<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by genXgts:
Spent some time reading up on the Vette threads (okay 4 hours)and see they run Royal Purple and Red Line motor oil. I've had positive experience with Red Line products in the past for rear end, tranny, water wetter, etc, and would trust their motor oil. Royal Purple I haven't, yet those guys claim a few ponies on identical dyno runs over Mobil 1, a few near free horsepower anyone think?
To clarify they are stating that either the Red Line or Royal Purple in the motor will dyno higher than Mobil 1, all three being synthetic......
Anyone shed some light on this?
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
The folks I deal with have an extremely good grip on this and they tell me that Mobil 1 is actually a really good product. They put it in the engines they ship to customers, despite having sponsorship from another oil company. Mobil 1 can be "beat" as far as hp gains from reduced parasitic losses, but not by much. And...the synthetic alternatives cost quite a bit more.
They tell me Royal Purple is fine too, but we begin to split hairs here as far as whether others outdo Mobil 1 in hp. Dyno results have a nominal error of ± 1-2% and that makes it really hard to get a handle on what a particular motor oil is really doing, since it's usually just a few hp.
The pro drag racers prefer extremely thin synthetic oils (around zero weight). Really thin oils can make "significant" hp gains (5-8 hp) because of the reduced viscous drag. However, you have to have an oil pump that has enough volume and oil gallery restrictions may be needed to regulate flow rates. The oil also must not get too hot in operation.
The people I work with run a synthetic oil that would test as zero weight in their pro race car. It's so thin, it's rated on a more senstive "centistokes" scale. Their oil was actually developed for the aircraft industry, but--they also have a very sophisticated dry-sump system. I'm not about to pour this stuff into my Viper without the other mods.
It's important to remember too that oil is consumed in the combustion process and can upset the anti-knock characteristics of the fuel. The thin syn's tend to be less volatile than mineral oils, and this may be a small part of the reason these folks see measurable gains from the extremely thin syn's--they push the compression ratio to as much as 16.5 to 1.
I'm personally going to stay with the Mobil 1 for now. It meets the manufacturer's recommendations directly (mine is still in warranty), it's inexpensive enough to allow me to do frequent oil changes (I really believe in that), and it looks to be as good or nearly as good as the alternatives as far as hp.
RC
