Scottish Elises

When I put the car in for the next service I want to use Motul 300v oil.

I was looking at the Europa handbook and it says to use Texaco Havoline Synthetic 5W40 and where not available use either 10W30, 10W40 or 10W50.

So when i'm going to switch to Motul 300v should I use 10W40 and not 5W40 because it is not the Havoline oil?

I presume Motul isn't available in 5w40?

If not, 10W 40 would be my next choice.

Doesn't matter as long as it's fully sthetic and the right viscosity: 5W40 or 10W40

That said 5W40 seems a bit thin... Most high performance oils are 5W50 or higher??

the bit before the W means it's runnier at lower temps (lower number = thinner at 0 degrees) the bit after the W is the thickness at temperature (bigger number = thicker)

tuscan_thunder wrote:I presume Motul isn't available in 5w40?

If not, 10W 40 would be my next choice.

Motul is available in 5W40, but just wanted to understand correctly that it is ok to use even though it is not Havoline.

Having just read the handbook again I've just realised that I misread it and missed the "oil such as" part so confusion over. I'll get Motul 300V 5W40.

Cheers.

Also cheapest i've found it so far is @ camskill for £24.34 per 2 litres. Anyone know of anywhere cheaper?

Opie oils is generally pretty good, loads of club discounts available too. I think I paid £35 for 5L of Castrol Edge.

Not tried Motul but can't see me changing from Silkolene as my oil of choice, bought from Opie.

Saying that, it's Mobil 1 in the GTI and it was bargainous from Costco.

Rich H wrote:Opie oils is generally pretty good, loads of club discounts available too. I think I paid £35 for 5L of Castrol Edge.

i have bought motor oil (silkolene PRO S 5w-40, 5 litres)and gearbox oil (castrol taf-x)from here and was satisfied with the service

P.S. if interested, the filter i used was K&N HP-1003

On the subject of oil, and just having read Shug's response on the engine flush thread where he said he had latterly been using 15w50 in the K, why does everyone (including lotus garages) recommend using 5w40 for the K when the handbook (at least for the VVC version) advises using 15w50.

I understand that 15w- is thought to be too thick for cold starts, but that being the case why was it what Lotus recommended?

Just bought Motul 300V Power 5W40 from powerenhancer.co.uk

Bought 3 x 2 litre tins @ £21.71 each. Seemed to be the cheapest I could find it. Checked Opie Oil out too but was working out to be £25.70 a tin at member price.

Scott M wrote:On the subject of oil, and just having read Shug's response on the engine flush thread where he said he had latterly been using 15w50 in the K, why does everyone (including lotus garages) recommend using 5w40 for the K when the handbook (at least for the VVC version) advises using 15w50.

I understand that 15w- is thought to be too thick for cold starts, but that being the case why was it what Lotus recommended?

I might be completely wrong here, so hopefully someone (Shug?) will confirm or deny so I get it right next time!

I was under the impression that 15w50 was the summer oil. The 15 means it's too thick when the engine is cold so takes longer in winter to get to proper levels of protection. The 50 means that when you are out thrashing around on a circuit, or on a heavy going run, the engine is better protected.

The theory would then be if you were doing 6 month changes, to switch to 5w40 for the winter, for better cold start protection, and you don't really need the protection at the top end of the temperature scale as it's winter

Chris

Corranga wrote:

Scott M wrote:On the subject of oil, and just having read Shug's response on the engine flush thread where he said he had latterly been using 15w50 in the K, why does everyone (including lotus garages) recommend using 5w40 for the K when the handbook (at least for the VVC version) advises using 15w50.

I understand that 15w- is thought to be too thick for cold starts, but that being the case why was it what Lotus recommended?

I might be completely wrong here, so hopefully someone (Shug?) will confirm or deny so I get it right next time!

I was under the impression that 15w50 was the summer oil. The 15 means it's too thick when the engine is cold so takes longer in winter to get to proper levels of protection. The 50 means that when you are out thrashing around on a circuit, or on a heavy going run, the engine is better protected.

The theory would then be if you were doing 6 month changes, to switch to 5w40 for the winter, for better cold start protection, and you don't really need the protection at the top end of the temperature scale as it's winter

Chris

Pretty much as I understand it. I stayed on 15W50 (Mobil 1 Motorsport, not that it makes a massive difference what brand IMO) as it was usually used in anger, so the oil got hot and I'd started doing it before I got an oil cooler (this was on a big valve 285 cammed ported K - specced to about 180bhp) so the oil would have been getting a kicking. I kept with it when I put the cooler in, as with lighter grades, it sounded even more like a bag of spanners. I never bothered changing for winter. If I got increased cold wear, I figured it was nothing compared to the pistons being underspecced for that power, so I'd rather it was quieter and protected at high temps on track.

What ended up doing it in was a combo of the valve stem seals going and the liners ovalising. Combo of too much for that spec of bottom end (should really have holed a piston) and the sh*te sealing of the Scouse airbox letting sand in (combined with me not checking it often enough)...

Just noticed on HUKD that Opie oils have 5 litres of Gulf Competition for 30 quid (member price). Seems pretty decent for such an oil (though I don't much else about it...)

http://www.opieoils.co.uk/c-971-gulf-competition.aspx

Edit: and i'm posting as Erica as my laptop is rhubarbed
Chris (Corranga)