Oil temperature - how hot

[MvM]

Does anyone know how hot the oil in a NSX might get during extended highway runs at higher speeds (> 100 mph).

Also, the same question for those car who are modified with, let's say, a Comptech supercharger.

Never had a problem with my engine temperature so far, but then again, the dial on the dasboard is for your cooling fluid temperature and not the oil inside it.

 

[goldNSX]

As far as my engine is not supercharged I don't care about the oil temp on the German Autobahn as the engine is well designed. Interested in FI temp altough.

 

[Hrant]

Here are data with a slightly different scenario than what you asked. With Autorotor CTSC, 3 qts Accusump, oil cooler, 50/50 water/antifreeze with Redline water wetter - and at the track using either Mobil 1 or Motul Oil, the temp measured with SPA gauge ranges from 240-255F depending on the ambient temp.

Now on the street, with normal driving on a hot day (90F ambient temp) it will get to about 195F. Cooler days 60F ambient it runs around 150F.

HTH/YMMV.

 

[nsxhk]

I'm getting similar readings as Hrant, but I turn off my oil cooler in the winter times.

Henry.

 

[nsxotic911]

I'm getting similar readings as Hrant, but I turn off my oil cooler in the winter times.

Henry.

hmm....Stock? How do you turn it off?

 

[nsxhk]

I have an aftermarket oil cooler.

Henry.

 

[greenberet]

In the interest of science, I ran for about 15 minutes at various speeds in fifth gear to see what my oil temperature gauge reads. My car is a naturally aspirated 3.0 with a five speed transmission and the stock oil cooler and the ambient temperature was around 10° C (50° F).

80 km/h (50 mph): 93° C
100 km/h (62 mph): 98° C
140 km/h (87 mph): 105° C
200 km/h (124 mph): 125° C
full throttle: 140-150° C (didn't run 15 minutes because the oil was getting too hot)

I set the cruise control so that my GPS device showed I was traveling exactly those speeds (interestingly, the cruise control could not be set above 200 km/h). The water temperature gauge never showed an increased temperature. When the engine is warmed up my gauge points just above the third white line from the bottom regardless whether I'm going 90 km/h or 290 km/h.

The oil temperature does vary, however. The stock oil cooler does not have enough capacity to keep the oil at a stable temperature. I'm not sure how bad it is that the oil gets up to 140 or 150° C at full throttle since the oil temperature gauges on Audis and Ferraris have red zones starting at 150° C. Maybe modern synthetic oils can take it, but it doesn't make me very comfortable. In any case, I back off after a few kilometers at full throttle so that the oil doesn't exceed those temperatures and can cool down again.

With a supercharger, the engine will develop more heat and the oil temperature will increase faster. On hot days, the oil temperature is higher as well.

 

[MvM]

In the interest of science, I ran for about 15 minutes at various speeds in fifth gear to see what my oil temperature gauge reads. My car is a naturally aspirated 3.0 with a five speed transmission and the stock oil cooler and the ambient temperature was around 10° C (50° F).

80 km/h (50 mph): 93° C
100 km/h (62 mph): 98° C
140 km/h (87 mph): 105° C
200 km/h (124 mph): 125° C
full throttle: 140-150° C (didn't run 15 minutes because the oil was getting too hot)

I set the cruise control so that my GPS device showed I was traveling exactly those speeds. Interestingly, the cruise control could not be set above 200 km/h. Also, the water temperature gauge never showed an increased temperature. When the engine is warmed up my gauge points just above the third white line from the bottom regardless whether I'm going 90 km/h or 290 km/h.

The stock oil cooler does not have enough capacity to keep the oil at a stable temperature. I'm not sure how bad it is that the oil gets up to 140 or 150° C at full throttle since the oil temperature gauges on Audis and Ferraris have red zones starting at 150° C. Maybe modern synthetic oils can take it, but it doesn't make me very comfortable. In any case, I back off after a few kilometers at full throttle so that the oil doesn't exceed those temperatures and can cool down again.

With a supercharger, the engine will develop more heat and the oil temperature will increase faster. On hot days, the oil temperature is higher as well.

Thanks you Very Much for this information.
Very useful to know these things and nice to keep in mind if one is travelling at high speeds for long(er) periods of time.