Yeah. The Wal-Mart stuff. To quote myself in another controversial thread, "I know this ruffles a lot of feathers on internet car forums." Why am I doing such a thing? For starters, it's 5 quarts for 10 bones. I know it's not "good oil," even in comparison to other non-synthetic oils. But here are the two bigger questions I hope to explore:

1) We know that Super Tech isn't good oil in comparison to what else is out there. So the real question is, is it good enough oil? Will it get the job done? The label says it meets SAE standards, which means the following specs on viscosity:



Here is some information on the setup. It is an 88 T2 with a series 4 13BT, with big street port and T04R turbo running 17-18psi on 93 octane only. I don't have a dyno sheet for this current setup but a previous setup with a smaller T04S turbo did 386rwhp uncorrected on a Dynojet 224x model. As for the engine internals, the bearings were replaced about 10k ago. I am using the factory series 4 Turbo OMP which has 4 oil injectors and is controlled mechanically. Up until now I have been using Castrol GTX 20W-50 with OEM oil filters (which I will continue to use). All the springs and hard seals are OEM except for 2mm RA Super Seals. Almost every time I drive it the car sees 7000rpm at least half a dozen times.

Now this brings me to a discussion of my methods of testing, and my question #2:

 

2) Is ignorance bliss? I know that sounds like a bizarre question.

If I just drive this thing like normal and change the oil when it looks gross--every 1000-2000 miles given how quickly it dilutes--would I actually notice the car running worse? And here is where my method comes in. Will I be performing a series of used oil analyses under controlled conditions? No. Will I methodically test different oil change intervals? No. Will I compression test the engine at regular intervals? No.

So what special testing will I be doing now that I have downgraded my oil? Uhhh, nothing. That's the whole point. Call it a reactionary response to elaborate rotary engine maintainance rituals.I'm just going to top off the oil when it's low and change it when it looks dirty. What if that's all a heavily modified rotary engine for the street really needs for lubrication?

Here is the kind of driving I will be doing in the future. I will be cruising around town and doing some back roads driving. Like any single turbo car, there will be some fun highway pulls. Depending how things work out, maybe I will take the car to the drag strip or the dyno. Maybe I will take it to VIR for Holiday Laps. I won't be doing competitions like autocross, just normal driving that most people do with their single turbo cars.

Some day I will tear the engine down for inspection, either at a pre-planned time of my choosing or when the motor lets go for whatever reason. Maybe the bearings or housings will look bad because I used oil from Wal Mart. Maybe the oil type is irrelevent and the bearings and housings will look bad just because I am pushing the engine far far beyond its original intended use. Or maybe most of the engine will look ok and you would never guess I am using Super Tech. Whatever it looks like in there, like most people I'm sure I'd replace almost everything inside anyways.

So what's next? I guess I'll just have to let everybody know if I spontaneously end up with a spun bearing or blown turbo. But until then... well... did I mention it's 5 quarts for $10?

 

to address question number 2, yes-ish. in my nearly 20 years of playing with rotaries, ive found that they dont care much about oil quality, as long as there is something wet and slippery in there, its good enough.

its not for example, a 90's VW, where if you don't change the oil on time, or sooner, with the exact oil that VW demands you must use, the cam eats the tappets, @20k miles. ive gone 20k miles on a 1st gen without an oil change before!

oddly though, dad did some research into oils for the Tr3, and he decided he liked castrol HD40, so i've been using that in the P port (and the Tr3). so far so good. it shut the triumph up.

i predict you will have no trouble at all with your oil choice....

 

That oil may not be so bad. It comes from one of the major oil companies - Walmart doesn't have an oil company. For instance, NAPA brand oil is made by Valvoline. I used to visit a plastic oil bottle manufacturer attached to a Shell Oil faciility and watched all kinds of different branded bottles being produced and sent through the wall to be filled with Shell's motor oil.

Jack

 

Another oil thread lol, these refuse to leave the forums. My guess is you won't notice anything and nothing will happen and when you open the engine, it won't be any different then any other engine. It's not a race car, doesn't matter what you put in it as long as its not diluted/dirty like you said.

thewird

 

I think oil is oil. Just keep a good filter on it and change it regularly and you are good to go.

