My new 2007 350Z is going in for the first 3 month oil change.
1200 miles on it.

What brand and weight of oil do you experienced 350Z owners use in the Desert?
('search' didn't help me find an answer)

Summer temperatures can reach 115 and even 120 degrees! It is HOT here blazing hot!

The Desert Nissan Dealerships use Shell 5/30 here in the Palm Springs area.

I would think 20/50 Castol would be better? Am I wrong?

Should I switch to synthetic now?
I have read threads about synthetic oils but didn't see much about extreme hot temperature conditions.

 

Depends on how you drive but I would agree a thicker oil that is geared towards performance wouldnt be a bad idea

15-50 is great for high rpm high temp stuff.....ran it in my 8600rpm Honda engines, drag racing, SCCA...in a desert environment....burned less oil and theorhetically cut down the wear

I am not as hard on my Z but I take it to redline daily....so....I may be switching at my next change to see what happens

 

Thankyou for your reply.
I really thought a thicker oil would be better too.

I went to the dealership for the first oil change and went with the oil they had which is the 5/30. The service manager said that it was fine for the Z. I have to take his word on that.
Since I have so few miles on the car and am still breaking it in.The Mgr. recommended I wait till I put 10,000 miles on.. before I switch to synthetic oil. He said switching to synthetic now with so few miles (1200) on the car could cause a oil comsumption problem later. Well shoot, I don't want that!

So many 350Zs in the Desert!

 

If anything the thicker oil would be harder to burn than regular oil lol

WHats "fine" and whats good for hard/motorsports use is different

I find dealship personnel know so little about motorsports I rarely even ask them performance related questions.....99.9% of them have never competed in a timed motorsports even and have zero or close to actual hands on experience

Basic stuff like the desert making our filters dirtier faster is simple.....telling you the difference in airflow between the stock air filter and the nismo drop in leaves them in a "malfunction" look

The 15-50 Mobil one I was using was thick.....but since I was driving the car so hard in such high temps I wanted to make sure the oil could hold up....my friends who ran 9500-10,000 rpm ran it too to cut down on burning oil/shear...

We never ran oil analysis to confirm the differences but logic says even if it was minimal the thicker oil cut down our high rpm oil consumption....

City driving and motorsports driving are so different.....I would stick to asking those here who run at the track about their experiences.....so far I have been using the thinner oils from the dealership but I havent run a single event with the car

WHen I get the time I plan on hitting the track to get some runs in with light mods.....temps will be better in a few months and I will have at least an oil change or two by then