Recommended oil?
Discussion
Like anything with 7's you'll find lots of different opinions on the net. It's up to you who you trust. I've been running the halfords 5w/50 up until now but I'm finding it struggles to get up to temperature on normal road use (in Scottish ambient temps) I'll be changing for something lighter next time but I'm undecided as to what.
Plundy said:
I've been running Halfords 5W/50 synthetic in a 1.6K series under race conditions with no problems at all.
Yeah mine is fine on track too. But on road it takes forever to come up to temp and in the winter months just doesn't get there at all. I haven't had problems yet either but would rather have my oil getting up to temp fully.Firstly the 5w will give better start up protection than the 10w as it will flow quicker getting to and protecting the top end and hydraulics.
A /40 grade is recommended when up to temperature for normal road use and tin tops as this gives good film strength and fuel economy offering less resistance to flow.
The idea of using a /50 is that at the higher temperatures normally associated with track use, you will need an oil which will be better at keeping its film strength over a /40 grade, the compromise is a little less BHP and fuel economy.
Most 10w/40 grades are semi synthetic and 5w/40 5w/50s are fully synthetic.
A fully synthetic has less need for additives to hold it together therefore there is less to brake down [shear down] and the oil will perform better and for longer.
Caterham are not experts on oil and Comma have given good advice simplifying it by suggesting the one oil only, taking into consideration the range of uses the Caterham has.
Remember that if you track your car, let it tick over in the pits for a few minutes letting the oil circulate cooling the engine, otherwise it will burn and varnish the moving parts and you will then suffer the noise from the tappets. If you can afford it, change the oil after every track day or shorten you service intervals.
So a good quality 5w/50 will be a good purchase for a K or VVC with some track use.
The oil is not at fault if the engine will not get up to temperature, this could be a coolant issue, to much and the engine will run cooler.
A /40 grade is recommended when up to temperature for normal road use and tin tops as this gives good film strength and fuel economy offering less resistance to flow.
The idea of using a /50 is that at the higher temperatures normally associated with track use, you will need an oil which will be better at keeping its film strength over a /40 grade, the compromise is a little less BHP and fuel economy.
Most 10w/40 grades are semi synthetic and 5w/40 5w/50s are fully synthetic.
A fully synthetic has less need for additives to hold it together therefore there is less to brake down [shear down] and the oil will perform better and for longer.
Caterham are not experts on oil and Comma have given good advice simplifying it by suggesting the one oil only, taking into consideration the range of uses the Caterham has.
Remember that if you track your car, let it tick over in the pits for a few minutes letting the oil circulate cooling the engine, otherwise it will burn and varnish the moving parts and you will then suffer the noise from the tappets. If you can afford it, change the oil after every track day or shorten you service intervals.
So a good quality 5w/50 will be a good purchase for a K or VVC with some track use.
The oil is not at fault if the engine will not get up to temperature, this could be a coolant issue, to much and the engine will run cooler.
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