I have been running Royal Purple 5w30 in my car but I have to import the oil into the country every 6k miles and I was wondering what people in the UK use for good performance motor oil? I do a trackday or two a year and go drag racing a couple times a year but otherwise the car is a daily driver.

I have heard of Redline but I am wondering what everyone thinks about their oil? I have not really heard of them. Is there any other good brands available?



The second bit is pads. I am currently using a Wilwood pads on the front but again I believe I have to import Wilwood components. My Rear pads are Hawk HP+ but I am considering going to a pad with less of a bite because of the brake proportioning valve I really don't use the rears that much unless I am just driving around. What is a good brand for performance brake pads in the UK?

Oil

As long as the viscosity is as the manufacturer intended then the brand doesn't make that much difference at all these days. Assuming that Dodge (I think it is) specificied a 5W30 in your car, then anything from Castrol, Mobil, Havoline etc will be just fine. Try to avoid the really cheap unbranded stuff, or supermarket oil just in case. Redline is supposedly good, but a bit overpriced.

Pads

There are Wilwood UK distributors, so I'd have thought most can get your pads pretty much 'off the shelf', or at least with no extra cost. For pad compound there is a vast range - Ferodo, Mintex, Pagid etc, and all will be able to advise something for you. But do NOT go with the first recommendation. Get replies via Phone/Email at least 3 distributors/manufacturers before choosing a new pad, and see what the owners club forums have to say for themselves.

Cheers Tristan,

I will have to do more searching then for wilwood. I must have done a piss poor job the last time, having a quick look I probably overlooked because most of what I see are rally shops selling them must remember to do my homework better...

I have already done my search when I initially bought the kit but I will have to have another look seeing as I missed wilwood dealers from the UK the last time. Since I am switching brands on the rear it will take a bit of calling so that I get the right size and compound. Not something I want to be doing on a saturday, ahwell, the joys of having an imported car.

I was thinking of going with mobil1 synth. but I didn't know if there were 'better' brands that were as well known. How does redline compare? I see that they were promoting at the the trackday I went to last year.

I was debating about going to a 10w-30 for the UK. The reason Dodge ran 5w is that these cars need the ability to start in sub 0 conditions and I will never see it that cold in the UK. I don't know though, I have to do more homework.

Another thing, does anyone get their oil analyzed? I am thinking of starting do monitor my oil through these samples to see how my internals are fairing but I didn't know if it was really worth it.

I'm running Hawk HP+ up front on the track with whatever I can find in a semi-metallic in the rear. On the street, I am making due with the pads that came with my calipers. My front calipers are PBR spec units sourced off of a Cobra Mustang while the rears are OEM single pot calipers. I still have too much rear brake since the ABS fires up on the rear before the front.

Why not consider more generic street pads with an agressive setup for the track?

What car are you shopping for and what are your cornerweights? Caliper and rotor sizes?

Oil is a touchy subject. Mobil1 and Shell products are good enough for almost anyone. Factory specs, engine condition, and atmospheric conditions will point you to a viscosity. What kind of engine are you dealing with? The newest oils on the market are not intended to be used with overhead cam or flat tappet engine designs.

I have an 05 Dodge SRT-4 ACR so I am not shopping for anything =).

Well I could go back to a factory rear pad, I have been thinking about it but... I have not had the car corner weighted yet, I had a chance to get it done for free but I couldn't make the date... But TBH there isn't much I can do, my coilovers are not adjustable (Other than a 5 click dampening(bound and Rebound), eventually going to be running BC coilovers)

My street setup is a willwood BP10 (equivelent to HP+) compound on the front with the HP+ in the rear. For the Track I run wilwoods B race compound on the front with the same rear pads.

http://www.tceperformanceproducts.com/pads.html

I have not had a ton of tracktime so I have not had much of a chance to test this compound setup. I had warped my rotors the first time due to an improper caliper install (some dumb*** forgot to shim the caliper centered on the rotor and the pad dragged ever so slightly...) so I could not brake into the corners hard and had to come in, by then the damage was done.

Considering all the noob mistakes concerning equipment choices. I have made recently I am beginning to wonder if I chose the wrong hobby =)

Quote from Christopher Raemisch :

Cheers Tristan,

I will have to do more searching then for wilwood. I must have done a piss poor job the last time, having a quick look I probably overlooked because most of what I see are rally shops selling them must remember to do my homework better...

