What weight oil and brand is everyone using?

[chrisfast]

I did do a search, but came back with 100's of hits that really didn't have anything to do with oil weight. So I thought I'd go ahead and post a new thread, especially since technology has changed so much since 1991 when this engine was first put into production.
I know the specs are for 10w30. Currently, I'm running that weight with Red Line. It has always been a great oil for me, with the only oil I prefer more being Motul. However, Red Line is about half the price. Here is what I am wondering. Has anybody gone to 5w30, or 0w30? I don't believe that there was such an oil as 0w30 back in the 90's, but can't be certain of that. It is my understanding of oil (which isn't that much), that the first number (in this case 10) is the oils viscosity when cold. And the last number (30) being the maximum amount of sheer down when at operating temperature. If I am wrong on any of this, please feel free to correct me.
If I'm correct on the second paragraph, then my next question is why not run 5 or 0w30 in our cars? Wouldn't that mean less wear and tear on a cold engine? I am most likely going to stay with Red Line, but am also considering changing to Amsoil, as a lot of searches I did revealed that there are a lot of members who swear by Amsoil. The big thing to me is what weight? If everybody is still running 10w30, then I'm sure I will just stick with that weight. I do apologize if this subject has been covered recently and I just didn't search correctly. Thanks!

-Chris

 

[kaede]

A lower winter viscosity should not effect the oil when it is heated up. There is no point in keep using a 10w-30 oil if other grades of oil is more accessible and offers better protection on cold starting. If you live in a hot area, then going with the factory recommended spec is ok since your oil temperature will never go too low. Also keep in mind, 20 years ago oil technology has not been as advance/accessible by the general public, chances are it is quite hard to get your hands on 5w-30 or 0w-30 oil. I will not hesitate to use any of the oils weight you have mentioned since they all offer the same viscosity and protection film rate when heated up.

I have been running Motul 300v 5w-30 on my NSX for some time. I take my NSX to the track occasionally (once or twice a year) and that oil has hold up pretty well. Some will say that it is not good for daily street driving since it is a "Racing Oil", but multiple VOA and UOA has shown that the oil consists of more than enough detergents (do a search on google xD). I have also been running the 300v 5w-40 in my 335i DD and have never had any issues, heating problems, sludging, blown turbos, etc etc. Mind you, the 300v is not intended for extended drain intervals and I change it around every 7-8,000 km (somewhere in the ball park of 5k miles) and it does come with a PREMIUM cost. If you've never used it, you will be able to tell a slight difference in engine smoothness and noise when you change to it. When you change out of it, you can tell that the engine is a slight bit more sluggish and noisier. (or it can all be placebo effect, who knows) Does it make more power/protects better? I have no idea haha, sure hope it does!

For ultimate VI, (if you live in an area where temperature fluctuates or gets extremely cold) I will try ENEOS Sustina 5w-30 (VI rating of 194!!!)

I have never ran amsoil, pretty sure it is an awesome product! But don't like the idea of paying for a membership xD

Lastly, whats important is that you change your oil regularly! Also, go with whichever grade/brand of oil that you feel is the best for your vehicle! There is no one best engine oil out there! Good luck! If you don't drive you NSX often make sure you change it every 6 months or whatever miles the oil is intended for whichever comes first. That will prolong the health and cleaniness of you engine for many more years =D

 

[Grimeas]

10W-30 Amsoil

 

[jaffaz32]

10W-40 Royal Purple, i noticed increased oil pressure.

 

[IndependentLemming]

I run Amsoil, but have Mobil 1 in the Mercedes and BMW. Just use good oil I think they are all spec'ed so close. In a motorcycle or racing I would worry more.

 

[nsx24]

Mobil 1 10w-30 for 10+ years with no problem, I use Mobil 1 in everything I own cars-UTV -Boat.

 

[nsxtasy]

Has anybody gone to 5w30, or 0w30?

At what temperature? Keep in mind, Acura recommends using:

10W30 at ambient temperatures above -2 degrees F
5W30 at ambient temperatures below 32 degrees F

IOW - they recommend either one between -2 and 32, only 10W30 above 32, only 5W30 below -2.

At the same time, they recommended 5W30 for all other Acura and Honda cars.

There have been polls here in the past, and IIRC, over 90 percent of owners were using the recommended 10W30. (However, I don't think those polls were created during winter, when those still driving their NSX in northern climes may have switched to 5W30.)

 

[Honcho]

Mobil 1 10W-30.

Note that in 2005, when plenty of the "new technology" oil was available, Honda continued to recommend 10W-30 for the NSX unless operating in below-freezing conditions, where 5w-30 is recommended. You can do what you want, but it is never a bad idea to go with the people who built your car.

 

[CL65 Captain]

Oh, no... not another what weight oil thread. :frown:

 

[NSX-Barque]

Brooklyn Chocolate Stout 10.00% ABV

 

[USAFguy22]

10w-30 Mobil 1 with RAN-UP RSR, good results

 

[chrisfast]

Mobil 1 10W-30.

