daily.

I use Valvoline Engine Armour 10w40 in my new daily and any shitty 20w50 in my Starlet which has over 300,000km and still runs like a clock

Been using Mobil1 oil for 50k's now with 180k on motor, used the 0-40w with no oil burning, I was drawn to it because it says recommended for GTR,Porche etc but been using 5-50w now for some extra thickness with 320kw. Id like to try penrite or motul but am brand hore. Whats the story with the Penrite tenth oil, says it has added Zinc which is good but still rated SL/SN, would that mean that its Zinc levels arnt really significant? if they were it would be like an SG or something? Edited July 6, 2013 by AngryRB

[jiffo]

Here's a link to some old info, although many members are still using oils listed in the tests.

Shows that most owners are wasting $$$ big time.

Many of our everyday cars are at an age where something like Shell Helix Semi Synthetic is perfectly fine.

I think the Valvoline Durablend Synthetic was the most surprising of all, apart from the performance of Mobil 1.

http://www.animegame.com/cars/Oil%20Tests.pdf

[niZmO_Man]

Penrite

[jukic.j]

Here's a link to some old info, although many members are still using oils listed in the tests.

Shows that most owners are wasting $$$ big time.

Many of our everyday cars are at an age where something like Shell Helix Semi Synthetic is perfectly fine.

I think the Valvoline Durablend Synthetic was the most surprising of all, apart from the performance of Mobil 1.

http://www.animegame.com/cars/Oil%20Tests.pdf

That article was completely misleading and incorrect and street commodores officially revoked the article and apologised on their website:

http://www.streetcommodores.com.au/news/01_oils_aint_oils.php

[bozodos]

It's funny, Royal Purple have a printed extract of that article that their distributors used to hand out - my local mechanic tried to put that one on me - when I mentioend that the testing method was disproved he then tried to say that they had to say that for fear of litigation