DropTopTerror

Guys... sorry if this has been brought up before (i did a search but wasn't able to find anything conclusive...), BUT I wanted to know why some of the frequent drag racers here don't use an oil like 5w-50. I notice alot of 5w-30 and 10w-30 users. My understanding has been that 5w-50 provides the same excellent oil flow when cold as 5w-30 YET also provides a heavier viscosity when hot (50 weight) to further cushion & protect from bearing failure. Am I not right in that assumption? Do LS1 motor tolerances make the use of 5w-50 non-tolerable?

Thanks

Patman

Thicker doesn't always equal better though. With a race engine with looser clearances, a heavy 50 weight oil might be preferable, but for these engines the lighter oils will work best, and will not rob you of horsepower (and MPG) like the thick oils do. Stick with 10w30 and you can't go wrong.

One of the problems with the 5w50 oils is that in order to span that large a viscosity range, they use a lot of thickeners in them, and when they break down they create a lot of friction and increased chance of sludge buildup inside the engine.

If someone indeed does need the thicker oil, instead of 5w50, 20w50 is preferable, as that viscosity doesn't need much thickeners in it at all.

DropTopTerror

Thanks Patman...
That pretty much answered my question.

Do you have any plans for that LT1?

Patman

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by DropTopTerror:
<strong>
Do you have any plans for that LT1?</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Yep, I plan on trading it for another LS1 in a couple of years! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="gr_grin.gif" />

<img border="0" alt="[Burnout]" title="" src="graemlins/burnout.gif" />

DropTopTerror

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Patman:
<strong> </font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by DropTopTerror:
<strong>
Do you have any plans for that LT1?</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Yep, I plan on trading it for another LS1 in a couple of years! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="gr_grin.gif" />

<img border="0" alt="[Burnout]" title="" src="graemlins/burnout.gif" /> </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Great plan <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="gr_stretch.gif" /> ... <img border="0" alt="[hail]" title="" src="graemlins/gr_hail.gif" /> LS1/LS6/C5R