Oil Brand & Weight- Newbie

Hi All, I am a 996 newbie and very confused by the various posts. I live in Atlanta Ga where its typicly 72-90 degrees 7 months out of the year. Can someone please let me know what brand and weight of oil is best for my car. BTW: the car is a daily driver. thanks

If you would like to encourage oil burning, seal leaks, noisey lifters and irratic variocam operation, fill her up with Ow40. Otherwise, go with the Porsche APPROVED 5W50. For even better protection, use 15W50 in summer months.

Oh brother, here we go again.

Answered you in the other thread you posted this to.

Try EVOO.

Getting out the popcorn.....

WHAT IN THE BLUEEEE HELLLLL IS GOING ON HERE

I got an idea... We have 12 liters of fluid to change (if I'm not mistaken)...so how about we vote...and mix the various viscocities. So we might end up with.. 3 liters of 0W40. 2 liters of 5W50. 7 liters of 15W50. Or maybe we should just ask George Bush what oil we should use and if we should withdraw or add more troops. Let the violence begin . thanks, Amir

Ask your mechanic and listen to him before believing the "oil expert" here.

5W50 is the best compromise....... although I did see a test that revealed 0W40 gave you an extra 10hp... so it could be your engine spins easier with the lighter oil.... hence earlier variocam ativation and a faster feel? question is how much more is 10HP worth to you?

The popcorn is hot AND buttery, and the drinks are "on the house!"

Hey, does Rachel drive a Porsche?

I'm running 15w50 right now but had been running the 0w40 prior. I noticed a difference in the performance. I just added a quart of 0w40 to my current 15w yesterday. I'll probably change back to the 0w in the next few months. I can say this, with the 0w, the car would sit and occassionaly upon starting you'd hear the click clack sounds. It does not do the click clack ever with the 15w in it now..................... I still like the free revs of the 0w better though.

My mechanic, at 75K, switched my 01 over to 15w50. I never heard sounds with either, but I will say that my oil pressure stays at the appropriate levels... I never go below 1.5 now on a HOT engine, and am always ~ 4.1 at >3500RPM.

rcg....do you use the 15W oil in the winter as well? probably not a good idea.

I am this winter - I was concerned at first, and questioned it but my mechanic said it really starts to matter at supercold temps... as you know it doesnt get too cold in the Northeast and Virginia (where the car usually is) to worry about it. Plus, the car is garaged, so rarely does the car sit over night <40F... Nevertheless, this will be debated forever here...

You ain't kidding.

High oil pressure and lubrication does not mean better lubrication. In general you need enough oil pressure on the order of 10psi per 1000 rpm on a warm engine. A very high pressure can mean that the oil is too thick and has is not getting to all of the parts the way it should. Oil flow provided lubrication not pressure. Cosworth F1 engine runs a 0-20 weight oil and we know the harsh enviroment that lives under. Contrary to what the "oil expert" thinks 15-50W is not the most optimal oil to use for a daily driver. It does have some extra protection for extreme heat situations such as track use in high heat, but at the cost of cold (morning) wheather pumpability. There has been articles saying most engine wear is at start up and even 5W-X oils still are not optimal at cold start up such as 60 degrees. Remember the key is Optimal and that there really is no such thing as optimal oil pumpability at start up. However a 15W is no way better at start up then any of the lower viscosity. FWIW I use 0W and 5W-40 in LA heat with no leaks, noise, or irratict vario-cam problems, and I even track the car too with the thin stuff. Oh for Mr oil expert please explain how would a thiner oil cause vario-cam mis operation. From what I know of most of these systems the depend on oil to adjust the system and that the orifice is very small so a thicker oil would have more problems getting in and operating it correctly. BTW Chrysler issued a bulletin stating the use of 5-W20 is crucial for the use of the multi displacment activation in their HEMI engine and thicker oils may cause a problem.

I have a suggestion...from now on when someone starts a thread regarding oil weight they are directed to the 10,000 posts already made on this topic. We will never have the appropriate data for our vehicles to definitively answer the question as to which oil is best. As we all know the most extensive study done on this subject (for P-cars) is by Doug Hillary...do a search. Maybe we could just make this required reading for all newbie's before we allow them to post?

She might... she's doing quite well these days.