 

I'm running my 330rwhp 12AT on Castrol GTX 20W50. Australian retail is a ******* joke lately and it costs about $24-26. Used to cost about $16/bottle 5 years ago. And its the absolute cheapest oil I would touch.

Anyway no problems here. Lots of rotary shops are using oil that costs $150+ per change. I'll keep my $100 and still change it twice as often

 

My 90 Golf went ~580,000+ miles with cheap fram filters and Halvolene 10/30 or 40 oil. Changed it every 3-5k or when it got too low/dirty. It bounced off the rev limiter every time I drove it. Still running like a top when I finally decided to part it out. Oh the things Ive done to cars over the years... One thing I have never seen is failure or lots of wear from cheap filters or oil. Having it in the engine is the key. During the horrible existence/abuse that car had the one thing it could count on was some nice clean cheap *** oil and a filter.

Current 90 golf has a 96obd1 aba in it. Gets more abuse than the last one but still gets cheap fram filter and halvoline oil. Ive run it out of oil twice due to seal and a sensor blow out and the monster cam is still as happy as the day It went in. Got to be over 200k by now, have not had a working odometer for at least 4 years but it came to me with 130k on it. Every onramp that car sees the revlimiter cuz its just so darn fun.

So yeah, oil, make sure its in the engine.

 

+1

i packed up and left NYC for Florida in 2002. my '84 with a somewhat tired SE engine moved me down. we don't have WalMart where i come from, but when i got to FL, Walmart quickly became a way of life. my point is that i had used Castrol or Quaker State oils in all my rotaries since 1990, but when i got to FL with the '84 and got introduced to Walmart, i had a leaking oil cooler that i kept putting off fixing. so given the fact that i had to be adding oil to the crankcase every few days, it made financial sense to buy Walmart brand oil because it was so much cheaper and the bloody thing was just going to **** it right out anyway.

i eventually replaced the oil cooler and and lines, so my leaking stopped, but i kept using Supertech. i have noticed no issues in the 9 years since i started using it. the engine ran flawlessly up to the day i took it out the car and it currently sits in my garage. i had long since decided that i'd pay close attention to the bearings whenever that engine comes apart. hopefully i can disassemble it sometime this summer.

my guess is you probably won't see any difference either. whatever failures you encounter with your engine, i'd dare say it won't be due to the oil you're now using. i sell Amsoil on the side, and i used it in my old MR2 Turbo and i currently use it in my Rx-8, and the only reason i don't put Supertech in the 8 is because i swore i'd keep it all synthetic.

 

Just remember that bearings do care about clean oil.

 

Right on Arghx! I really like the direct observation process... and we all benefit.

I've always though the biggest problem, at least for 13B-REW engines, was fuel dilution that effectively kills the oil's viscosity. Prelude that with regular oil change and keep decent filtration and the rest is a non-factor.

 

My friends father worked for a major oil company (not saying which one). He since has left for early retirement (I don't have to tell you why). He pretty much admitted that NEARLY all oil is the same. Even oil filter technology is all the same too. Many companies put their badge on the bottle or the paint on the filter. He said only be careful when companies really emphasize specific oil companies and then to look for credible failures from people ignoring the "law."

He also said the main difference is when companies buy the oil from the refineries like every other company and put some extra leg work into them. He still admits that you shouldn't be worried unless you have an expensive motor that you don't even want to gamble with (Ferrari).

Take it for what it's worth but I've been a secret proud customer of Super Tech for MANY years now with NO problems.

 

So far I'm surprised at the lack of hate in this thread. I will say this though: these engines obviously don't have lifter tick or valve clatter to deal with, and bearing clearance problems rarely occur.

You should see how nasty this old oil was (20W-50 Castrol GTX) after 1000 miles. I really drove the crap out of it for the past couple months.

My Corolla has 192k on it right now and it has been running Super tech for the past 90k miles or so.

 

why don't we just use atf, it's slippery. and is much thinner oil! jk.

 

I've done that in a riding lawn mower, sort of. It's kind of a long story.

 

I knew a German old timer (in peace he rests) who was a machinist for Mercedes Benz working w/engine development. As a young teenager (quite a few yeas ago) I asked him which oil he prefered. His strong opinion was that any oil is fine as long as you stick w/it throughout the life of the engine.