I have already done my search when I initially bought the kit but I will have to have another look seeing as I missed wilwood dealers from the UK the last time. Since I am switching brands on the rear it will take a bit of calling so that I get the right size and compound. Not something I want to be doing on a saturday, ahwell, the joys of having an imported car.

I was thinking of going with mobil1 synth. but I didn't know if there were 'better' brands that were as well known. How does redline compare? I see that they were promoting at the the trackday I went to last year.

I was debating about going to a 10w-30 for the UK. The reason Dodge ran 5w is that these cars need the ability to start in sub 0 conditions and I will never see it that cold in the UK. I don't know though, I have to do more homework.

Another thing, does anyone get their oil analyzed? I am thinking of starting do monitor my oil through these samples to see how my internals are fairing but I didn't know if it was really worth it.

It you are doing drag races, then it might be an idea to get the odd sample analysed, but personally I don't bother. Maybe that's my failing, I don't know, but I don't suffer from engine wear or failures either...

Quote from PAracer :

Oil is a touchy subject. Mobil1 and Shell products are good enough for almost anyone. Factory specs, engine condition, and atmospheric conditions will point you to a viscosity. What kind of engine are you dealing with? The newest oils on the market are not intended to be used with overhead cam or flat tappet engine designs.

Huh? Maybe if you were designing the car it's a touchy subject, but Dodge will have done their homework already. Buy the oil they tell you too (+-5W10), and it'll be fine.

And if the newest oils aren't designed for OHC and cam followers then what are they designed for - you will not find a decent car that does not have OHC these days. As long as you don't swap and change between mineral, semi-synthetic and fully synthetic, and change it every 6000 miles then you'll have no worries at all.

Oil was a tricky subject before the days of synthetic oils the days of sub standard oils are over, the difference between a cheap oil and an expensive oil is (apart from the marketing budget) how close they are to spec. (and only the super cheap nonames are bad (infact most oil is identical only the packaging differs))
I would rather spend my budget on changing more often than buying luxury oil, maybe getting a better oil filter.
As for the grading: yes you might want to go one step higher If you can accept to keep the car parked on a rare cold day.
As for analyzing: Again I'd rather spend that budget elsewere.

I'm not talking about the quality of an oil, or its viscosity. It's a no brainer to pick either of those.

Consider this: http://www.ls1.com/forums/showthread.php?t=74825
I'm not sure if foreign oil containers list API specs, but if they do, I would look to stay away from SM grades.

5w30 or 10w30 should be good for street use. Keep an eye on your oil pressure. You may want to switch to a 10w40 for extended track use.

On to brakes. I had a set of Wilwood tan compound pads once that would actually leave deposits on the rotor and feel like I had warped the rotors. I'm not saying it the same as yours, but it can happen if your not in the right heat range. By the way, your street pads are good enough to be used on the track. I'd also consider backing down your rear pads to an OE compound.

My recommendation is to use the stuff you have, then replace it by backing down a notch on pad agressivness. Should save a bit of cash and be easier on rotor wear.

Even with everything your hearing, I still think your doing alright. Keep up the good work!

I would love to monitor both oil temperature and pressure but I don't have sensors or gauges for either yet.

My rotors were definatly warped. They had to take 0.020 out of each side to get them to run true again. Because I didn't center the caliper when I first installed the brake kit when I went and put the track pads in they dragged on the rotor and gouged the inside which then caused the warp from too much heat.

When I first put the pads and rotors on I got deposits, but after some nice hard stops from a decent speed it went away. IIRC it was from the zinc plating used on the rotor mixed in with the top layer of the brake pad and you just need to bring the brake temperature up enough to bring the zinc past it's melting point and the deposits should go away.

I will try out my pads I use for the street on the track and see how they fair who knows when that will happen though.

What car have you got mate?

I'm currently running Motul 300V. Works like a charm :o if you guys have it there i'd suggest that. I'd suggest royal purple too but youre already using it

as for pads, if there is for your car, you can go for tanabe pads? if not, I'm quite sure EBC makes pads for a wide range of cars.

http://www.dragtimes.com/Dodge-Neon-SRT-4-Timeslip-9091.html

Here's my Timeslip.


http://www.autoblog.com/2005/0 ... track-day-dodge-srt4-acr/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_SRT-4

I donno, I might go EBC, wanted to stay away from them though.

