The Goods On Oils

[Rolls]

5-40

[SS8_Gohan]

if you want RP, go 5w30

[slidetaker]

What do you guys reckon I should use for my r32 gtr... Car has been rebuilt with forgies less than 25000kms ago so is still a fairly new engine. I'm thinking of using royal purple but was wondering whether i should go 5w30 or 10w40? I wanted something like 5w40??? Thought 30 might be too thin...

I think someone told me once GTR OEM viscosity rating is 10W40. 5w30 would be too thin given that the engine had done fair bit of mileage and rebuilt recently. 5w40 would be very suitable in your application with better cold-startup protection and good HTHS number for running 14psi boost.

It would be good to get some information on rings, bearings and seals wears from your engine builder. He/She would have also done a compression and leakdown test to have some figures indicating the conditions of the engine.

Hope this helps.

[Rolls]

When we say 5/10-40 we mean a true fully synthetic as well, eg motul or redline. Possibly royal purple, I haven't done any reading on their oils though, can someone confirm?

Also I think it would be great if someone could edit the first post (admin) with a list of oils and their classification eg semi-synth fully-synth group IV etc.

edit: I've compiled some basic facts about oil ratings and a list of some of the common brands and their ratings, I'm going to report the first post and see if an admin can edit this information into it as I think it would help with a lot of the repeated questions. If there's anything that could be added or changed post it up.

When choosing oils the better the rating, generally the better the oil, and also the more expensive. Keep in mind even the Group II oils are probably still better then any oil that was made when your car was manufactured.

Basic explanation of ratings

Group I - mineral

Group II/II+ - hydrocrak (VI below 120)

Group III - hydrocrack (VI above 120, mineral derive "Fake Synthetic")

Group IV - polyalphaolefin (man made Synthetic)

Group V - Ester & other un-group fluid (Ester or Polyolester, super high grade Synthetic, good for aircraft jet engine).

Common products and their ratings.

Redline (Group V Polyester)

Motul 300V (Group V)

Motul 8100 E-Tech 0W40 (Group IV/V Blend)

Mobil 1 (Group IV)

Motul 8100 xcess 5w40 (Group IV) ~$59 - one of the best value

Castrol SynTec 0w30 (Group III)

Castrol Edge Sport 5w30 or 10w60 (Group III)

Motul 4100 Turbolight (Group II?)

Keep in mind that the 100% synthetic stickers mean jack, just means that the oil is at least Group III. As far as viscosity ratings go, this depends entirely on what temperature range your car is going to be used in and your driving style (track or street car) A decent read through this thread should help you answer that.

As far as oil filters go, get a genuine nissan one if you don't want to spend much, these are superior to ryco/cooper.

Edited June 13, 2008 by Rolls

[NoFX_Hardcore]

Thanks. That helps heaps. I think I'll try to find the Motul 8100 5w40. If they don't have that I'll go royal purple 10w40. Let ya's know how the car goes with this oil.

EDIT: slidetaker, engine bearings are all new acl items. engine was completely rebuilt from top to bottom so it should be in pretty good nick down there.

Edited June 13, 2008 by NoFX_Hardcore

[SS8_Gohan]

well it's still a relatively new engine so why go as high as 10w??? Less than 25,000km... find me a new performance car these days that uses more than 5w from factory

i'd be tempted to go 0w for the next few months, unless there is some track work planned, then i'd go 5w30. The bigger the different in the numbers, the more additives, so try and keep it close as possible.

[cowie165]

Hats off to Rolls for the info. The first post has been edited.

If you read something noteworthy that other guys might find handy, please do the same as Rolls and "Report to Moderator" so I can find the info and paste it into the first page. That might stop guys like Phatboy suffering from "Just spent half a day reading through all 42 pages of this thread." and still didn't learn what he wanted to.

Cheers

Mark

[cowie165]

and lol @ me for using Motul 4100 in my car

Group II? Bugger.

[SS8_Gohan]

the original gurus have posted same info a few times, Trex101 and Busy2k were our resident guru's in this thread, Khunjeng knew his stuff as well

Rp is AT LEAST grp 4 afaik

Castrol Syntec 0w30 is def Grp 4, different weights/viscosities might POSSIBLY be grp 3 but Castrol has kept quiet.

Mobil 1 0w is group 4 (also possibility here of grp 3 being used without them saying anything)

[Rolls]

the original gurus have posted same info a few times, Trex101 and Busy2k were our resident guru's in this thread, Khunjeng knew his stuff as well

Yeah I can't take credit for it, I just copy pasted from the thread.

[Phatboy]

Hats off to Rolls for the info. The first post has been edited.

If you read something noteworthy that other guys might find handy, please do the same as Rolls and "Report to Moderator" so I can find the info and paste it into the first page. That might stop guys like Phatboy suffering from "Just spent half a day reading through all 42 pages of this thread." and still didn't learn what he wanted to.

Cheers

Mark

Thanks Mark. Good idea.

[slidetaker]

and lol @ me for using Motul 4100 in my car

Group II? Bugger.

I am guessing more a blend of Group III/Group III synthetic. Nevertheless, it has been hydrocracked and treated enough for API SL and ACEA A3 rating.

[boostin_r33]

hey guys im getting my 33gtst serviced with royal p! let u know if it's any good ive been using motul turbolight i'll check out the difference!

[cowie165]

hey guys im getting my 33gtst serviced with royal p! let u know if it's any good ive been using motul turbolight i'll check out the difference!

Should improve your 60ft time a little

[Rolls]

Should improve your 60ft time a little

Are you taking the piss? the only difference you'd notice from those two oils is one might make leaks slightly better/worse and oil consumption might be different.