Note that in 2005, when plenty of the "new technology" oil was available, Honda continued to recommend 10W-30 for the NSX unless operating in below-freezing conditions, where 5w-30 is recommended. You can do what you want, but it is never a bad idea to go with the people who built your car.

Totally agree with going with the recommendation, but I was more curious if anybody had deviated from that. It would appear most guys are still running 10w30. Also would appear most people are using Mobil 1 or Amsoil so far. So far I'm the only one using Red Line I guess.

 

[Stephen@NCAutoUSA]

I run 5w40 amsoil.

 

[Mark G]

I use 10W-30 Pennzoil Ultra

 

[Pchpleno]

I use 10W40 XL from Amsoil

 

[SFNSXguy]

Castrol GTX 10/30 (2,000 mile change cycle)

 

[chrisfast]

2k change cycle? Any reason why so frequently?

 

[SlipAngle79]

Oh, no... not another what weight oil thread. :frown:

LOL! ^

To the OP-what is your objective? You know you can always have an oil analysis if you are concerned with oil consumption/moving part wear. Everyone has a "what oil to use" story so here is mine: In 06 I bought a 00 S2000 and began changing my own oil-previously I had the dealer do it on my 94 3000GT VR4 (which also saw track duty on several occasions) and had been using Castrol Syntec without issue. S2Ki.com had various threads like this one related to what oil to use, and since the F20 is a HIGHLY stressed little engine, I figured I would go with Mobil 1 synthetic as it is "recommended" by Porsche, race teams, etc. Plus Mobil 1 was what the guy I bought it from was using for 20,000 miles. So in went the Mobil 1.

About a year later the S2000 saw its first track day at Gateway Intl. in St. Louis MO - a roval course - on fresh OEM brakes pads and street tires. After I destroyed the front pads before the end of the day, I figured I would step up to Hawk HT10 in the front from a durability stand point, which worked great on the S2's second track day BUT during my second session I was having some serious blow-by issues-BIG cloud of smoke + momentary power loss. One of the explanations was, similar to the NSX, when you would encounter a heavy brake zone (100mph down to 35mph under thresh hold braking) and then go into a right-hander the oil would get pushed to the front, then pulled to left (of the valve cover in this case on the S2000) which would send hot oil straight into one of the PCV passages leading to the air intake.

Now what was strange was that my friend David (FormulaRedline), a 3 time NASA TT regional champ in the S2000, was NOT having the same issue whatsoever-same track day, same AP1 model S2000 with F20, no blow-by. I asked what oil he used and he was running Valvoline synthetic. I thought "what the hell" I'll switch. Around the same time, I was at a car-guy night at my Friend Bruce Poelmans (5-time SCCA Formula Atlantic podium finisher at the run-offs, track record holder at the "old" Gateway, and designer of the current GIR roval course), who shed some light on the situation. He said, in the early 80's when he was starting out in FA, Valvoline was the first oil supplier to offer him free oil in return for there name on his race car-which he took. A few years later, Mobil 1 had began marketing there oil heavily in the US and he said the Mobil 1 guy kept trying to get him to switch, to which he kept refusing (why mess with a good thing?). Well eventually, Mobil 1 made Bruce an offer he couldn't refuse, so in went the Mobil 1.

It turns out that was the worst season by far for the engine-one that required a $10,000 annual rebuild-Bruce had to tear the engine down 3 times(!) that season. He told me the film strength was the biggest problem with Mobil 1, and the next season he was back to Valvoline synthetic and everything was back to normal as far as engine wear. So I was convinced, if David's car (tracked 10-15 times a year and also had 3 times the miles mine had on it) and Bruce's Formula Atlantic race car were ok with Valvoline, then mine would be too. In my case my objective was diagnosing a blow by issue specific to certain types of corners at track speed. The blow-by was almost completely cured-where I was noticing a cloud of smoke with 2-3 seconds of power loss on accelration out of T6 every other lap-there was now only occasionally a cloud-smaller in size and more importantly no power loss exiting T6. So, thats my story, thats why I use Valvoline 10 30 synthetic in the NSX and the Vigor. There is an article on the web, scanned in from a UK car mag from 08 that did a head to head comparo of all the synthetics de jour: Royal Purp, Redline, Motul, Castrol, Valvoline, Mobil 1, etc... They did 2 or 3 different shear/thermal break down tests and the Valvoline scored 2nd overall (not bad cause its a lot cheaper than Redline/ Royal purp). I'll try and find the article for you, but at the end of the day, if your not competing or driving the car in anger for any sustained length of time-just put 10w30 anything in and make sure its not over filled.

