The official THSCC oil debate thread

Scott Lusted · **Joined:** Tue Oct 27, 2009 9:52 am **Posts:** 215

For the longest time I ran Mobil 1 but for the past 6 years, I have used Quaker State Full Syn. since I can get it for free through work.

I've often heard that people at blackstone labs use walmart oil... I did oil analysis on my truck for the first two oil changes (6k mile interval) which included 1500 miles of towing and everything checked out just fine. I was running the QS Full Syn 5w-30.

I think QS is a brand name of Shell oil?

Probably would be a good idea to check the Integra after the next race but the high oil consumption will really skew the results. I did cut open the oil filter and everything seemed just fine.

-Scott

clinehall · **Posted:** Fri Nov 23, 2012 11:12 am

How much does an oil analysis cost?

I also have the same question Dickinson has, and dumb down the answer for somebody who doesn't know all the acronyms

Andrew Jonell · **Joined:** Mon Mar 23, 2009 6:43 pm **Posts:** 1350

^^ - it's "fairly" cheap in the grand scale of things; $30 or $35 with the additive analysis

The only two downsides that I've seen/heard about T6 is that it will destroy your cat (yay ZDDP, though) and that it doesn't hold pressure well in race conditions. However, this is in terms of 25-30 minute NASA sprint races.

I'm running 10W30 M1 in the Miata for a few hundred miles while I get it sorted, then switching back to T6.

The Mazda2 gets 0W20 "Mazda" branded oil (Idemitsu).

As long as Blackstone keeps coming back clean, I don't see a reason to switch to something like a 20W50 AMSoil.

Patrice Bousquet · **Posted:** Fri Nov 23, 2012 2:03 pm

Almost all the cars we have home used different brand/type of oil, here the list.

The 911 used Valvoline VR1 20/50
The Miata Rotella T6 5/40
The Suburban Pennzoil High Mileage 10/30
The Sentra Mobil 1 10/30
The Juke Mobil 1 5/30
The new DD I'm getting, should be here sometime next month, will most likely get Rotella T6 5/40.
The recommendation for it is: API Certified SAE 5W-40 Full Synthetic Engine Oil,

JamesShort · **Posted:** Fri Nov 23, 2012 3:21 pm

Scott Lusted wrote:

For the longest time I ran Mobil 1 but for the past 6 years, I have used Quaker State Full Syn. since I can get it for free through work.

I've often heard that people at blackstone labs use walmart oil... I did oil analysis on my truck for the first two oil changes (6k mile interval) which included 1500 miles of towing and everything checked out just fine. I was running the QS Full Syn 5w-30.

I think QS is a brand name of Shell oil?

Probably would be a good idea to check the Integra after the next race but the high oil consumption will really skew the results. I did cut open the oil filter and everything seemed just fine.

-Scott

Qs and Penzzoil are made by Sopus.

michaelsmiller · **Posted:** Sun Nov 25, 2012 10:34 pm

To be honest, I don’t know much about engine oils. When I purchased my Honda Oddity, I decided that with the complications of VTec, cam advance, computer controls, and very tightly built engines I would use the weight of oil recommended by the manufacturer. I use 5W20 Castrol and always on sale primarily because I don’t care about this car. It now has 190K miles including boat towing duties and it runs just as quietly as it did the day that we picked it up new. The engine internals seem to be very clean. In the 60’s and 70’s it was not uncommon to see engines sludge up. That and gasoline dilution were the main reasons to change oil at 3K miles. This I have not seen in the last 20 years. Great oil and fuel injection have solved oil related problems. Even the cheap oils are pretty good. The cars that I like get Mobil 1 at the manufactures suggested weight. These cars get autoX and tracked. I believe that getting better oil not higher viscosity oil is the way to go. BTW, I don’t think that one needs to know much about oil these days. All the synthetics are probably pretty good.