[djr81]

A few things appear to have been missed:

1. Car manufacturers have reduced the oil viscosity in their motors predominantly for better fuel economy.

2. The original R32 oil spec was 7.5W30, SG grade.

3. The API ranking is an indicator of the protective qualities of the oil. Clearly SL (Or SM) is an improvement on SG. This is more important than how the oil is manufactured.

4. Oil companies market different viscosity oils into different markets. An example would be Mobil in Canada using lower viscosities than here in Australia. Keep this in mind & remember how cold some parts of Japan can get before you start obsessing about 0W oils.

5. Just about any synthetic oil you can buy nowadays is streets ahead of what Nissan put in the car new.

Edited June 20, 2008 by djr81

[slidetaker]

A few things appear to have been missed:

1. Car manufacturers have reduced the oil viscosity in their motors predominantly for better fuel economy.

2. The original R32 oil spec was 7.5W30, SG grade.

3. The API ranking is an indicator of the protective qualities of the oil. Clearly SL (Or SM) is an improvement on SG. This is more important than how the oil is manufactured.

4. Oil companies market different viscosity oils into different markets. An example would be Mobil in Canada using lower viscosities than here in Australia. Keep this in mind & remember how cold some parts of Japan can get before you start obsessing about 0W oils.

5. Just about any synthetic oil you can buy nowadays is streets ahead of what Nissan put in the car new.

1. Perhaps not predominantly, may be partly. With better materials and designs, modern cars have smaller blocks with internal parts that operate with tighter tolerances while working more efficiently. They are separated by thinner film thickness from low viscosity oil (SAE 20, 30).

2. I think someone in this tread said R32 GTR OEM oil spec is 10w40. I don’t know. More importantly, it would be nice to confirm if the OEM oil spec of 7.5W30 is applicable to all R32 with GTS, GTST, GTR.

3. I agree that API ranking tells a little bit about the quality of the oil. SM > SL > SG in terms of protection. However, the manufacture, the blend and the base stock quality are even more important in application. For example, Turbolight (semi syn) and X-cess (full syn) are both SL rated, but Turbolight will start losing its quality after 7000km, especially with 7000km of short trips and hot starts mileage. It is after 5000km that full syn really shows its performances by holding its grades with the ability to justify long drain interval.

4. Agree. There will be little difference in cold start viscosity for a 5W and 0W of the same grade in Australia. 0W often mentions here because of its relation to good quality PAO base stock that has to be used to achieve that. Further knowing the VII and HTHS of that oil. Its quality and protection can be used to suit certain application with good expectation on the result.

5. True. But who doesn’t know using a $100 plus oil with short oil drain interval will give best protection. The point here is finding the most economical, perhaps environment-friendly, engine oil that will give you the level of protection you want, in your car, with your driving style and maintenance interval.

[djr81]

1. Perhaps not predominantly, may be partly. With better materials and designs, modern cars have smaller blocks with internal parts that operate with tighter tolerances while working more efficiently. They are separated by thinner film thickness from low viscosity oil (SAE 20, 30).

2. I think someone in this tread said R32 GTR OEM oil spec is 10w40. I don’t know. More importantly, it would be nice to confirm if the OEM oil spec of 7.5W30 is applicable to all R32 with GTS, GTST, GTR.

3. I agree that API ranking tells a little bit about the quality of the oil. SM > SL > SG in terms of protection. However, the manufacture, the blend and the base stock quality are even more important in application. For example, Turbolight (semi syn) and X-cess (full syn) are both SL rated, but Turbolight will start losing its quality after 7000km, especially with 7000km of short trips and hot starts mileage. It is after 5000km that full syn really shows its performances by holding its grades with the ability to justify long drain interval.

4. Agree. There will be little difference in cold start viscosity for a 5W and 0W of the same grade in Australia. 0W often mentions here because of its relation to good quality PAO base stock that has to be used to achieve that. Further knowing the VII and HTHS of that oil. Its quality and protection can be used to suit certain application with good expectation on the result.

5. True. But who doesn’t know using a $100 plus oil with short oil drain interval will give best protection. The point here is finding the most economical, perhaps environment-friendly, engine oil that will give you the level of protection you want, in your car, with your driving style and maintenance interval.

1. I didn't want to get into film thickness & tolerencing because alot of people think thicker = better. But it is part of the virtuous circle that better tolerencing of components allows you to enter. Also less internal friction = free horsepower & also less heat build up.

2. The 7.5W30 rating came from the Gt-R manual, so I know it is correct. NFI what the GTS-T's run at, but it cannot be much different.

3. I suppose my point was that I am not sure where the gain is in using the most expensive oil you can lay your hands on and then trying to extend the service interval. Most RB's have a fair amount of blow by & run rich. Neither of which is helpful in allowing the oil to put up with a long interval. Add to that the high temps often experienced & well, my chosen solution is to compromise on Mobil 1 (mostly bought on special) & change it regularly.

4. The major difference is its propensity to p!ss oil over your driveway.

5. You wont get any disagreement out of me on that score. But where do you draw the line? Twice as much spent on oil for a 2x longer service interval. Maybe it is not quite so stark, but sometimes I wonder.

[cowie165]

Are you taking the piss? the only difference you'd notice from those two oils is one might make leaks slightly better/worse and oil consumption might be different.

Sorry Rolls, I should have put a or something there. Yeah, in 10yrs on cars I've never seen a tangible performance increase from an oil change. Even back-to-back on a dyno - clean oil is preventative maintenance, not a performance gainer.

[Cubes]

An observation. In the past when I used Shell 5w40 I found it to use around 500ml per 5000km's; run Motul 8100 5w40 and it literally doesn't appear to use a single drop. Another thing I noticed with the shell that I believe I have mentioned here is I found little chunks of what looked like grease/sludge in the oil filter.