greenswinger
Well-Known Member
Went to the parts house this morning to pick up some Valvoline VR1 for the Dart this morning. I'm running a Comp Mutha Thumpr flat tappet cam in the 360. I'm also not totally comfortable "supplementing" oil with pour in additives due to the unknown effects of the oils detergents and the additives. Unloading the bag of VR1 and Wix filter, I noticed a subtle label difference on one of the bottles. Since this is "racing oil" I didn't expect to see the API service "donut". One quart does have it denoting API service SM!!!! All the others are missing the donut as expected with a comment saying EXCEEDS API SERVICE SG/CD. I'm no oil expert but the SM designation spooked me enough to call Valvoline and ask a few questions. Spoke to a nice lady who put me on hold briefly to verify that the oil formula HASN'T changed. I find it strange that the verbiage on the label with the SM donut says : Ashless anti-wear and ZDDP provides ultimate wear protection. The label without the donut says: High-zinc formula also protects push-rod and flat tappet engines. Both labels have the same part number VV211. I told the rep that this could cause confusion with racers and hot rodders with flat tappet cams. Hopefully, they will address this. This is the 20w50 btw...
