VR1. Mineral or full synthetic

Which VR1?

  • Mineral

    Votes: 27 79.4%
  • Synthetic

    Votes: 7 20.6%

  • Total voters
    34
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Kent mosby

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Which would you run? 512 RB with solid flat tappet camshaft. Street/strip 90/10%. My royal purple Duratec ultra is not made anymore.
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Penn Grade 10w/30 partial synthetic. It’s cheaper and some say it is way better than VR1. But each their own.
And I’d go with the Racing one.
 
VR1, with Zinc!
Good ol fashioned lubrication.
Im never gonna give in to the Green deal.
 
Then use the synthetic. It has a slightly higher viscosity index, which means it's more resistant to thinning due to heat. It will also meet it's high and low temperature performance requirements using less viscosity index improver and/or pour point depressant additive. These additives will shear and are consumed, leading to what some call "breakdown" before an oil with very little of them, or without any altogether.
If price is not a consideration, I'd be looking at Red Line or Driven. Still, the VR-1 is a good choice.
 
If your engine is already broken in and has no leaks or issues, I would run a GOOD synthetic oil.
 
VR1 mineral.
Valvoline racing oil has been lubricating my engines since the mid 70's.
Zero failures.
 
My car engine survived over 45 years on good ole Dino oil.
The hi performance rebuild gets the same.
 
I think both of these would perform just fine as motor oil in your application. However changing oil also serves the purpose of flushing out contaminates that can accumulate in a high performance engine such as yours. In addition you also should be cutting open your filter to look for metal shavings or other things every time you change oil. So the reduced cost of the mineral oil and the additional zinc for your flat tappet cam would seem to be the right choice. Just be sure to change the oil often. For the way we use our cars, often is probably more defined by the number of passes on the track or the number of running hours on the street, rather than the milage on the speedometer.

Personally, I use the valvoline mineral oil in my race engine, and the valvoline synthetic in my modern daily driver cars.
 
Mineral VR1, even Hot Rod oil from Lucas, but not synthetic. Just because a cam is broken in does not mean that it will not have critical failure without the barrier than ZDDP provides as it wears.
 
Mineral VR1, even Hot Rod oil from Lucas, but not synthetic. Just because a cam is broken in does not mean that it will not have critical failure without the barrier than ZDDP provides as it wears.
Both formulas have 1400 ppm zddp
 
This is from Crower Cams

Crower recommends a non-detergent / race only petroleum based 30wt. motor oil in all performance applications. The lack of phosphorus and zinc in current oil blends is catastrophic to engine longevity. For all applications we do recommend running our ZDDPlus additive, which adds zinc and phosphorus back into the oil.
 
Mineral VR1, even Hot Rod oil from Lucas, but not synthetic. Just because a cam is broken in does not mean that it will not have critical failure without the barrier than ZDDP provides as it wears.
Lucas Hot Rod oil contains ZDDP far in excess of levels proven to cause pitting and spalling in metals. This has been known for decades. The 1400 ppm in the VR-1 is right at the maximum level that balances anti-wear protection while avoiding potential damage from too much ZDDP.
Except for cost, which the OP has said isn't a factor in this particular case, fully formulated oils blended using primarily synthetic base stocks will out perform those made of mineral based oils in virtually every meaningful way.
 
Don't use synthetic oil with flat tappet cams....ever. I would trust that blurb from Crower Cams over any replies here
 
This is from Crower Cams

Crower recommends a non-detergent / race only petroleum based 30wt. motor oil in all performance applications. The lack of phosphorus and zinc in current oil blends is catastrophic to engine longevity. For all applications we do recommend running our ZDDPlus additive, which adds zinc and phosphorus back into the oil.
For competition engines, sure, but that's not a good solution for an engine that sees street duty or that has it's oil left in the sump for extended periods. Plenty of oils have enough ZDDP without having to blend in an additive that may react with the base product in an unknown way. Plus, have you tried to find a non-detergent 30 lately?
 
Less than Crower it appears
Let me know when you've sold 7 million gallons of the best selling motor oil in the U.S.
Crower is just covering their ***, and trying to sell an over-priced ($21@ Summit) product at the same time. For $25, there are five quart containers of Mobil1 available with over 1100ppm ZDDP in a few different grades.
You should stay in your lane and post things about which you have actual knowledge. But, without misinformation, the internet wouldn't be the wonderful thing we all know and love. Thank you for that.
 
I always heard mineral vr1 but I'll have to investigate what S'cuder has to say as well.
I will be using close to 9 quarts an oil change so cost is something to me.
 
I don’t have a dog in this fight but that statement from Crower is ridiculous at best. Anyone who recommends an oil “weight” for any engine without knowing bearing clearances or the life it’s going to lead is just outright wrong. Walk up to a promod guy and tell him to change out the 70wt for ND30 because Crower says to.
 
I always heard mineral vr1 but I'll have to investigate what S'cuder has to say as well.
I will be using close to 9 quarts an oil change so cost is something to me.
Mineral VR-1 will do well. Since cost is a concern, check out Mobil1 15W-50 and FS 0W-40 from Walmart in 5 quart containers. You can get two shipped for free. Last time I checked they were about $25 each. The 15W-50 has lots of ZDDP, and the 0W-40 has just a bit less, but still enough for all but the most extreme spring pressures. The 0W-40 meets the most stringent Euro car specs from Porsche, MB, VW-Audi...

I just got this off Mobil's website. The dates are a couple years old, but it has good ZDDP content info.
https://www.mobil.com/lubricants/-/...iles/FAQs/mobil-1-oil-product-specs-guide.pdf

Robot or human?

Robot or human?
 
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