Dave B
Senior Member
- First Name
- Dave
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2019
- Threads
- 60
- Messages
- 766
- Reaction score
- 467
- Location
- Whitby On Canada
- Vehicle(s)
- Corvette Z06 (sold) 2020 CW
- Thread starter
- #1
The stock oil recommended by Honda is 0W-20 but I know not everyone uses that for track use. I also know that the car does not have an oil temp sensor and deduces oil temps from ECT and oil pressure and possibly other things.
According to LogR, my oil can get to 273F with an ECT of 227 with a significant loss of power. My sources at Mobil 1 insist that their oil (and I would assume many others) are fine with those temps and don't lose effectiveness. Interestingly ( I am using Motul 300V 0W-20 now) and if anything the oil temps seem a bit higher than when running the OEM Honda fill. Pressure did not seem to be an issue and I don't have an oil cooler......yet.
A higher viscosity oil might fool the ECU into thinking the oil temp was lower due to a bit higher pressure when hot but not sure if this would make any difference power wise.
Also, when I hear of people running 5W-30 or even 5W-40, they all mention that the car gets lower mileage which I would take to be due to a drop in power, more internal friction and quite possibly higher oil temps (even though the ECU would not recognize this). I have also heard that in Japan, Honda suggests 5W-30 rather than the 0W-20 for North America yet a higher viscosity oil at lower temps may be the price to pay for maintaining pressure at higher temps even though the higher viscosity is likely contributing to more friction and higher temps in itself.
So what viscosity oil do you use for track use? Don't care about mileage although I would be interested if higher viscosity oils cut down on power.
According to LogR, my oil can get to 273F with an ECT of 227 with a significant loss of power. My sources at Mobil 1 insist that their oil (and I would assume many others) are fine with those temps and don't lose effectiveness. Interestingly ( I am using Motul 300V 0W-20 now) and if anything the oil temps seem a bit higher than when running the OEM Honda fill. Pressure did not seem to be an issue and I don't have an oil cooler......yet.
A higher viscosity oil might fool the ECU into thinking the oil temp was lower due to a bit higher pressure when hot but not sure if this would make any difference power wise.
Also, when I hear of people running 5W-30 or even 5W-40, they all mention that the car gets lower mileage which I would take to be due to a drop in power, more internal friction and quite possibly higher oil temps (even though the ECU would not recognize this). I have also heard that in Japan, Honda suggests 5W-30 rather than the 0W-20 for North America yet a higher viscosity oil at lower temps may be the price to pay for maintaining pressure at higher temps even though the higher viscosity is likely contributing to more friction and higher temps in itself.
So what viscosity oil do you use for track use? Don't care about mileage although I would be interested if higher viscosity oils cut down on power.
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