View Poll Results: If you are running a 10w30 oil which of these oils would you use?
I would chose brand x
29
55.77%
I would chose brand y
5
9.62%
I would chose neither
15
28.85%
I would chose both
3
5.77%
Voters: 52. You may not vote on this poll
Evo engine oil experiment: Would you run this oil?
Newbie
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 10
Likes: 0
From: Concord, NC
First, are the engine internals stock (Factory bearing clearances)? Second, any aftermarket mods (big turbo, higher boost)? Third, how is the car used? Track only (trailered to the track, race only)? Street driven with some track use? Daily driver (never sees the track)?
Street interstate driving. No track. 450whp, stock internals, 28lbs on 93 and 33lbs on E85. Change every 3k. Is my dd, and its the black bottle synthetic vr1 I'm referencing
Last edited by MacMan; May 4, 2013 at 11:01 AM.
Newbie
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 10
Likes: 0
From: Concord, NC
The VR1 synthetic is a solid oil. Our HR-4 is what I would recommend for a street driven turbo. The additive package is designed for Turbo chargers.
I personally don't think its the best choice, but I don't think your gonna ruin your engine because of it especially since you say your changing it 2500 miles.
Heres a good explanation about "paraffin wax". Pulled from the link posted above.
Originally Posted by Drivebelt (BITOG)
A paraffin is just a common name for a saturated C-H chain (hydrocarbon chain). In chemistry they are known as an alkane. The term paraffinic base oil is derived from the term paraffin, meaning a saturated hydrocarbon based oil.
Almost all motor oils contain, or, are mostly paraffin's (alkanes), including Group I, II, III, IV and many oils in Group V. The exception in motor oils are the ones based on esters (Group V) and other oils which are not paraffins in Group V, but a motor oil using only ester base oils is rare.
Paraffin is sometimes confused with paraffin wax. A paraffin isn’t necessarily a wax. There are paraffin type compounds and then there are paraffin waxes. The shorter paraffins (alkanes) like methane (CH4) and ethane (C2H6) are gaseous at room temperature. As the hydrocarbon chain gets longer ~ 10C, the C-H chained molecules become liquid at room temperature (oils), and when you have a long straight chain with ~20C atoms or more, the molecules will form a crystalline structure at room temperature known as a wax.
PAO's are made from alkenes, which are not paraffins (alkane's). Alkenes = olefin = C-H molecule with at least one double C=C bond. Modern PAO's are hydrogenated to remove any remaining C=C double bonds (saturate the carbon atoms with hydrogen) to increase their thermal/oxidative stability, which in effect turns the chained alkenes in the PAO into alkanes, which are paraffin's. So, hydrogenated PAO's (Group IV) are paraffin's too.
Almost all motor oils contain, or, are mostly paraffin's (alkanes), including Group I, II, III, IV and many oils in Group V. The exception in motor oils are the ones based on esters (Group V) and other oils which are not paraffins in Group V, but a motor oil using only ester base oils is rare.
Paraffin is sometimes confused with paraffin wax. A paraffin isn’t necessarily a wax. There are paraffin type compounds and then there are paraffin waxes. The shorter paraffins (alkanes) like methane (CH4) and ethane (C2H6) are gaseous at room temperature. As the hydrocarbon chain gets longer ~ 10C, the C-H chained molecules become liquid at room temperature (oils), and when you have a long straight chain with ~20C atoms or more, the molecules will form a crystalline structure at room temperature known as a wax.
PAO's are made from alkenes, which are not paraffins (alkane's). Alkenes = olefin = C-H molecule with at least one double C=C bond. Modern PAO's are hydrogenated to remove any remaining C=C double bonds (saturate the carbon atoms with hydrogen) to increase their thermal/oxidative stability, which in effect turns the chained alkenes in the PAO into alkanes, which are paraffin's. So, hydrogenated PAO's (Group IV) are paraffin's too.
Newbie
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 10
Likes: 0
From: Concord, NC
The question about base stocks (synthetic vs conventional) is very appropriate for a turbo charger application. One of the primary advantages of a synthetic base oil is improved thermal stability (synthetic base oils can handle more heat than a conventional oil before they begin to breakdown). What defines a synthetic is nearly a whole topic on its own, however 3 types of synthetic base oils are primarily used in motor oils - Group III, Group IV and Group V.
Group III base oils are highly refined (hydro processed) mineral oils. Group IV base oils are synthetic hydrocarbons (PAO - built up instead of refined). Group V base oils are typically Esters.
Each of these have positive and negative attributes. Again, there is no one size fits all best motor oil or base oil. We must look at the application and then determine the chemistry. A street driven turbo that uses ethanol blended fuel (E10 up to E85) will need an oil that is stable with both high temps from the turbo and chemical stability from the Ethanol.
Group III is the lowest performing of the 3 in regards to thermal stability, so throw it out. Now you are down to PAO vs Ester. This is a much debated topic. However, the biggest weakness of an Ester is stability with water and reactivity with alcohol, so PAO wins in this application (I still want ester in the jet turbine engine).
Group III base oils are highly refined (hydro processed) mineral oils. Group IV base oils are synthetic hydrocarbons (PAO - built up instead of refined). Group V base oils are typically Esters.
Each of these have positive and negative attributes. Again, there is no one size fits all best motor oil or base oil. We must look at the application and then determine the chemistry. A street driven turbo that uses ethanol blended fuel (E10 up to E85) will need an oil that is stable with both high temps from the turbo and chemical stability from the Ethanol.
Group III is the lowest performing of the 3 in regards to thermal stability, so throw it out. Now you are down to PAO vs Ester. This is a much debated topic. However, the biggest weakness of an Ester is stability with water and reactivity with alcohol, so PAO wins in this application (I still want ester in the jet turbine engine).
This is some incredible information! Having just bought my first evo and joined up, I see this is definitely my new forum home haha.
I chose neither and that was before reading all of what Driven had to say about it. Personally in my SR20det I traded for the evo I ran T6 Rotella synthetic diesel oil. I had read great things about it on 3si and zilvia (3000gt and 240sx forums respectively) though I really didn't have anything to base that on at the time.
I chose neither and that was before reading all of what Driven had to say about it. Personally in my SR20det I traded for the evo I ran T6 Rotella synthetic diesel oil. I had read great things about it on 3si and zilvia (3000gt and 240sx forums respectively) though I really didn't have anything to base that on at the time.
All this thought into oil and yet there's a lotteries chance that your parts per million oil quality will ever be the culprit in your engine failure. More then likely it will be your own human error that does you in.