millertm wrote:
Appreciate the feedback. I figured I was going overboard changing the oil each time. I'll go through Summit this month and change afterwards.
No you're not changing it too much. 2.0 Turbo motors run extremely high oil temperatures. Many that have given you advice, which may be ideal for their NA motors with large oil capacity, aren't ideal for a high power turbo application holding only about 4 quarts. Keep in mind the oil is also used for the turbocharger and we were seeing oil temps in the 265F range.
If I were you I would change the oil prior to your event so you track the engine on fresh synthetic motor oil. I wouldn't sweat it if you have under 1000 easy miles on your oil before going to the track but don't go towards the end of the oil change cycle. You can then continue your daily commute on the same oil (if a high quality synthetic). I've did this for a few season and for some of my less aggressive track cars. I think you're also going to find (at least on our Subarus) you'll loose almost 2 quarts of oil throughout the weekend which typically gets blown out the crankcase breathers (lower power and slower car less of course) so the oil will get freshened up. You can always also toss in some additive from Redline, Amsoil, BG, or Lucas to boost up the oil again after the track event.
Now that I run a dry sump and have 8 quarts of oil capacity I go two races on Redline 50w race oil instead of changing every race but this is purely a race car. I change frequently due to the high oil temps we see.
I will tell you a non-synthetic is not really good enough on these turbo cars. On engine tear downs when I used conventional oil it was clearly coking on the underside of the pistons, in the head casting, where we don't see this with synthetics.
Thanks,
Phil Grabow
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