simons2k

Could'nt find this with the search feature. I normally change my oil every 5k with Mobil 1. I plan on tracking my S for the first time this year and was curious to see what S2ki members do as far as oil changes when they track their car.

I was going to go with fresh oil before the event and then change it again as soon as I get home. I think this only because I was told that oil breaks down quite a bit when you track it. Fact or myth?

Kobe

won't it depend on how hot the oil gets..and for how long?

unless you have a gauge.. then it's guesswork.

Nobody

I change my oil after every event.

Bassem

Adding to the myths, I was told as a rule of thumb, 1 track mile equates to 10 street miles in terms of wear and tear. I am guessing this is based on life of components.

If you assume oil wears in a similar fashion, synthetics give you ~5000 miles of street protection. So you are talking 500 or so track miles. Depending on the event you run you can run as little as 80 or 100 miles a day, and up to double that for events that give you loads of track time.

Personally, I just change the oil before the event, drive until the "magic" 3000 miles and change it again. Unless there is another event, at which point I change it again anyway. A few times I've left the oil in for two events that were close together in time (am actually doing so right now).

Bassem

simons2k

Thanks for the info guys.

ermac

Change the oil and filter a few days or a week prior to taking it to the track. Slightly "used" oil will protect a bit better than new oil because new oil has a tendancy to clean the old film off the bearings. General idea is that you want film on the bearings to prevent metal to metal contact.
Ester-based oil (Redline and Motul) can tolerate heat and clean better than PAO (PolyAlphaOlefin) based and hydrocracked group III synthetic oil. Hydrocracked group III synthetic oil (such as Valvoline Synpower, most Castrol Syntec, Pennzoil, etc.) is NOT real synthetic. Group V (ester-based) and group IV (PAO based, such as Mobil 1) are 100% sysnthetic.
It is fact that oil does break down a bit after it is subjected to track use regardless if it's 100% synthetic or "dino" (conventional) oil; however, synthetics will not break down as quickly. If you're tracking it, heat--for the most part--will slowly break down the oil. If you drive less than 10 miles (16 kilometres) in cold temperature, then it is moisture and possibly unburnt gasoline (in small quantities) that will break down the oil. Combustion by-products will break the oil down no matter how you drive. 100% synthetic oil is good for a number of track events without changing, but this really depends on how long each track event is and how hot the engine will get; more frequent changes required if track events are long and punishing.

twohoos

With synthetic, every few track days is fine. I've done 19 oil changes over a period that spans about:
- 4.5 years
- 5000 track miles (50 track days)
- 35000 total miles