Oil & Alcohol

I'm hearing that if you use E85  you should also use special oils?  Truth or myth?  

Myth

I don't even do anything special for methanol (I am running a durability test on some special parts, so far ~3yrs on VP M5 on the same 0W40 Euro blend Mobil 1) just top it off a hair sometimes.

If your rings hold the fuel in (like they should) you do nothing other than good synth and standard intervals.

While I am in complete agreement, conversation with ring suppliers would have me believing it's a crime only exceeded by leaving your children outside in a rain storm. 
    

I race with some guys that dump their oil, heat it back up to boil off the garbage and throw it back in. 

I think big oil pays the ring guys a kickback. OR all the anecdotal evidence is from motors that are looooooose, which is fine but probably not what most people are doing.

In reply to Paul_VR6 (Forum Supporter) :

Also depends on what kind of engine you are talking about.

A solid block drag motor is gonna have some real strange tolerances, and the duty cycle means the oil gets really abused.  They used to buy and stock straight 60 and straight 70 (!!) Brad Penn for the top alcohol motor... it started out as 60 or 70 but diluted quickly, and by the end of a pass the oil would be thin and milky.

Not so much a problem if you have water jackets, and aren't making 1800hp  through an engine designed to make 150hp in the mid 1950s.

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

In reply to Paul_VR6 (Forum Supporter) :

Not so much a problem if you have water jackets, and aren't making 1800hp  through an engine designed to make 150hp in the mid 1950s.

More or less where my head was.

I think it's older folks, clinging to "knowledge" from decades ago that aren't relevant to modern engines, fuels, oils, etc. 

It some is worried about cleaning points or playing with timing by rotating the distributor, they don't really understand modern stuff.