SanDiegoPaul

All I know is one thing: in YEARS of building hot rod motors myself, I used Valvoline Racing oil. Most of those years I was hot-rodding engines I built long before I had any actual engine building skills.

I never once had an engine failure.

When I purchased the stroker that's in my C3 now, I asked for a recommendation on oil, from the builder. He said the only one to use is Valvoline Racing Oil. 20w-50.

Now it's 5 hard years later, and the stroker still is together.

So I'm sticking with what works. Valvoline Racing Oil.

Surfer69

Why would you ask for a recommendation if you have been using this so called great oil forever?

bobs77vet

i like the idea of well formulated oils to begin with but here is that oil additive from Comp Cama

"Engine Break-In Oil Additive Case - 12 (12oz.) Bottles
PART #159-12
$133.32 "

540 RAT

Which racing oil, they make 3 different ones with Racing Oil names.

bobs77vet

well i'm sticking with VR1

SanDiegoPaul

I've been buying VR1 from Kragen for the past few years. But that designation wasn't always there. I always just got the standard issue Valvoline Racing oil that was sold retail.

It always has been seperate from their standard 20w-50, even before they put a VR1 logo on it.

DJ Dep

I'm wondering how many people who USE racing oil actually RACE???



Dep

540 RAT

Look around, there are many "race engines" now operating in nasty street cars. And while they don't see WFO operation like a track engine does, they still end up seeing enough WFO use, that Racing Oil is a benefit. Besides that, stiff valve springs don't know if they are in a street car or race car, so the valve train still needs protection. Racing Oil offers the best insurance of that.

DJ Dep

LOL...depends on how you define a "race engine". I see a lot of fantasy racers and guys that spend a lot of cash for parts to make their cars go faster. But true race engines...dang few I've seen on here.

Dep

TopGunn

OK, I've been following this discussion with great interest, I read the above paper concerning galling of camshafts being directly related to oils having low traction. The paper is well done but it doesn't relate any brand names or formulations to the tests that I can see. The tests were done by Valvoline so the assumption might be that all or some of their oils have additives that combat this low traction problem........but it doesn't say that.
I've been thinking all along that these roller rockers in my engine are not prone to the issues some of you folks have been having with flat tappet camshafts, looks like maybe I've been sleeping at the stick. ???

Do you think I would be wise to use Valvoline VR1 oil rather than ordinary say Quaker State, Mobil etc petoleum base oils for added protection against premature camshaft/lifter wear even with roller rockers?

Bill

bobs77vet

with roller rockers you are ok with any good brand of oil, the zinc and phosphorus is for the flat tappet cams and especially with high spring rates and steep ramps

Corvette Charlie

Brad Penn racing oil. The "green oil". I found it to have the best additive package.

TopGunn

Bob,

The tests in the article were done simulating roller rockers, there was a direct correlation between oils having low traction and camshaft galling. I don't see how that shouldn't be a concern if you belive the test results. Or am I missing something??

bobs77vet

the newer formulated oils were designed for the roller rockers, i see no harm in using VR1 and i use it in my vette but all my newer cars i use mobil 1.

bobs77vet

they were measuring base oil stock......with out the additives


"Additional MTM oil traction measurements were
performed on various engine oil formulations to evaluate
if realistic engine oil formulations can lead to extremely
low oil traction. Figure 7 shows the oil traction of various
engine oil base stocks as categorized by API6. These
oils do not contain any additives. Note that Group III and
Group IV base oils exhibit substantially reduced oil
traction. The lower traction coefficient of the VHVI and
synthetic base-stocks is directly related to their lower
pressure-viscosity coefficient7.
Figure 7 Traction coefficient of various base oils
While Group I and Group II base oils are prevailing in
today’s commercial market, Group III and Group IV base
oils are gaining popularity as the basis for high
performance, more expensive, engine oils. These high
performance oils may inadvertently cause cam problems
due to their very low traction coefficients. The rankings
of Group III and Group IV reversed when all base oils are
formulated with the same additive package as used in
the HDEO (Figure 8). However, both are still very low, at
a level similar to LTO.

Conclusion
1. The high-pressure rheological properties of VHVI
and synthetic base-stocks have to be carefully
optimized in a fully formulated lubricant in order to
minimize wear as demonstrated in the N14 engine
cam wear test."

so buy a good quality oil and you will be OK

Corvette Charlie

I dont think you heard me... BRAD PENN!

noisy_mouse

Since you repeat Brad Penn like a holy mantra in every oil thread, I'd ask. Where can I buy one ?
Unless I have easy access to Brad Penn/Kendall, I'll most likely go with VR1 following this thread.

TopGunn

AHHHHH! OK Bob, thanks. The key words were base stocks without additives.

Charlie, I've never seen Brad Penn oil or heard of it either.

Edit: http://www.bradpennracing.com/default.asp

Marcusk408

So does this all mean that I shouldn't use VR1 in my '82 vette since it has a cat?

thecatmac

I started a thread on zddp a while back and found it quite interesting. My conclusion was to run Valvoline VR-1 20-50..............for now.....
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...highlight=zddp