DickRasmussen · **Posted:** Mon Nov 26, 2012 12:02 am

FYI our Dodge van engine consumes noticeably less oil with Castrol GTX 10W-30 than with 10W-40. Wish I had figured this out years ago. FYI Dodge doesn't recommend 10W-40 but I always assumed this was since 10W-40 is more likely to thicken with age and I figured we went through it so fast that a high quality oil wouldn't have that problem. Shows what I don't know.

FYI number 2: I use Mobil 1 15W-50 in my Formula Ford even though it is thicker than "ideal" simply because I want the extra "zinc" and more importantly the extra viscosity when the engine gets HOT in a Pro Solo, etc. due to no radiator fan and no cool down time. Any lost power from additional viscosity is not relevant for autocross for me (I lift too much as it is) :oops:

MikeWhitney · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2003 9:15 pm **Posts:** 4724

Andrew Jonell wrote:

The only two downsides that I've seen/heard about T6 is that it will destroy your cat (yay ZDDP, though)

Andrew can you point me to any stories/links where someone has had an actual cat failure caused by T6? I haven't seen anything specific.

Vincent Keene · **Posted:** Mon Nov 26, 2012 9:59 am

I run Rotella T6 5W-40 in both the Z-24 and the Miata. I run the Motorcraft Syn-Blend 5W-20 in the Fusion and Mustang. I use an OCI of 5K on all my vehicles except the Mustang. I rarely drive it, but but I change it before every track weekend.

Andrew Jonell · **Joined:** Mon Mar 23, 2009 6:43 pm **Posts:** 1350

MikeWhitney wrote:

Andrew Jonell wrote:

The only two downsides that I've seen/heard about T6 is that it will destroy your cat (yay ZDDP, though)

Andrew can you point me to any stories/links where someone has had an actual cat failure caused by T6? I haven't seen anything specific.

Everything that I've read has been corollary "ZDDP is bad for cats" and "ZDDP is being phased out of oils" with a side of "T6 is freakin' awesome! It has ZDDP!!!" Burning oil will kill a catalytic converter, and I will venture a guess that burning T6 will kill it a tad faster.

The only specific case I can really point to is our own James Milko, but it might be a little hard to pin it solely on the Rotella T6.

That said, I think that the trade-off is more than worth it. I'd prefer to have the protection of the T6 and risk having a catalytic converter die a bit early on me.

JamesShort · **Posted:** Mon Nov 26, 2012 11:01 am

His case is different though. Grenading pistons resulting in the cat getting bombarded in T6 is different than oil consumption lightly misting the cat with T6

.

Andrew Jonell · **Joined:** Mon Mar 23, 2009 6:43 pm **Posts:** 1350

Like I said, kind of hard to pin it on the T6.

Haha

steve remchak · **Posted:** Mon Nov 26, 2012 9:55 pm

Brownish-Gold stuff? :lol:

Ryan Holton · **Posted:** Tue Nov 27, 2012 9:47 am

DickRasmussen wrote:

FYI our Dodge van engine consumes noticeably less oil with Castrol GTX 10W-30 than with 10W-40.

What motor in the van Dick? Our Chrysler 3.3 v6 burns more oil that I really would like at 100k miles. :roll:

JamesShort · **Posted:** Tue Nov 27, 2012 10:03 am

Ryan Holton wrote:

DickRasmussen wrote:

FYI our Dodge van engine consumes noticeably less oil with Castrol GTX 10W-30 than with 10W-40.

What motor in the van Dick? Our Chrysler 3.3 v6 burns more oil that I really would like at 100k miles. :roll:

Dick, that info tells me you might have a PCV issue on that engine. Going from a less viscous oil with less burning to a more viscous oil with more burning says that the slight slop in your piston ring to cylinder or valve guides etc is sealed up with the thicker oil and your PCV system isnt' as 'free a flowing' as is ideal and hence it pushes the oil out elsewhere due to crankcase pressure. Just a thought.

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