What weight oil and brand is everyone using?

[jond]

Mobil1 Full Synthetic Extended Performance 15,000 mile(but still changed every 3,000 miles)
5W30 - Winter
10w30 - Summer/Spring/Fall

 

[4cruizn]

Castrol GTX 10W30
Stock 1992 91k Miles

 

[A.S. Motorsport]

Personally i use Castrol, i've done so for years.

5w40
10W30
10W40

Are all good depending on time of year and usage.
I generally advise 5w40 in Europe

I strongly do not recommend thick oils like 10w60, i've seen NSX suffer severe head damage from using to thick oil..
A Honda dealer not that far from here wrecked a prefect 3.2L engine because the ignorant mechanic disregarded Honda and trowing in 10w60.
The small oil ports and V-tec system doesn't like thick oil the LMA's aren't designed for it as-well.

 

[NSX1145]

10W-30 Amsoil

Same here, unless I'm out, then Purple.

 

[dirtbag]

Has anyone run Mobil 1 0w-40? My other exotics recently switched the factory recommended oil to that. I can't get a straight answer as to why, juts a lot of theories. In the NSX I still run Mobil 1 10w-30.

 

[jond]

Has anyone run Mobil 1 0w-40? My other exotics recently switched the factory recommended oil to that. I can't get a straight answer as to why, juts a lot of theories. In the NSX I still run Mobil 1 10w-30.

I would ASSUME the engine has to be designed from day one to need a 40 weight? Oil passages sizes, oil pump specs, etc?
I run 40 weight in my mustang, but only because I'm putting off a engine rebuild. 40 weight = no smoking.
The 0 weight part I understand. Still sketches me out though. I would like to see the numbers on how fast oil turns from 0 weight to 10+
Is it 30 seconds of idling, or is it 10 minutes of driving. If it changes extremely quick, I can see it being useful. If it changes slow, I would think more harm than help?

 

[curtsr]

Has anyone run Mobil 1 0w-40? My other exotics recently switched the factory recommended oil to that. I can't get a straight answer as to why, juts a lot of theories. In the NSX I still run Mobil 1 10w-30.

This is the specified oil for my Phaeton and my Cayenne TT-S and this is what I run in them.
About 10K between changes is what I do and I have 116K HARD miles on my TT-S.
It seems to burn a lot of oil under boost conditions and I wind up having to add a quart every 750-1000 miles.
When pulling a sled to the UP last week and driving gingerly the Cayenne didn't burn any.
The Phaeton by comparison doesn't use a drop- ever.

 

[scammy]

just started using Lucas Oil 10-30 so far so good and just did a track day so will be changing the oil next week and getting it tested.
oil temps and pressure was very good at the track

 

[Gary W]

Gary

 

[jond]

^^^ zmax and all the scam snake oils used that same test.
All it tests is how much zinc an oil has which isn't good to have too much.

 

[hofffam]

Owned my 1997 NSX since 2007 and have driven it year round over 40K miles, just about all of it in Texas. I use Mobil 1 5W30 and change oil on a 5,000 mile interval.

Like virtually everyone on this thread with many different choices, it has worked perfectly for me. I think that says oil choice is not as critical as some want to make it.

 

[chrisfast]

I appreciate everybody's input on my question. It would appear that almost 90% of the people that responded are running 10w30. So guess what? I'm going to continue with 10w30. I have also decided I'm going to run Amsoil for a while and have it tested next year to see how it held up compared to the Red Line. I am however, going to stick with Red Line MTL for the gearbox. The foreman at the Acura dealer, who has worked on numerous NSX's since the inception of the car, and is approved from Acura, swears by it. Thanks again for all of the help. I really appreciate everyone chiming in and giving me their .02.

-Chris

 

[etang789]

Pakelo 5w40

 

[jond]

I have also decided I'm going to run Amsoil for a while and have it tested next year to see how it held up compared to the Red Line.

For what it's worth, I tested Redline in my old ITR, and it produced something like 300% more wear on the engine.
From my tests(blackstone labs), you couldn't buy worse oil.
To put it another way, it seems to suggest that anyone who runs that stuff for 100,000 miles has already rebuilt their engine, where a NSX engine on Mobile1 should last 300,000+.

 

[chrisfast]

For what it's worth, I tested Redline in my old ITR, and it produced something like 300% more wear on the engine.
From my tests(blackstone labs), you couldn't buy worse oil.
To put it another way, it seems to suggest that anyone who runs that stuff for 100,000 miles has already rebuilt their engine, where a NSX engine on Mobile1 should last 300,000+.

That definitely makes me feel good about switching to Amsoil. I'm surprised that Red Line would have done so poorly. Thanks for letting me know.

-Chris

 

[Ponyboy]

Jond, are you sure you're not factoring in another variable for the increased wear? Redline, quantitatively (base stock, additives, high temp stability, etc), is a very good oil and ranks favorably in comparision with other oil brands on "paper." So if it caused 300% more wear on your engine, there would have to be an additional (or lack of) component in the oil that they're not disclosing or they're not using the components that they say they are.

 

[nsxtasy]

My gut tells me it's unlikely that one synthetic oil would allow four times as much engine wear as another synthetic oil. (300 percent more wear means four times as much.)

 

[BATMANs]

Well are you talking about comparing all synthetic oils or within each of the 3 respective groups (3,4,5)

 

[Ponyboy]

Well are you talking about comparing all synthetic oils or within each of the 3 respective groups (3,4,5)?

Would moving from a group 5 to a group 3 cause 300% more engine wear?

 

[Pchpleno]

10w40 XL from Amsoil

I use XL because every time I decide to drive my car it's an automatic 200 kms just to go down to the city and back plus any driving I decide to do. I live in a rural area about 100 kms away from Toronto.

I change the oil every 8,000 kms also because 80 percent is highway

 

[Honcho]

That definitely makes me feel good about switching to Amsoil. I'm surprised that Red Line would have done so poorly. Thanks for letting me know.

-Chris

Amsoil is a great oil and you will be fine. But, as Ken said, just about any good full synthetic 10W-30 oil will be fine if you change on regular intervals. I like Mobil 1. I had my engine-out major service done in December and my tech remarked the internals looked brand new with no marks, varnish or wear on my 86,XXX mile engine. So, I stick with Mobil 1 at the factory specified weight.

 

[robbiedawg]

i also use mobil 1 10w/30,and had a similar excellent report about the state of my engine from the mechanic who did my timing belt.

 

[Kouki Monster]

Very informative Honcho! Great post

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

 

[g3driver]

Joe Gibbs racing oil for me. 5-30
you can buy it here
http://astore.amazon.com/outraracin-20/detail/B0095FAUK6

 

[cptnsx]

It's a false positive. If you go to BITOG, this has been debunked. Red Line shows elevated wear in Honda engines that reduces with time but the wear readings are not real.

- - - Updated - - -

I feel like a broken record. Mobil 1 0w-40 is Mobil's best oil and it is a very thin 40w. It shears quickly to a heavy 30w. It meets all the rigorous European Specs and is factory fill for the GTR. The NSX and S2000 are very hard on oils. There have been some oil analysis results posted on this site and there are plenty (S2000) ones on BITOG and most if not all show 30w oils shearing down to 20w oils by 5K miles in both cars. If you use a 30w, you should probably change the oil by 3K.