Redline motor oil - legitimate praise or forum hype?

[wdkwang]

Hey guys,

I want to preface this by saying I have a 2010 with 58k miles and have been using solely Redline 5w30 motor oil since the earlier days of this forum talking about the greatness of Redline. I also use Redline for the tranny and gear oil.

My basis for using only Redline was mainly the praise for it on this forum - so basically doing what almost everyone else was doing. Later on, I saw used oil analysis results showing a comparison of Redline vs a dozen other ones in terms of wear patterns. Out of 6 categories, Redline showed up red in 4 out of 6 (red is bad), while other cheaper/non-ester/lower-tier oil had better results. I ignored the results and went along still using Redline because I thought this stuff is the best of the best.

Then for my last oil change, my buddy who is a mechanic with a keen eye and is very thorough at what he does, decided to help me with my oil change. While the oil was draining, he used his light to show me how much metal shavings were flowing out of the oil pan. It felt me feeling very uneasy because it was a significant amount, like someone poured glitter into my oil - yes that much metal shavings.

As for my driving habits and car condition, it's N/A with bolt-ons and it's went from being my daily driver to being closer to a weekend fun ride because my work situation has changed. I beat on it like I stole it, I drift it - I drive it like it was meant to be driven. I get 12mpg.

To close, seeing that proof made me wonder if Redline really deserves its praise here or is it time to look elsewhere. I still have another case of Redline sitting in the garage too, so maybe I'll run through it and switch over to another brand after. Happy to hear anyone else's thoughts on the matter. Do you agree or disagree?

[wdkwang]

[HapaZ]

Well this is where the conversation goes from oil to statistics. If you look at the chart many of the oils with a lot of red have only 1 sample, which is basically meaningless. If these samples were given by different owners we are definitely in meaningless land because we have zero information on how the owners drove or maintained the cars. There also isn’t any information about mileage on each car the samples were derived from and we don’t know how many miles were on the oil sample. Maybe one of the Castrol samples came from a mid-life car (presumable less engine wear than the first oil change or than something with 300k miles) that only drove 1000 before the sample and one of the Motul samples came from early on in the engine life cycle? Without a ton more samples there are just too many outside factors that could also account for the results.

Here’s another point... me and a buddy have both driven our Z’a over 70k miles and neither of us have had the CSC fail on us. Would anyone argue that this proves there aren’t any problems with the CSC’s on our cars?

[SS_Firehawk]

Good youtube channel for oil results and testing.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJb...nhyA7G1BW6xESg

[SouthArk370Z]

Interesting info but, as HapaZ said, not enough samples to be meaningful statistics.

Instead of knowing where a data point landed on the curve (SD), I'd be more interested in whether of not it was in spec. It doesn't have to be the best as long as it's good enough.

[wdkwang]

Originally Posted by HapaZ

Well this is where the conversation goes from oil to statistics. If you look at the chart many of the oils with a lot of red have only 1 sample, which is basically meaningless. If these samples were given by different owners we are definitely in meaningless land because we have zero information on how the owners drove or maintained the cars. There also isn’t any information about mileage on each car the samples were derived from and we don’t know how many miles were on the oil sample. Maybe one of the Castrol samples came from a mid-life car (presumable less engine wear than the first oil change or than something with 300k miles) that only drove 1000 before the sample and one of the Motul samples came from early on in the engine life cycle? Without a ton more samples there are just too many outside factors that could also account for the results.

Here’s another point... me and a buddy have both driven our Z’a over 70k miles and neither of us have had the CSC fail on us. Would anyone argue that this proves there aren’t any problems with the CSC’s on our cars?

Great point, and I agree. I somehow overlooked the row for # of sample sizes. However, the amount of metal shavings that came out of my car was still surprising.

On your point about the CSC. Thanks for adding that data point. I've been changing out the clutch fluid with Motul 600 every 1-2 years hoping it keeps the CMC and CSC alive. Knock on wood. My CMC has been giving me issues for several years now.

[Quicksilvers]

How did the oil analysis on all these different brand motor oils? You do know that the VQ35DE and VQ37HR engines will show different wear characteristics depending motor oil used,oil change intervals,motor oil temperatures,weather conditions etc. Back when I had my 2003 and 2004 350Z’s the VQ35DE engine did not react the same to all the motor oils I tryed over the years. A lot like the VQ37HR the VQ35DE liked motor oils that were more ester based and valvetrain ran smoother and quieter synthetic or non synthetic. I can vouch for the Amsoil Signature Series 5W30 and Royal Purple 5W30 as used this motor oil on track days and I never had motor oil related engine breakdown. Also oil analysis for both the Amsoil Signature Series 5W30 and Royal Purple 5W30 motor oils always looked excellent. Only con being the Amsoil Signature Series 5W30 is expensive on oil changes at $12+ per quart.

[ZoomZ]

Are you using RL 10W40 or 5W30? My understanding is that the 10-40 is a different creature all together from the 5-30.

Your chart does not even include the RL 5W30. Perhaps start there.

[redondoaveb]

Originally Posted by ZoomZ

Are you using RL 10W40 or 5W30? My understanding is that the 10-40 is a different creature all together from the 5-30.

Your chart does not even include the RL 5W30. Perhaps start there.

His op say's he uses the 5w30.

[ZoomZ]

Originally Posted by redondoaveb

His op say's he uses the 5w30.

Thanks. reading too fast.

Anyway, 5w30 not even in the chart. ( or did I miss that too? )

[redondoaveb]

Originally Posted by ZoomZ

Thanks. reading too fast.

Anyway, 5w30 not even in the chart. ( or did I miss that too? )

Yep, you missed it. Just kidding. The only reason I remembered it is because I just switched over to Redline 5w40 which isn't on there either.

[Pearl zed]

Oh good. We're talking about oil again!

[SouthArk370Z]

IIRC, there is at least one post-your-UOA-results thread on this site. Probably the same on all other 370Z web sites. It might be possible to find enough posts to get some useful stats. You would have things like time between changes, procedure, etc to contend with but you should be able to get some reasonably good stats. YMMV

[CRiZO]

I wonder what Tesla owners needlessly obsess over.

[Hot Rod 370 Z]

Originally Posted by CRiZO

I wonder what Tesla owners needlessly obsess over.

I think the Tesla owners discuss how to get better and more pure voltage LOL