 

[chrisfast]

I think my main objective was to find out if most people were still running 10w30. It would appear they are. I've been reading a lot of articles saying 10 is too thick on cold starts for most engines. However, I'm not about to be the guinea pig and start running 0w30 when every other owner is still running 10.
The other objective was to find out what brands guys are using. I definitely don't think Red Line is a bad oil, but again, it appears I'm the only one running it so far. So I may be changing this spring.
I really appreciate your post and detailed events of running different oils. Gave me a lot to think about.

 

[Blacknot]

10W-30 Mobil1. I have used this in all my cars. I recently sold my S2000 with 160k on it. Motor still has perfect compression and I auto crossed it every month and had 4.77 rear in it so it ran 5,000rpm all the time and above in the highway. I swear by Mobil1

 

[JD Cross]

Some years back I was talking to the Honda Western Canada technical service rep.
He told me in his 27 years with Honda he had never seen a Honda or Acura engine failure that Honda could attribute to oil only - synthetic or dino.
In his opinion the most important kind of oil to use was the fresh clean kind with a clean oil filter.
He had nothing to say about synthetic or dino oil.
Interesting no?

Jim

 

[greenberet]

Note that in 2005, when plenty of the "new technology" oil was available, Honda continued to recommend 10W-30 for the NSX unless operating in below-freezing conditions, where 5w-30 is recommended. You can do what you want, but it is never a bad idea to go with the people who built your car.

Note that in Japanese NSX Owner's Manuals, Honda officially recommended 5w-40 or 10w-30 engine oils from 2002-2005. They might have started recommending 5w-40 earlier than that in Japan but since I don't have those documents, I don't know. (there was a thread here on Prime about where to get Japanese Owner's Manuals - if you do a search, you can surely find it)

For what it's worth, I always put fully synthetic oils into my engine and it's usually Mobil 1.

 

[chrisfast]

Some years back I was talking to the Honda Western Canada technical service rep.
He told me in his 27 years with Honda he had never seen a Honda or Acura engine failure that Honda could attribute to oil only - synthetic or dino.
In his opinion the most important kind of oil to use was the fresh clean kind with a clean oil filter.
He had nothing to say about synthetic or dino oil.
Interesting no?

Jim

I think that is interesting. My guess is that as long as you are using a premium oil and changing it regularly, you'll be ok. I am still a little surprised that nobody else uses Red Line. I am trying to find a vendor for Amsoil right now. I may try their oil this spring. I am also going to change the gearbox oil. I did see some very positive comments on Amsoil for that. Thanks for the post Jim!

-Chris

 

[Honcho]

chrisfast- I won't go into heavy detail, as it has been hashed to death here over the years, but there is a great article on FChat about oil weight and how to use it correctly. The second number in that weight is the critical one. This is the weight that the engine builders spec'd to provide sufficient flow and pressure at normal operating temperature in most conditions. For the NSX, that is 30W at 200 F, which will give adequate flow and 80 psi or more at 8000 rpm.

The first number is less important, since it is simply the cold weight of the oil. 30W is thick like molasess at even room temp, so it would not lubricate your engine at startup. So, the oil companies add compounds that thin out the oil when it is cold. Therefore, 0, 5 and 10W-30 all operate like 30W at normal temp, but have different cold weights. Thus, it is ok to use pretty much any of them as long as the second number is 30. I stick with 10W-30 because Honda had the opportunity to cold start the prototype engine thousands of times and determined 10W was ok down to 0 F for protection. Still, you can use 5 or 0 and it won't hurt your engine.

The trick comes down to oil weight in conditions that are NOT normal, like on a race track. It is common for NSX's on the track (especially in hot conditions) to see oil temperatures of 260 F or more. In these conditions, 40W oil is better, since it has similar flow and pressure to 30W at this high temperature. But remember that once temps go back down to normal (i.e., 200) this oil is too heavy to provide adequate flow. So, 40W and 50W oils really are track-only options that require gentle warmup laps to get the oil up to temp (staying below 5000 rpm) before you hit it.

A quick method to determine what to use is note your operating temps. if you drive your NSX in normal conditions and do not track, stick with 30W. If you track occasionally, 30W is probably still ok. If your car is a dedicated track car and you run hot, consider a 40W or 50W depending on your oil temps.

HTH

 

[greenberet]

... 40W and 50W oils really are track-only options ...

I agree with you in theory, but since the two oil weights Honda recommended in Japanese NSX Owner’s Manuals from 2002-2005 were 10w-30 and 5w-40 (not just for NSX-Rs, but for normal street-driven NSXs as well), a 5w-40 really shouldn’t cause any problems. I really don’t think it’s a track-only oil. Also, at 260°F, a 40 weight oil is already substantially thinner than a 30 weight oil is at 200°F. Have a look at page 7 here: http://www.zddplus.com/TechBrief13 - Oil Viscosity.pdf. That's why it would have been nice if Honda had installed a decent oil cooler in NSXs.

My guess is that as long as you are using a premium oil and changing it regularly, you'll be ok.

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