Engine oil 197/200’s

[koksracing]

Hi all,

I have a Clio 200 which i race in the Clio sport championship. They are basically standard cars with race pads, cage, spax dampers and a black line diff. Everything else is standard

My car is a 53k motor and had arp Conrod bolts at the start of the season with the oil changed after every meeting. I am running millers oil 5w-40 + nt

Unfortunately the engine decided to go bang with white smoke on Saturday whilst leading. It’s blown a rod out of the bottom end..Not ideal..

So will bolt in a spare motor but just thinking is the oil too thin when everything gets so hot especially with the summer temps this weekend..

So interested to find out what other oil people have run and why please?

Onboard from Saturday if you want to see it explode in real time Race 1 onboard
Thanks

Pete

 

[RSRowe]

I would advise to use the standard grade of oil. Thicker doesn't mean better.
Fuchs Titan Race is what I used.

 

[koksracing]

Ok thanks. Standard is 5w-40 which is what I am using.. will have a read about Fuchs titan race..

Would the temperature at the weekend made much of a difference ?

 

[RSRowe]

I don't think the temperature would have caused the failure.
It's not unheard of for the F4R to drop a valve and send a rod through the block.

Were the rod caps chamfered correctly to accept the ARP bolts?

 

[Grandpa Joe]

When I had a Clio I did a lot of research into various oils to find something more suitable than 5w40. I ran Valvoline VR1 Racing 5w50 with an oil cooler.

The viscosity was identical to 5w40 spec at 40°C but thicker at 100°C so it didn't thin out as much.

Couped with a 13 row oil cooler on a thermostatic sandwich plate the temperature wouldn't go much hotter than 90°C, even during longer, repeated 40 minute sessions.

I used the same oil in my Mégane, again with an oil cooler.