Ask an Oil Expert Part 1: All About Oil for Street and Autocross Use

Story and photos by David S. Wallens • Illustrations by Sarah Young

Choosing an engine oil for your car isn’t always as simple as referring to the owner’s manual. What if you’re dealing with an unusual situation, or a daily driver that sees autocross use? What if you still have questions (because, we admit, it’s a complicated subject)?

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Nice.  Is there a one-stop shop where I can find a comparison of the various brand specs?

Great.  Buy the correct oil.  So where do you find the correct oil for old British cars that I don’t have to order.   Castrol makes a Classic oil, but they do not appear to import it.  

spitfirebill said:

Great.  Buy the correct oil.  So where do you find the correct oil for old British cars that I don’t have to order.   Castrol makes a Classic oil, but they do not appear to import it.  

Valvoline VR1 Racing Oil has the high-zinc additive package you require. Can usually be found at any FLAPS.

In reply to spitfirebill :

Put a pan under the car wherever you park, then pour it back in the top before you go for a drive. *rimshot*

Just kidding Bill. Unfortunately we don't have access to Castrol's full catalog here in the US, so what I'd suggest is finding a reputable retailer for old British cars. I believe Moss Motorsports and British Victoria are a couple of them. Having never owned anything from BMC or the like, I can't really help more than that. Good luck!

Jerry From LA said:

Nice.  Is there a one-stop shop where I can find a comparison of the various brand specs?

http://www.mtwhitneyquest.com

As far as I know there is no "one-stop shop" to find a comparison that is 100% reliable.  There is always controversy when it comes to opinions on oil (and opinions on snake oil).    Articles like this one are good because they get people thinking and interested in knowing more so they can make good decisions based on their particular needs.

You can read a bunch of stuff here :  https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/   , including a section in the forums by 540 RAT.   540 RAT has his own website, but of course it requires more reading there too.   He does provide an extremely comprehensive list of oils rated 1-226.  That's a lot of oil compared.   You can find it here :  https://540ratblog.wordpress.com/2013/06/20/motor-oil-wear-test-ranking/     It is a very long document and "the list" starts about a fifth of the way down the page.

Please don't just pick the top oil on the list.  Do some reading, determine your application needs, and then use the list as a guide.

Javelin said:

spitfirebill said:

Great.  Buy the correct oil.  So where do you find the correct oil for old British cars that I don’t have to order.   Castrol makes a Classic oil, but they do not appear to import it.  

Valvoline VR1 Racing Oil has the high-zinc additive package you require. Can usually be found at any FLAPS.

That’s what is in the car now, but in the article it said not to use racing oil in a street car.   

te72 said:

In reply to spitfirebill :

Put a pan under the car wherever you park, then pour it back in the top before you go for a drive.

*rimshot*

There is a well saturated double layer of cardboard under the car.  I guess I could squeeze it he oil out of it and pour back in.  

spitfirebill said:

Javelin said:

spitfirebill said:

Great.  Buy the correct oil.  So where do you find the correct oil for old British cars that I don’t have to order.   Castrol makes a Classic oil, but they do not appear to import it.  

Valvoline VR1 Racing Oil has the high-zinc additive package you require. Can usually be found at any FLAPS.

That’s what is in the car now, but in the article it said not to use racing oil in a street car.   

The article also talks of things like cats, fuel mileage, and longer drain intervals. If you don't have a cat, are prioritizing engine protection over fuel mileage, and changing your oil at less than the maximum drain interval, maybe you'll be okay. 

Fantastic automotive journalism here! No conjecture or hearsay, and unbiased opinions are quoted. (with the exception that we know they are all quoting on the safe side, but c’mon, that safe  side is our side too!) thank you for this article!

Great info! Also +1 for bob's the oil guy forum, more than enough oil details to cure insomnia. Also used oil analysis tells what exactly is going on in the engine and how it likes the oil. I've been using Blackstone labs for my track car and daily drivers for years. I've dialed in the oil type and change intervals perfectly to maximize. $38 bucks a pop will payoff in the long run for longer intervals, and is a lot cheaper than a new engine for my track car! 

I always point people there with the plethora of "what oil is best" that comes up every single day on every car forum in the world. And I always like the response "i use 12.5w-73 synthetic Austrailian blend* for 70's diesel engines because it has X ingredient and it works great" How can you say it works great, it didn't blow up your engine in the first couple of changes!? 

*not a real oil

Seeing the new ad for Pennzoil’s Natural Gas synthetic...  some info on that would be nice.

Dunno if I'm committing a forum faux pas by commenting on an old article (call me the Thread Necromancer if it helps) but information like this is why I'm a subscriber.   Love the expert insights, as opposed to what is frequently offered elsewhere:  internet banter about what someone's uncle's best friend whose father was a gas jockey back in the 1940's and said ....

Since we are bringing up old things.... Here's a tech bulletin I wrote several years back when I was doing UoA for a living. 

Castrol Classic was mentioned above and is now available here, at least in Canada as an alternative to VR-1

Castrol Classic was mentioned in the thread - I buy that at Walmart now in the 5 qt jugs, price is good ($24) and it seems to work just fine. Oil pressure is good and I can get it in 20W50 or 20W40

We have observed issues of second cam wipe on Toyota 2ZZ VVT engines used in Toyota MR2 Spyder, Celica GTS and Lotus Elise/Exige.  Your thoughts?

In reply to Daniel Wise :

have you tested the oil? Are you using correct spec? 

Interesting how the two companies gave opposite answers to the autocross question. I'd agree with Liqui-Moly's expert that a street & autocross car should be on an ordinary street oil change schedule unless engine mods require something different.

In reply to bobzilla :

Thanks for the reply Bob, example was not my engine.  Specifically, a significant number of second cam lobe failures along with the slipper shoes.  Second cam engagement is at 6KRPM.  Some failures occur within less than 20K miles.  Issue does not seem to be related to a specific brand of oil.  Most use the specified 5W-40 gas engine oil. 

Lots of speculation for cause but no objectively verifiable evidence to support root cause.  Yes, some have had oil analysis done, but no root cause.  Others believe low oil temperature could be cause.   https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=cam+wear+site%3Alotustalk.com&atb=v209-1&ia=web

Some owners have moved to diesel engine oils to resolve the issue with some success.  Some believe its due to low oil temperature.  One recent failure on only two of the four lobes may indicate a lack of adequate oil flow to the cam/follower surface.

Personally, I'm using an oil with additive package specifically for VVTi engines.  I have also used diesel engine oil for a change when I couldn't obtain the preferred oil quickly enough.

Join  bobistheoilguy.com and start reading.

Plenty of proper information there along with tons of VOAs and UOAs plus filter cut open reviews and everything else

In reply to bobzilla :

Thanks for posting this.  Oil dilution on DI motors driven short distances in cold climates is a real issue.  My wife drive a couple miles to work in winter.  I checked the oil and it was a half quart high and stunk like gas.  Drained it and sent it off for analysis and it was way over 5%. 

In reply to jwagner (Forum Supporter) :

some of those early Honda 1.5T motors would "make"1-1.5 quarts over 3k miles. IIRC there is a reflash for them to help with those cold temp runs .