Forced Induction Turbo Guys... Oil Weight?

I use only Brad Penn oils in all of my stuff. My street car stuff gets 10w40 and my race car gets 20w50. I personally wouldn't run the Mobil 1 full synthetic and would use a 10w40

I use regular 10w-40....works good for me...i change the oil every few months...Turbos run hot and i think breaks the oil down fast...

madspeed said:

@84Ttop, why no mobile1 syn?

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Bad experience 2 years ago in my buddies race motor. Galled the lifter bores and valve stem tips. Who knows could have been a freak thing but I know the motor was fresh from a rebuild and he always ran vr1 oil and it was fine. He tried the mobil1 and less then 10 passes there was a lot of metal in the pan and loosing performance. Engine builder said it was due to the type of oil he had in it. Two years later, same combo brad penn oil and zero trouble.

I've come to the conclusion that there is a ridiculous amount of opinion, and discussion on the subject with almost no complete scientific testing. If you really start to search the web for good information, you're going to hear about every type of additive, the quality of the various brands, etc... Good Luck!

Personal preference has a lot to do with it. That's why they make chocolate and vanilla right? Can never go wrong with your engine builders recommendation, after all, they built the thing.

Yeah. Ok, now that that's out of the way, here's a few of my personal opinions, which I do not hold to be any better than anyone else's.

- After break-in, I whole-heartedly believe in synthetic, which for my mustang is a must. Synthetics require less additives for the grade requirements. They are absolutely less prone to thermal breakdown and have higher shear stability.
- I think anything in the 30-50 weight range is acceptable, but I like to go right down the middle with 40.
- There is definitely something to ZDDP (zinc di-hamminahammina Phosphate) It's supposed to protect better when metal to metal contact is made. It's been reduced/eliminated from modern oils to save catalytic convertors, which I don't have. They say this additive is particularly suited for flat-tappet cams. So a higher zinc content is a positive in my mind. You can get this stuff as an additive and do not need to research oils to find out which has it and which doesn't
- I have a water cooled turbo, and I give the car at least a minute after driving to allow the turbo to cool. So I believe I have less oil coking to worry about. Therefore, I'm not as worried about detergents and additives often found in the diesel oils. Diesels are not driven the same way performance gas engines are. I think they make oils more susceptible to thermal break down and shearing. Similarly, I am not a fan of "race" oils, because these oils are usually designed with the idea in mind that they will be changed very often. So, they have little or no detergents, and they will allow sludge build up/coking if run for long periods of time. Manufacturers often advise against running their "race" oils on the street, and there's a reason for that.
- Many oil tests/comparisons you can find online seem bought and paid for by particular companies, because their oil wins in every event, or in the only event tested. You'll notice that one set of test results bears nothing in common with another tests. Without a consensus, I don't trust any of 'em.
- Lastly, with my expensive engine I change my oil too often... about every 3k miles. With synthetics, this is absolutely not required. I'm considering using the oil drained from the mustang in my other cars to get the full life out of the oil while still keeping clean, fresh oil in the too expensive engine. Some people say you can run a synthetic oil for 15k miles without risk if you change the filters frequently. I don't buy it, but it could be true.
- I consider valvoline, amsoil, and mobil 1 oils to be premium brands, and I trust their synthetic products. I do not believe all of the hype concerning Royal Purple, Rotella, or the other oils you'll often hear internet car enthusiasts repeating with zeal. I don't have anything against them, and I doubt there's anything wrong with them, though. I just never see real documented independent scientific test results that I trust when I hear people gushing with compliments about them.

@FastDriver
zinc dialkyldithiophosphate a.k.a. ZDDP for what it's worth.... There will be a test on this later

I do agree with most of your points! The oil I prefer is a partial synthetic and has an increased ZDDP content as compared to most other oils.
http://www.penngrade1.com/Default.aspx 100% Pennsylvania grade crude oil for me

Pennsylvina oil is for losers!

FastDriver said:

Pennsylvina oil is for losers!

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Perhaps I should buy it from Saudi Arabia? or maybe Qatar?

Just from an experience with a broken oil pump shaft, I had
20w-50 Valvoline Full synthetic that helped me out in a critical situation. Been looking around the shelves lately and I'm not seeing it though. Almost time for another oil change and I'm a little nervous now. Gonna have to figure out a brand soon

FastDriver said:

I've come to the conclusion that there is a ridiculous amount of opinion, and discussion on the subject with almost no complete scientific testing. If you really start to search the web for good information, you're going to hear about every type of additive, the quality of the various brands, etc... Good Luck!

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Bump!