I am wondering if anyone knows what the European or Japanese recommended factory oil viscosity is? Ie I would like to know what the rest of the non CAFE world is running. My US manual specs 5w-30 "preferred" with 10w-30 and 10w-40 as allowed above 0. I would think that in Southern California - with a hard driver =) a 10w-40 would seem ideal. The only problem is that I am having a hard time finding a ture synthetic 10w-40 with the proper API certifications. I would like to run M1 0-40 or the Japanese M1 5w-40 because they have the certs ( ie warrenty concerns ) and they are locally available to me.

 

i have used M1 0W-40, no problem at all

 

Cool, thanks. Good to know someone else has already made the switch. I have been researching various oils and it is amazing how the same manufacturer specs different viscosities for different regions of the world all for the same car! On the Mobil 1 website for Australia and Japan, they don't even offer 5w-30. Go figure?

 

I used to use M1 5w-30 and 10w-30, now I run M1 15w-50. IMO, 5w-30 is recommended in the U.S. because it's an energy conserving oil. Personally, I'd rather have the extra bearing protection from a thicker oil, especially during track days.

Michael.

 

Yeah, I figured that 5w-30 was for fuel economy. 15w-50 seems kind of thick. Do you have any problems with cold start or oil pressure at operating temp? I am assuming you are running M1 15w-50. I think they tend to run on the thin side of the scale. BTW from what I have read it seems like M1 15w-50 is a great oil.

 

No problemos on cold start. I want to say oil pressure is higher (I get 60PSI at idle and 90PSI at WOT), but I never really paid attention to oil pressure when I used 5w-30 or 10w-30.

I will say that if you drive in the winter time and temps reach 0 degrees, then I wouldn't use 15w-50. If anything, I'd go 3qts 5w-30 and 2qts 15w-50.

I recommend reading up and searching the forums at http://www.bobistheoilguy.com to find the right oil for you.

Michael.

 

maybe this would help,

at my shop we have a two FULL RACE PREP 916 porsches. both cars are NA and have oil coolers to cool the oil. before now, they used to run RED LINE Synthetic 20w-50. still however, they weren't running cool enough. so we made a switch to Royal Purple 20w-50 and saw a 40 degree drop in oil temp with just the switch in oil. both cars run great now, and thats all my Z has seen. i use Royal Purple 20w-50 every 4500miles.

not only that, i use it in my 96 Jeep Wrangler, 97 TT Supra, and SC S2000. however, both the S2000 and TT Supra were running in excess of 100 degrees C so they have both been retrofitted with oil coolers.

the rest of the family uses Amsoil 10w-30 synthetic.

john

 

20w-50 sounds like some pretty thick oil, but given that those bad boys go racing the heat must surely thin it out. Must be nice having a couple 911s =) Those S2k are sweet too. So light, so high revving, and forced fed. MMMM sounds good. Oh and I have been over to bobtheoilguy thing. Man those guys are freakishly into oil. I love it when people take automotive subjects to the extreme. I guess that is why I have been trying to understand the working properties of motor oil. I have heard that if the oil is too thick that during normal operation it will not lubricate the upper end as well as a thinner oil. Although being nice and thick will help the lower block (ie pistons and bearings ). Any thoughts on a perfect compomise for the VQ35de?

 

It is odd that here in the US, we are running XW-30 and XW-20. the Japanes NISMO site recommends it's house brand of synthetic oil @ 5W-40 for "high performance NA cars..including cars with VQ35DE" and 10W-60 for tubocharged skyline GTR.

 

Yes I agree. It seems like the rest of the world gets the "thinking man" oil recommendations and we get the fuel economy/idiot proof recomended oils. I am sure the VQ35de prefered oil of 5w-30 is probably just fine. My beef is that if we put lets say a "european" 5w-40 oil in our cars and something should go wrong with the engine, the manufacturer has an out. I think most people on this forum know that the proper oil for our car is based on how we drive and the ambiet temps our cars will see. I would love to use the Japanese M1 5w-40. I think it has the moly unlike the M1 5w-40 suv/truck oil we have here. The only problem being it is NOT listed for my car. Ahhh maybe I will just roll the dice with my warrenty and go ahead and use it =)

 

The owner's manual states:

1- only oils that have a visible API certification should be used;
2- oil viscosity be selected based on the temperatures at which the vehicle will be operated before the next oil change;
3- 5w-30 is preferred for all ambient operating temps, but 10w-30 or 10w-40 may be used if ambient temp is above 0*F.

5w-40 should be ok warranty-wise for you if the oil and environment satisfies the above conditions.

I chose 15w-50 because:

1- M1 markets it as their "High Performance Driving" formula;
2- other auto manufacturers recommend this weight (or similar) for track driving;
3- my 350 will not be driven in winter temps and driven hard otherwise;

BTW, if you're planning on running extended drain intervals, then I would HIGHLY recommend getting oil analysis to make sure the oil you're using can go the extended drain interval.

Michael.

 

Losing Grip: 40 degree F difference in oil temp between Redline and Royal Purple; in a car with an oil cooler??

 

there was a 40 degree F difference between Redline VS Royal Purple. we used a laser temp gauge to verify that. Redline was higher each time at the track.

yes, the two 916s had oil coolers. im not sure exactly what your asking so you could please be more specific.

thanks
john

 

Losing grip: You're work on race porsches in florida? Brumos by any chance? I used to live in Jax.

 

yes i work on two race porsches that my boss owns with my brother. we specialize in mostly german cars but have had a few jap cars come in for turboing and tuning.

for instance my S2000, we SC with 317whp @ 6psi, my TT supra @ 490whp. also have currently the fastest S2000 with 563whp @ 18psi. has fully built race motor built by mike simon. then we had a Greddy TT 350z come in for tuning and dynos.

those are the exciting cars really. porsches really dont do much for me. however we have one customer with a beautiful slant nose with a race motor with more than 550 that would just simply put u in aww if u saw it.

name of the shop is:
Evolution Motorsports

john

 

ny here...summers comming...oil change is approaching. i was thinking of switching to either redline or royal purple. right now i use M1 Synth 5w30. should i keep usin it or what


thanks IA

Chris

 

Mobil 1 5W-30 tend to be on the thin side of "30 weight oil" when hot. I have read about imported made in Germany Castrol Syntec 0W-30. (not to be confused with the fake Syntec (hydrocracked petrol oil) synthetic oil marketed by Castrol USA)

 

Losing Grip: I'm surprised that there would be a 40 degree difference in temp between two oils.

With a that much of a difference, I'm also surprised that this hasn't been noticed before. Royal Purple should advertise this.

 

Just thought I would drop some oil info. If you go to Castrol's web site they have updated their vehicle recommendations to include the 350. If you speak other languages than English you might be able to see what other countries are using for recommended viscosities. BTW the US lists what our owners manual says " all temps 5w-30 and above 18F 10w-30 or 10w-40". Australia lists 5w-30 and surprise 0w-40. So for all you Mobil 1 0w-40 fans you might be ahead of the curve.

 

What OCI are you guys running with the synthetic oil?