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I raced my turboed NB8a mx5 at calder park last saturday at the WRX sprint thing and my oil temps were high..... like 120 degrees after just 4 laps....even after the sun went down and the ambient dropped it was still the same !
The car has a ASI 52mm alloy radiator and 10 row oil cooler (ducted)....... so i figured the high temps must be from the mouth/air intake being to small....

I was running mobil 1 ( bought it because it was on sale) i thought this was up there in the oil brands so was starting to think maybe i need ANOTHER oil cooler


I had a drift event the this weekend so i wanted to do something about the temps as drift is way harder on the engine than grip racing....i mean by the reduced air flow from being sideways all the time.

So i decided to change to a different oil and see if there was a noticeable difference in temps.
MOTUL 300v was to be the choice as i read somewhere it handle high temps very well.



out with the old and in with the new...






anyway to the point...
I thrashed the crap out of my poor little roadster on the weekend at winton and at first was a little sad to see my temps getting up there again after just a few laps of rev limiter bashing But after a few overzealous laps with some better drivers my temp warning light and buzzer on my oil gauge were trying to tell me something but i was having to much fun and chose to ignor the 105 deg temp it was showing.....

I did 4 more non stop limiter bashing laps after the warning came on and the temp STAYED at 105 degrees

So unlike the Mobil the MOTUL seemed to handle being in the higher temp range alot better.

I change my oil after every track day and will definitely be putting the MOTUL 300v back in.

I got the MOTUL gearbox oil too but have yet to put it in.....

Anything to do with the 10/40 compared to the 5/50 rating of the oils? I can never remember which is better (lower number for the cold as it flows quicker?)

bruce wrote:(lower number for the cold as it flows quicker?)

yep, lower # = lower viscosity = quicker flow

wait until you do another trackday before a final conclusion, Drifting= yes lots of revs , noise and wheel slip, trackday= semis no wheel slip and lots of load.
extreme heat in the oil comes from load , amomg other things.
Brett

Yeah i'll be running the MOTUL again at the next grip day i do so i'll let you know how it goes.

Chasser runs deep....mx5 up the inside

So "grip racing" = normal circuit racing?

Grip racing = normal circuit racing, ie trying to run the fastest lap times possible
Drift = automotive equivalent of synchronised swimming/ballet etc

i'm sure saboteur knew that and was merely taking the piss