Motor oil is motor oil

A question for the masses: What motor oil are you using in your older classic? It's been a hot topic on just about every message board, and there seems to be equal parts confusion and passion.

Discuss.

Castrol 10W-30 in street MGB.

Same in Miata

Castrol 20W-50 in racing Spridget

0W-20 in the tow van.

20W-50, The brand isn't important.

Dave

Summer/Racing Valovline VR1 For the GT6 & FIAT 124 Racer

Winter/Storage Castrol 20W-50 For the GT6 & FIAT 124 Racer.

Keeps supplies easy to manage and its not synthetic.

Brad Penn 10/40 on the Saab

Motul bike oil in the LeGrand

MINI/Castrol 5w30 in the MINI

zero W whatever in the Oddity

Royal Purple 10w/40 in the Golf.

Mobile One 20w50, not extended life. Mobile one's 20w50 has a slightly higher level of ZDDP. We use it in: 1957 Triumph TR3, 1970 Triumph TR6, 1988 X1/9 1991 SAAB 9000 turbo

The LeMons Race car...guess which one?

Mobile One 10w30 for the 1997 Mazda Miata

David S. Wallens wrote: A question for the masses: What motor oil are you using in your older classic? It's been a hot topic on just about every message board, and there seems to be equal parts confusion and passion. Discuss.

Valvoline "All Fleet" 15W40 for flat-tappet cam street engines, Brad Penn for racing engines.

mobil 1 15w50 in ferrari 308gt4(157k & counting) & 97 Viper GTS 5w40 Mobil 1 in the SRT8 20w50 castol in the X19 20w50 Valvoline racing in the Drag Monza 10w30 Penzoli or valvoline dino oil in the SSR & F250

Valvoline VR1 + Camshield for a flat tappet racing engine.

Camshield?

I hope it's okay to post non-sponsor links on this board? http://www.cam-shield.com/

You can't go wrong with Brad Penn or Joe Gibbs either.

Valvoline VR1 50W, even in the colder months in my MBG, Rotella 40W in my diesel Benz.

Penrite 20W-50 in my '69 Cooper (topped up with Valvoline 20W-50 Racing when needed, just because its cheaper!)

Castrol Syntec 5W-30 in the '02 Cooper S

Shell Rotella T 15W-40 in the Cosworth

Bender says Beer.

Mhh Beer.

My view on this is people obsess far too much about oil. If you change it frequently, I don't see what the big deal is as far as brand, synth vs dino, etc. My life has been much happier since I gave up worrying about it.

So, for the record, Castrol in everything. Mostly because it's available everywhere (Wally Mart too) and does seem to keep noisy lifters quieter longer than some other brands I've used.

Now filters...there I'll have a debate with you.

Yeah I agree with access hence my 2 picks.

I mean I could run the FIAT with Castrol all the time too, but the GT6 tappets require something more then Castrol offers. Good enough for the winter.

Filters. Generic for the winter storage, but K&N's for summer & racing.

Again with the FIAT I could just go generic and do a swap after every race weekend. $20 for 4.4L of 20w50 and a $4 for a Motormaster Filter.

A.

ddavidv wrote: My view on this is people obsess far too much about oil. If you change it frequently, I don't see what the big deal is as far as brand, synth vs dino, etc. My life has been much happier since I gave up worrying about it. So, for the record, Castrol in everything. Mostly because it's available everywhere (Wally Mart too) and does seem to keep noisy lifters quieter longer than some other brands I've used. Now filters...there I'll have a debate with you.

I agree that the brand is less important than the cleanliness of the oil and filter. I typically use Mobil 1 in my cars but Castrol is the close second.

Curious, you say that Castrol seems to keep the lifters quiet, that would indicate that there IS a difference in the oils. Hmmm.

You caught that.

My Audi GT was notorious for lifter noise. Even with new lifters it was fussy. All oils would quiet them when fresh. Wally Mart generic 20-50 kept them quiet for about 1500 miles or a bit more, but would fail after a weekend of track duty. I tried Mobil 1 synth and it disappointingly was about as successful. And it leaked out of a new engine at some spots. Castrol consistently held up longer than anything else I tried and would keep things mostly quiet until about 2500 miles. End of track sessions were also quieter.

So, for the marginal difference in price per 5 qt at Wally Mart and it's ready availability, it's my simple and effective solution in most everything.

OTOH...our A2 VW Jetta GLI which lived on an exclusive diet of Castrol from 100,000 to about 170,000 wound up with a clogged oil pump screen (waxy substance). I fired Castrol for quite awhile after that, but alternative 'good' brands such as Pennzoil and Valvoline are just too hard to find around here without going to an expensive auto parts outlet.

I've been using Castrol 20W-50 in the Mini with ZDDP Plus. Usually not a fan of the various snake oil additives, but the zddp flat tappet issue made me think it was worth the peace of mind. No reason to tear up a nicely rebuilt (by Abacus Racing) engine.

I'm not sure if there is a topic that is more shrouded in mystery and superstition when it comes to cars than a discussion of motor oils.

Redline everything in the Spit and the BMW.

Tommy Suddard wrote: Redline everything in the Spit and the BMW.

Do you have to pay retail? That makes a big difference to most of us. Can't see spending that much on something I change as frequently as I do (should be changed seasonally regardless of miles driven).

Yeah cost is a factor the VR1 is 1/2 the price of Royal Purple.

I was testing the GT6 yesterday and in 9C outside she was only a 1/4 up on the temp gauge and no oil in the cool. (Stat is working)

The FIAT guys I know all live by the buy cheap and change often.

TJF wrote: I'm not sure if there is a topic that is more shrouded in mystery and superstition when it comes to cars than a discussion of motor oils.

Boy, is that ever true. And typically it really raises tempers too. Over the years and on many different boards I always cringe when this topic comes up as it usually ends with much (cyber) yelling, name calling and some one getting banned. Guess we are all above that.