Nice. Dont have those here. Btw, if you just want to monitor oil temp/ pressure without having to spend a ton on defi gauges you can go for stri gauges. They are standaloen so its good. :o


But yeah, ebc's work well. Used them before for a while.

check out on carbotech pads
what fluid and lines you running?

Wilwood 570+ High temp dot3.

I'd say go for a 10w40 oil from a decent company and not .02 quid a litre from the nearest supermarket, even if it's just for the peace of mind..

Quote from Osco :

I'd say go for a 10w40 oil from a decent company and not .02 quid a litre from the nearest supermarket, even if it's just for the peace of mind..

Hmm with if I had an NA car I wouldn't hesitate, but since I am running a coolant and oil cooled turbo oil viscosity effects my spool time. A thick oil will prevent my turbo from spooling as quick as it does now and I don't want to lose my 2k RPM spool =)

The spool is not such a big deal but I love my quick spool time and I don't want affect it =).

The other thing is that if I go with a higher operating temp weight I will have decreased fuel economy. I will have a tad more power though.

I don't want to go higher on operating temp weight but if I can get the cold weight closer to the op weight the oil is supposed to have less additives which is supposed to prevent the oil from breaking down.

I have also heard that a 5w XXX is much more volitile than a 10w so I will have less junk floating around in the crankcase too, hopefully extending my short fused engine a bit longer (i4, big literage, and 14psi don't make for a long lasting engine, although Dodge did lower the compression to compensate...)

As you're on the track I suppose you'd never be around 2k rpm so it should be well spooled already. The thicker oil will be thin enough at operating temps not too affect spool in any way and give you some headroom at higher temps.

I run 10w40 in my 1.8 mx-5 (still NA) and will probably keep the same oil once I'm actually turboed.

does your car have an oil cooler?

Quote from Osco :

As you're on the track I suppose you'd never be around 2k rpm so it should be well spooled already. The thicker oil will be thin enough at operating temps not too affect spool in any way and give you some headroom at higher temps.

I run 10w40 in my 1.8 mx-5 (still NA) and will probably keep the same oil once I'm actually turboed.

does your car have an oil cooler?

Yeah, just before the oil filter.

Daily driving I like it when the turbo spools at 2k. I have not had to shift for a hill yet=) Max torque hits for me at 2400-4400 and anything under 3k has a slower spool than above and redline for me is 6k so it wasn't uncommon for me to be nearing 3k or slightly below 3k where the spool time can be seen on a track.

I see, that's quite a low redline actually. I suggest you check into some pads for now, as I'm sure tristan will chime in about oil soon

Quote from Osco :

I see, that's quite a low redline actually. I suggest you check into some pads for now, as I'm sure tristan will chime in about oil soon

Yeah the engine was built with big pistons and stroke to get a nice fat powercurve and torque curve but that cuts the redline down to that of a V8, which I am happy with because thats what I grew up driving. Nothing better to watch yourself chug up a 14degree graded hill in 5th gear at 45mph (IE less than 2k RPM) with three people in the car.

I might just go with greenstuff on the front and then use EBC's standard OEM compound for the rear will cost about 100pounds to do though...

I was just thinking if only oil technlogy was a simple as it seems to be in this thread. Car manufactuers wouldn't need to spend millions of pounds testing oils in their engines - just choose one a bit thicker, and measure spool times.

All the info you need is in your handbook. If you are going to add a turbo then speak to the turbo people (NOT the supplier), because just guessing a grade is daft.

www.opieoils.co.uk

Might be worth dropping them an email and asking for advise.
They do discount for a lot of car clubs as well

Quote from tristancliffe :

I was just thinking if only oil technlogy was a simple as it seems to be in this thread. Car manufactuers wouldn't need to spend millions of pounds testing oils in their engines - just choose one a bit thicker, and measure spool times.

All the info you need is in your handbook. If you are going to add a turbo then speak to the turbo people (NOT the supplier), because just guessing a grade is daft.

it's a factory turbo