1991 talon 500 hp project

[awdxtc]

20W50 Brad Penn is all I have run in my cars. It's really the only oil Dave recommends.

[CornFed2.4]

^^^ Yeah but your car is "racecar". This is not

[awdxtc]

No, my car is a street car. What does a race car or street car have to do with the oil you use? I know tons of people that run 20w50 everyday all day.

[viridionplague]

the reason i brought up the oil is that after reading that article 20w50 seemed really thick. ive also never heard of anyone running 20w50 before. guess im an oil newb.

the article recommends using the thinnest oil possible as long as you do have some oil pressure. thinner oil flows more at pressure and it is the flow of the oil that lubricates and cools. also all engine oil performs the same for the most part at full temp, but thicker oils cause significantly more wear on start up.

givin all the the issues with frying turbo's and other oil related problems, and the articles detailed bias towards thinner oils i thought maybe a thick oil could be part of the problem.

[Shane@DBPerformance]

Thinner oil gets thinner with more heat and can lead to spun rod bearings and other problems. It's very common to run 20w50 on cars that are road raced. Many high HP cars are meant to run 10w40 or 20w50. GT500s run 5w50 stock. Many manufacturers recommend running thicker oils like 10w40s, 20w50s on cars that see more severe duty. Like the oil cap on a Subie says 5w30, but in the manuals for some of them they recommend up to a 50 weight depending on how the car is treated. The weights recommend on the oil cap and such are usually meant for typical normal street driving, in normal climates, and not beating the crap out of the car. Thicker oil robs HP, but can save motors.

I would not put any merit into an article on a Ferrari forum based on a stock car.

Most cars I see don't have a real oil pressure gauge on them and I doubt the owners watch them 100% of the time.

[viridionplague]

Thinner oil gets thinner with more heat and can lead to spun rod bearings and other problems. It's very common to run 20w50 on cars that are road raced. Many high HP cars are meant to run 10w40 or 20w50. GT500s run 5w50 stock. Many manufacturers recommend running thicker oils like 10w40s, 20w50s on cars that see more severe duty. Like the oil cap on a Subie says 5w30, but in the manuals for some of them they recommend up to a 50 weight depending on how the car is treated. The weights recommend on the oil cap and such are usually meant for typical normal street driving, in normal climates, and not beating the crap out of the car. Thicker oil robs HP, but can save motors.

I would not put any merit into an article on a Ferrari forum based on a stock car.

Most cars I see don't have a real oil pressure gauge on them and I doubt the owners watch them 100% of the time.


good to know!

[Halon]

In my Talon (500+hp) I ran everything from 15w-40 Rotella, to 5W-30 Super Tech. Whatever I could find cheap. It's a DSM, just pick something and let r buck!

[93gtpeater]

Oil is oil.

[awdxtc]

Oil is oil.

That is not really true. Would you run 10W30 in your rear diff?

[niterydr]

The key to running different oil weights is to keep two things in mind:
1) Target oil pressure at different RPM points. To little pressure and you end up with starvation, to much and you run into other issues. You want enough flow to lubricate at all rpm points, pressure is just a common measurement to watch for restrictions. Flow is the key here, but pressure is a good point of reference for most setups.
2) Ensure you have enough oil thickness at high temperatures. It is common for many "race" cars to run two weights of oil, one on the street, and one on the track.

If you are running a 20w-50, there is no reason you can't switch to a synthetic 5W50 and enjoy a better flowing "cold" oil with the same protection up top. Most of your damage, if your oil system is up to snuff otherwise, occurs at cold start.