Does oil affect power?

[davemarco]

Crazy question: after my 1st oil change at the dealer this morning, my car suddenly felt much more responsive, with higher boost seemingly coming in earlier in the rev range with less effort. I don't see how this could possibly be a thing, but I'll be damned if it doesn't feel like I have a lot more power.

Is this a thing?

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[PMMonly4HATCH]

Crazy question: after my 1st oil change at the dealer this morning, my car suddenly felt much more responsive, with higher boost seemingly coming in earlier in the rev range with less effort. I don't see how this could possibly be a thing, but I'll be damned if it doesn't feel like I have a lot more power.

Is this a thing?

What oil brand and what weight was it? Yes, this has also happened to me when I used certain oils in cars previous to the civic like an old SC3 and 07 Accord v6. And it''s never been the big 3 of Mobil, Castrol or Pennzoil..It's always the off shoot or lesser known brands like QSUD and MC. It's not even relegated to full syn as the MC is a blend.

 

[charleswrivers]

Yes... but usually of you confine it to a viscosity, there's no difference noticed. Going from something thicker to thinner can let a turbo spool slightly quicker. That's all I've ever noticed in the past, going from a 40 to 30 weight... and on a different car. The thinner oil should be a little less drag as well, as the oil pump is a essentially a parasitic load.

We're in the realm of differences that I'd say a slight change in ambients would have an equal or greater effect though. There's some stuff on the internet showing this brand being better than brand X. They have dynos to show a couple horsepower difference, but it's nothing to write home about and probably within a margin of error or can be accounted for atmospheric changes over the course of the time it took to change the oil and re-dyno.

Who knows, though. If you say it's got more of an edge to it and the car is hitting boost a little quicker, it's possible the factory fill was a little meh.

 

[marauderguy]

It is possible that your oil level was quite high before from dilution from a cold New York winter and now the level is closer to where it should be. That may give it a slight increase in responsiveness.

 

[charleswrivers]

...true on the level. Hadn't thought about that. This fuel dilution is new to me as it's my first DI car. I'm definitely going to put it towards the low end of the dipstick when I do mine. That could very well have been it. There's a few threads on the level being high and draining to the proper level and the car feeling better.

 

[jmr]

I'm not sure about using 0W-20 oil it seems very light for turbo engines. My Focus ST used 5W-30 from the factory.

 

[charleswrivers]

I know... engineering and millions of dollars of research and all that good stuff... but I still think it's chosen for fuel economy one and performance second. Not that it isn't in any way good enough to protect the engine. My Odyssey and 9th gen all called for 0w-20. I can't remember what the RSX took it's been so long. A lot of cars have been calling for 5w-20 for a while. My mother-in-laws '08 Galant. My old man's 2001(?) 4.2 V6 powered F150. The 0w was marketed to provide less wear and better fuel economy during warmup. I really think it's all about the fuel economy by the engine flowing a lighter oil. I was running 30 and 40w oils in my Zs. Still do, though the VG engine is pretty ancient.

 

[Mocha90210]

Crazy question: after my 1st oil change at the dealer this morning, my car suddenly felt much more responsive, with higher boost seemingly coming in earlier in the rev range with less effort. I don't see how this could possibly be a thing, but I'll be damned if it doesn't feel like I have a lot more power.

Is this a thing?

Not sure if it’s a thing, but I know the feeling. Quieter, more responsive, more power. I always figured it was just in my head.

 

[davemarco]

What oil brand and what weight was it? Yes, this has also happened to me when I used certain oils in cars previous to the civic like an old SC3 and 07 Accord v6. And it''s never been the big 3 of Mobil, Castrol or Pennzoil..It's always the off shoot or lesser known brands like QSUD and MC. It's not even relegated to full syn as the MC is a blend.

Honda oil - I'm assuming their own brand of 0w20? I'm coming off of the factory oil.

 

[davemarco]

It is possible that your oil level was quite high before from dilution from a cold New York winter and now the level is closer to where it should be. That may give it a slight increase in responsiveness.

Maybe that was it? I have been running the 21 psi KTuner starter map since early Dec, and I could've sworn that it had begun to feel more sluggish and less torquey lately. Suddenly after the oil change - woosh. Maybe it also helped that ambient today was much warmer than it has been? I've always read that turbos love cold air, but I feel like my SI has performed much better at ambient temps of 40 degrees and above.

 

[Design]

I've seen this discussion come up before, and it's usually related to NVH. The reduced buzz seems to create a false perception for some reason. But my datalogging shows no changes to fuel economy, HP or TQ. Additionally, I've been hearing the 1.5 has an operational range of up to 3 CM above the top fill line (still trying to confirm).

EDIT: just saw you're running Ktuner. I'd say run a datalog before and after your next oil change. Would be interesting to see if there's a difference.

 

[charleswrivers]

If you're running a reflash so the car will actually hit boost targets, the colder it is, the more power it should make. All cars make more power cold, but turbos do even better since compressing air raises it's temperature, and an intercooler tries to counter it.

If you think the car is running better post-oil change, then I'm sure it is... no one would know better than you. Mines around 4500 miles and seems to be doing very good. Its exhaust has gotten more 'filled out' sounding. I'm letting it hit 23# between 4000-5000 RPM and will be adding some timing to my base ignition table once I'm back home and can devote some time to data logging. My poor Z32 is not getting very much attention these days.

 

[marauderguy]

I'm not sure about using 0W-20 oil it seems very light for turbo engines. My Focus ST used 5W-30 from the factory.

You might want to google 540 rat and check some info on wear protection. There are some 0w20s that provide better wear protection than any other grade or brand. The new 0w20 Amsoil formula and 0w20 QSUD seem to provide better wear protection than virtually any other motor oil of over 200 tested.

 

[jaydan1020]

I switched to Amsoil Signature Series after my factory fill.

 

[marauderguy]

Maybe that was it? I have been running the 21 psi KTuner starter map since early Dec, and I could've sworn that it had begun to feel more sluggish and less torquey lately. Suddenly after the oil change - woosh. Maybe it also helped that ambient today was much warmer than it has been? I've always read that turbos love cold air, but I feel like my SI has performed much better at ambient temps of 40 degrees and above.

I too have been running the 21psi Ktuner for nearly a year and I'm sure you've probably gotten used to it by now. That's probably why it feels like it has less power. It definitely makes more power in the cooler air but hooks up better when it's warmer.

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