I am wondering what is special about engine oil that is designed for turbo use? Or is there nothing really special about it?

 

Nothing special that I know of, just oil that will lub and seal the shaft/bearings.

 

The example I have is that I looked at a bottle of valvoline yesterday and it said "turbo approved" on it, but some other more generic brands did not. Was just curious.

 

I would be curious to know what brand/viscosity you turbo guys run. I am going to assume everybody runs synthetic, if not correct me.

 

It probably has additives in to help prevent coking and build up in turbo passages. Also has a higher heat rating. I know Amsoil European oil is designed for turbo'd cars..

 

How would amsoil synth 0w30 due? I mean, I already have it in the car and no problems yet but i dont want it to lead to problems

 

Shell Rotella 20-50 is what I prefer. I might switch to 10-40 in the cooler months, but probably not.

As long as it's slippery and you change it every once and a while just about any oil will be ok.

 

We advise Amsoil 10W-30 in all the vehicles we complete.. 20W-50 for the high mileage ones, followed by an oil analysis..

 

wow some fast replies. Ill make the switch at thanksgiving to 10w

 

Castrol GTX 5W-30 Dino Oil. Just change it when you are supposed to and let the car cool down after you run it hard before you turn it off.

 

I run Amsoil 20-50 in mine.

 

i ran that europon stuff and after my run at the strack my lifter started to stick....it was nuts!! sounds like a bent rod almost....it doesnt do it any more though...how ever with mobil 1 i never had that happen!

 

mobil one since I bought the car... its not turbo'd yet....

 

I have Redline 20W50 in mine. Im sure the turbo approved has a higher heat reating since the turbine gets pretty hot

 

What I would look for in a "turbo" oil is a low NOACK value. This shows the volatility of the oil. The lower the % the less "burn off" that occurs. This is important in a turbo because you end up with oil in the turbo and when the volatile components of the oil vaporize it leads to coking on the bearings.

Here are some NOACK values of some of the AMSOIL motor oils.
ASL 5w-30 = 6.6
ATM 10w-30 = 5.4
AMO 10w-40 = 6.7
ARO 20w-50 = 6.5
TRO 20w-50 = 5.9
AFL 5w-40 = 8.9
TSO 0w-30 = 8.6

The last that I have seen show the GC 0w-30 to have a NOACK of 11.28.

FWIW: I do run the TSO in our Saab 92x which is a turbo'd car. Also run it in my 5.3 Silverado at this time.

 

ATM 10w-30 = 5.4

glad ive got a case of this. Why do you run TSO?

 

I run the TSO mainly because I run the same oil all year and the 0W is a better choice than 10W at below 0 temps. Also thought I would try it for fuel economy as well.