this topic always brings up a bigger issue....ZINC CONTENT.
for the last several yrs,ZINC has been reduced in AUTOMOTIVE oils. The reason for this is due to the fact higher zinc levels can clog the catalytic converters.
if you research this,you will see that the higher weight oils contain more zinc,and the lower have less zinc,and when you get to a 0w-20 weight there is very very little zinc,and some brands have removed ALL zinc.
Zinc has been known to help wear,the thinking is that Zinc is not needed anymore at such levels due to newer ROLLER style cams,lifters ect in modern autos.......so older car enthusiasts with ;flat tappet" motors usually will run higher viscosity oils which contain higher levels of zinc.
so for the best protection in our motors,you want to stay away from a AUTO oil(synth or not).....the thicker oils(40 and up) are better for protection,this is why amsoil 0w-40 4 stroke powersports oil is most commonly acknowledged to be superior for
protection,even yamalube since its now 40 weight will have alot more zinc content,and the fact these are NOT AUTO OILS makes the zinc content higher.However these good protection oils are thicker and will not yeild best HP or top speeds.
so...what do us guys do who want to run a thinner 20 weight oil??....we all know we can make more HP with thinner 20weight oils,the problem is,when you research them,these thinner oils have the LEAST amt of ZINC,which is not a good thing IMO!
my theory is to run my lighweight oil to get the HP i want....I have run REDLINE 5w-20 and loved it,and now will be running walmarts value jug of mobile 1 5w-20 for 22 bucks. I ran redline for 2 seasons before i knew about the whole zinc thing,mobile 1 thinner oils still have some but less then their 40 weights
to make me feel better about the low ZINC(mobile 1 has some but less then 40 weight) I decided to use an additive called ZDDP...its a zinc additive and i will add about half of what they claim is the right amt....due to fact there were so many different opinions on my research of too much zinc vs too little.
So in the end,do what you want with oils....i have OCD so i spent many many hours researching this topic,and came to my own conclusion. I doubt any of us will ever see any failure due to OIL viscosity or brand,just not gonna happen.
but when you hear how many race and performance guys saying a lighter weight oil CAN MAKE MORE HP on the DYNO,and make more SPEED ON RADAR,that is where my ears perk up.
For me this season,mobile 1 5w-20@ $22 bucks walmart...and ZDDP additive(2oz or half the bottle) for an additional 5 bucks,money doesnt matter to me here,but HP,speed AND protection does!
Dan
