Red Line Oil
 

Anybody use this? Or another High-Performance Synthetic? I emailed them asking about their oil being synthetic and Mazda recommending non-syn oil. Their reply:

Don,

Our oil performs extremely well in the Mazda notary engines and has been used extensively. In the RX7s Mazda had issues with apex seals sticking and with carbon locking of the rotors. Neither were caused our oils, our product burns clean, doesn't leave deposits within the engine. I would allow the engine to break-in and the
seals to seat before you install the Red Line.

Regards, Dave
Red Line Oil

I don't want to beat the syn/non-syn oil horse to death again; but I would consider switching to non-syn if it were a high-performance oil and came recommended by my fellow RX8 - maniacs.

Discuss.

Good quality Synthetics are perfectly fine to use in a normally operating (read still with factory OMP) rotary. The quality ones like Royal Purple, Neo, Redline and Mobil 1 all burn at under 500F with a low low ash (ash is what is left over after it burns) content (in fact lower than many cheaper conventional oils like Havoline, Kendal, Penzoil, etc).

Quality Synthetics as mentioned above are perfectly fine to use after the engine has passed its break in period and will not add or create deposits anymore than a good quart of Castrol.

Lets compare a couple 20W50s real quick:

AMSOIL 36 482 -38 <.5 ---
Castrol GTX 122 440 -15 .85 .12
Red Line 150 503 -49 --- ---
Kendall GT-1 129 390 -25 1.0 .16
Valvoline Syn 146 465 -40 <1.5 .12
Valvoline Tur 140 440 -10 .99 .13

The first number is Viscosity, how well it pours cold at it's temp range (lower the better)

2nd number is Flash, what temp the oils burn at (ideally between 400F to 500F, but not lower than 400F.

3rd number is Pour. Pour is tested 5 degrees F above the point at which a chilled oil shows no movement at the surface for 5 seconds when inclined. Again lower is better.

4th number is Ash. what is left after the oil is burned, again lower numbers are best as high numbers will lead to coking and build up in our engines.

and 5th is Zinc content. Zinc is used as an anti-wear additive, but in too high amounts it can cause build up. .11 is generally considered the highest you need for a 5000 mile drain interval and .13 the highest you need for a 7000 mile drain interval.

You can see just from those numbers that the Synthetics are every bit as good as conventional oil and in some cases better. But they all burn way under the combustion chamber temps found on our cars.

The scary thing is oils like the Kendal GT1 and Valvoline Synthetic, both of which have a high build up potential as well as the Kendal doesn't even meet the 400F min for flash meaning that the oil will break down radically fast in our cars and leave junk behind when it does.

But cheap synthetics (just like the Valvoline above) will leave ash just as bad if not worse than cheap conventional oils (again as mentioned above).

Avoid cheap mixes and cheap oils period!

Damn....ask and ye shall receive. Thanks for the info!

No problem

i noticed that you listed for 20W50. I have been using 5W20. does the heavy oil make a difference?

What was written there was not rx8 specific, in fact I haven't even taken delivery of my rx8 yet (this afternoon I will be) so I don't even know what weight the rx8 uses stock. The 20w50 listed was just an example for comparison reasons.

It actually was taken from rx7club, 2nd gen forum. There have been lots of questions, debates, and information about synthetic oils over there.

i see. well i might have to experiment with some other oil brands sometime. i use castrol gtx right now.

Btw...redline is currently on sale at advanced auto...as they aren't going to be carrying it anymore.

Its selling for 5.95/qt, which is over 2 dollars off their normal price.

The nicest thing about redline 5w-20 is its HTHS #...which is 3.3. Thats higher then mobil1 10w-30!!! (HTHS # = High Temp High Sheer, or the oils realitive resistance to sheering in something like a bearing, or other extremely high temp/pressure area).