Do I need 50w oil?

[MrMike]

I think they added a chain wear rating, but the A3/B4 spec covers it.

Gotcha. I was just curious since I read the newer Dexos spec had some improvements. I know it's still not up to the level of the Euro or Porsche specs.

Edit: This is also assuming you have a stock engine. If you've added other cooling modifications to your car its possible to have a higher oil temperature than CHT temp. Although you have to have one hell of a cooling system.

Haha I was actually wondering about the opposite because of how many people add additional oil coolers and/or replace the stock oil/coolant heat exchanger.

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[chuckhammer]

Sort of, I believe that is when the gauge starts to read red. My gauge doesn't have numbers but the 15-20 degrees less is a great rule of thumb to follow. But again, if your oil is reaching above 240 your CHT assuming nothing broke in your engine should be 15-20 degrees higher, which is very BAD. Just because you paid for the whole oil gauge doesn't mean you should use the whole oil gauge, lol!

Also keep in mind the oil gauge is not a linear representation. So where green ends and where yellow ends is roughly a 40 degree difference.

Edit: This is also assuming you have a stock engine. If you've added other cooling modifications to your car its possible to have a higher oil temperature than CHT temp. Although you have to have one hell of a cooling system.

OK. I recall some discussion about this unfortunate oil temp gauge of ours from a while back. At the time it was believed that green started at 140° and ended at 280° with the center being 210°. I can try to find it. Not sure the yellow-to-red boundary was discussed but that would be good to know.



If only we had all numerical gauges like Chevy provides. Assuming those use direct measurement.



If the 140°-280° green range is correct, mine shows oil temperatures of 230-235° after just a couple of back-to-back runs to 100-105 mph in 80°+ ambient. Base GT radiator and OEM oil-to-water cooler. No external oil cooler. It would absolutely melt on a road course. Hence all the cooling mods that folks do for track days.

 

[Jstang23]

Haha I was actually wondering about the opposite because of how many people add additional oil coolers and/or replace the stock oil/coolant heat exchanger.

Where this would happen is when people add larger radiators and run water wetter in their coolant system, but do not add any oil coolers. This would be the only scenario where the oil could potentially be higher.

 

[MrMike]

Base GT radiator and OEM oil-to-water cooler. No external oil cooler. It would absolutely melt on a road course. Hence all the cooling mods that folks do for track days.

Base GT Radiator should be the first thing to upgrade yeah?

I think I got my PP one from LMR, but I'm sure you can get it from any dealer.

 

[Jstang23]

OK. I recall some discussion about this unfortunate oil temp gauge of ours from a while back. At the time it was believed that green started at 140° and ended at 280° with the center being 210°. I can try to find it. Not sure the yellow-to-red boundary was discussed but that would be good to know.



If only we had all numerical gauges like Chevy provides. Assuming those use direct measurement.



If the 140°-280° green range is correct, mine shows oil temperatures of 230-235° after just a couple of back-to-back runs to 100-105 mph in 80°+ ambient. Base GT radiator and OEM oil-to-water cooler. No external oil cooler. It would absolutely melt on a road course. Hence all the cooling mods that folks do for track days.

Yes 100% agree, the "algorithim" for oil temp is certainly annoying. Try to look at CHT more often than oil temperature while on track. Obviously look at both, but your CHT is a better place to look if your engine is getting too hot. I tend to pull back when I see 225-230 CHT. Generally your CHT will overheat before your oil would! Unfortunately, yes a couple of 100-105 runs will overdo it in these cars. Hence why I have a larger radiator incoming!

 

[chuckhammer]

Base GT Radiator should be the first thing to upgrade yeah?

I think I got my PP one from LMR, but I'm sure you can get it from any dealer.

I've gone to a 65/35 water/antifreeze blend and added Rislone Hyper Cool (similar to Water Wetter). It has helped to slow down CHT rise on the street.

For track use, I plan to add to my current mods shown in my signature:
- SVE Radiator from LMR.
- PP1 belly pan and compatible aftermarket chin splitter.
- Vorschlag brake cooling air deflectors. My 2022 base GT has conventional 14" rotors cooled from the back side.
- Castrol SRF brake fluid. Higher wet boiling point that RF 600 or 660 so I won't have to change it as often.
- G-Loc R8 front and R10 rear pads. I'm a track rookie so this should work for a while.
- Maybe GT350R front and rear sway bars.

Seems like I'll need to duct the radiator and add an external oil cooler as I get faster. Hood louvers as well to extract heat and reduce front lift.

Happy to get feedback from the experienced track drivers. I put the above together after reading others' experiences.

 

[robvas]

We need two engines, two dynos, run them side by side, WOT until they both blow. Record all the data we can. Fill one with 5W20 and the other with 5W50

 

[chuckhammer]

Yes 100% agree, the "algorithim" for oil temp is certainly annoying. Try to look at CHT more often than oil temperature while on track. Obviously look at both, but your CHT is a better place to look if your engine is getting too hot. I tend to pull back when I see 225-230 CHT. Generally your CHT will overheat before your oil would! Unfortunately, yes a couple of 100-105 runs will overdo it in these cars. Hence why I have a larger radiator incoming!

During the scenario I described previously (two back-to-back runs to 100-105 mph) I see CHT reach 210-215° and oil reach 230-235°. To your point, I bet CHT quickly passes oil temp after continued WOT use, such as on track. It will heat soak my base radiator which can't keep up rejecting the heat.

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