Angrey
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The discussion around lubrication gets legendary debates because frankly, there are so many inputs and outputs.
OE engineers (and their bean counter puppeteers) have DIFFERENT concerns, not just in what those concerns are (or aren't) but which ones are most important.
It's highly spurious to reference what OE's recommend because frankly, their priorities aren't aligned with most enthusiasts priorities.
The bottom line is if you change your oil regularly, use a good synthetic, new filter, you'd be hard pressed to notice a difference unless you're operating the motor to 300k miles like a taxi fleet or you're abusing the piss out of the motor for 50+ hours at 5k+rpm each year on a track or you're tearing down the engine frequently. For most enthusiasts, within the same blend/weight, no one is going to be able to tell a difference from the cheapest big name off the shelf to boutique formulations.
Having said all that, you should start off with, do you have catalytic converters or not. Many of the "certifications" that surface level amateurs love to tout are based upon concerns like fuel economy, safety for catalytic materials, etc. Just because something has a cert doesn't make it the "best" and conversely, just because something doesn't have a cert (or sanction from an OE) doesn't make it a bad choice. "Race" lubricants don't really care about things like protecting your catalytic converters.
As such, lubricants that contain many HIGHLY beneficial things to your engine won't be "certified."
At the end of the day, if you want a deeper dimension than simply, pick a synthetic in the proper weight and a synthetic media filter and change often, then the best advice for most "street" enthusiasts is........
Pick an oil with a good HTHS (a much better measure of how the oil will protect your motor in harsh conditions than the typical 100C/40C kinematic viscosity), has a good additive package (Moly and ZDDP) and has a decently low NOACK.
If you want to add a third dimension that's come about in recent years, if you have direct injection, try to find something that's low or reduced Calcium (which can contribute to low speed pre ignition).
If you want THE BEST lubricant for your motor, pick an ester based that will not only run cooler, but resist sheer and viscosity loss BETTER at harsh conditions and retain it's desired viscosity longer than typical PAO based lubricants.
I get Redline for about $14 a quart (shipped to my door) which is comparable with Motorcraft or Amsoil SS and a little more expensive than some of the other usuals in these discussions. But I don't have cats. I run my car HARD, meaning it's not uncommon for me to see 235F oil temps for sustained durations.
Motul is just as good, but insanely expensive.
Again, these are recommendations if you don't have cats. If you have cats, you have to limit the amount of zinc (which again, is VERY VERY beneficial for things like valve train components, especially if you have even higher rate springs).
All these debates and the oil analysis basically reveals that all PAO based oils behave pretty similarly after a few hours of operation. A typical 5w-50 oil, REGARDLESS of manufacturer will cut to basically a 40 weight oil within the first few hours of operation, and yes, that even includes Amsoil Signature (for all the amsoil nutswingers). There's no free lunch and if the starting base is the same or similar, it's going to behave very similarly out of the bottle and in the motor after a couple hours.
If your oil temps never reach well over 230F then you can probably get away with a lighter weight and not worry about high temp viscosity loss. So a very high quality 5w-30 might be the better answer for max power and fuel economy.
The last part I'll add is ethanol. The other reason many supercharged setups recommend going with a heavier blend is to counter act the predictable additional cutting that comes from lightweight contaminants. So if you're running E85, you're going to observe some viscosity loss just from the additional cutting from the fuel. All the more reason to get the oil REALLY hot periodically to evaporate off lightweights and run a little thicker to ensure you have adequate viscosity under harsh conditions.
In the end, run a reputable synthetic, change your oil often and use a good quality synthetic media filter and honestly, unless you're tearing down the motor and weighing rotating components, most of us won't run the motor long enough for it to ever really matter one way or the other. Just pick the right weight that makes sense for your typical use.
OE engineers (and their bean counter puppeteers) have DIFFERENT concerns, not just in what those concerns are (or aren't) but which ones are most important.
It's highly spurious to reference what OE's recommend because frankly, their priorities aren't aligned with most enthusiasts priorities.
The bottom line is if you change your oil regularly, use a good synthetic, new filter, you'd be hard pressed to notice a difference unless you're operating the motor to 300k miles like a taxi fleet or you're abusing the piss out of the motor for 50+ hours at 5k+rpm each year on a track or you're tearing down the engine frequently. For most enthusiasts, within the same blend/weight, no one is going to be able to tell a difference from the cheapest big name off the shelf to boutique formulations.
Having said all that, you should start off with, do you have catalytic converters or not. Many of the "certifications" that surface level amateurs love to tout are based upon concerns like fuel economy, safety for catalytic materials, etc. Just because something has a cert doesn't make it the "best" and conversely, just because something doesn't have a cert (or sanction from an OE) doesn't make it a bad choice. "Race" lubricants don't really care about things like protecting your catalytic converters.
As such, lubricants that contain many HIGHLY beneficial things to your engine won't be "certified."
At the end of the day, if you want a deeper dimension than simply, pick a synthetic in the proper weight and a synthetic media filter and change often, then the best advice for most "street" enthusiasts is........
Pick an oil with a good HTHS (a much better measure of how the oil will protect your motor in harsh conditions than the typical 100C/40C kinematic viscosity), has a good additive package (Moly and ZDDP) and has a decently low NOACK.
If you want to add a third dimension that's come about in recent years, if you have direct injection, try to find something that's low or reduced Calcium (which can contribute to low speed pre ignition).
If you want THE BEST lubricant for your motor, pick an ester based that will not only run cooler, but resist sheer and viscosity loss BETTER at harsh conditions and retain it's desired viscosity longer than typical PAO based lubricants.
I get Redline for about $14 a quart (shipped to my door) which is comparable with Motorcraft or Amsoil SS and a little more expensive than some of the other usuals in these discussions. But I don't have cats. I run my car HARD, meaning it's not uncommon for me to see 235F oil temps for sustained durations.
Motul is just as good, but insanely expensive.
Again, these are recommendations if you don't have cats. If you have cats, you have to limit the amount of zinc (which again, is VERY VERY beneficial for things like valve train components, especially if you have even higher rate springs).
All these debates and the oil analysis basically reveals that all PAO based oils behave pretty similarly after a few hours of operation. A typical 5w-50 oil, REGARDLESS of manufacturer will cut to basically a 40 weight oil within the first few hours of operation, and yes, that even includes Amsoil Signature (for all the amsoil nutswingers). There's no free lunch and if the starting base is the same or similar, it's going to behave very similarly out of the bottle and in the motor after a couple hours.
If your oil temps never reach well over 230F then you can probably get away with a lighter weight and not worry about high temp viscosity loss. So a very high quality 5w-30 might be the better answer for max power and fuel economy.
The last part I'll add is ethanol. The other reason many supercharged setups recommend going with a heavier blend is to counter act the predictable additional cutting that comes from lightweight contaminants. So if you're running E85, you're going to observe some viscosity loss just from the additional cutting from the fuel. All the more reason to get the oil REALLY hot periodically to evaporate off lightweights and run a little thicker to ensure you have adequate viscosity under harsh conditions.
In the end, run a reputable synthetic, change your oil often and use a good quality synthetic media filter and honestly, unless you're tearing down the motor and weighing rotating components, most of us won't run the motor long enough for it to ever really matter one way or the other. Just pick the right weight that makes sense for your typical use.
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