The Importance of Oil Changes Featuring Motul

In both the European and Japanese racing circuits, you will notice a particular theme when it comes to the livery across many world-class race cars. That theme is MOTUL. However, it is not about corporate sponsorship, these world-class race teams who must depend on their race cars to finish, cannot do it without the best lubrication available especially when it comes to surviving the arduous task of keeping an engine properly lubricated when stays in the upper RPM range for the entirety of a race. The millions of internal revolutions, the heat, the friction, MOTUL oils must maintain its viscosity and formula to make sure your engine survives.

 

HISTORY

Now MOTUL has been in the automotive industry for a few years, well over a century. Dating back to 1853, MOTUL began as a French company that developed lubricants, then as they grew and expanded more and more, they quickly had an international footprint on the map of motorsports. However, motorsports were not the central area of focus as they developed lubricants for motorcycles, heavy duty vehicles, as well as industrial equipment. As time, technology, and racing advanced, MOTUL created their critically acclaimed and highly esteemed 300V oil which was their first fully synthetic formula that was launched in 1971.

And during these years, MOTUL quickly gained worldwide awareness as an official supplier and distributor to several motor sports teams, as well as Original Equipment Manufacturers. Through their proven success from lubricating and maintaining high-performance engines, MOTUL established and remained as a key partner of highly celebrated and sanctioned international racing events such as the Dakar Rally, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Moto GP, and many more. Today MOTUL has taken their years of experience, state-of-the-art manufacturing methods, and the most advanced technology to continue to deliver the finest lubricants for track-dedicated race cars, as well as the everyday driver.

 

THE IMPORTANCE OF KEEPING UP ON THE MAINTENANCE, ESPECIALLY IF YOUR ENGINE IS MODDED

You hear about some people that have a long-lasting engine and it could be in something that lasts forever such as a Lexus or Toyota. But then you hear about other platforms that have a reputation for being known for not being reliable. But don’t base someone else’s numbers knowing that because if someone’s car lasts for X number of miles, you can do it too. No, it is all about staying on top of the maintenance. And this is why you need to stay diligent on your oil change intervals. When your engine has fresh oil, this means that your internals such as the crankshaft, connecting rods, as well as the pistons can move more freely. This would be why for the first few weeks you feel as if you’re getting better gas mileage. This is because your oil is fresh, and not as thick. Your oil gets dirty from many variables which include bot not limited to heat, fuel type, carbon buildup, tune, but especially E85 which we will talk about in a minute. All high-performance engines need to have clean oil to maintain a high level of lubrication and friction protection, but very important for turbocharged vehicles as well as they have oil feed and drain lines constantly cycling oil through the turbo. Hence, why aftermarket turbo timers were used back in the day to allow the hot oil to drain to the bottom of the pan rather than allowing it to remain in the feed and drain lines.

 

WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU FORGET TO CHANGE YOUR OIL?

Although oil offers protection, it is highly susceptible to getting dirty. Dirt and dust particles from the intake, vapors from not having an air/oil separator can make it to your oil. Contamination from fuel, carbon buildup from running too rich, and finite metallic elements can add up making your oil thicker, and dirtier. Now it was highly recommended that you change your oil every 3k miles. Which is true especially for turbocharged engines and modded engines. But now oil technology has advanced especially with fully synthetic formulas where you can go 5k miles before an oil change, and some oil brands advertise that it can last 10k miles or more before an oil change. This is not recommended. But advanced fully synthetic formulas can maintain a high level of lubrication needed between prolonged oil changes. Remember though, just because an oil says “lasts up to 20k miles” does not mean you should ever wait that long for an oil change. The longer you go without an oil change, the dirty oil will continue to create a buildup of sludge on key internal components.

If you’re the average hard-working person with a family, busy life, and you just have a car that you use to get from one place to another and you forget to change your oil, sludge happens. Getting to the point of sludge buildup is really bad. Because the oil becomes so thick and dirty that it gets stuck in your valvetrain. You might have seen those short clips on the internet where a mechanic removes a valve cover and you see what appears to be mud all over the cams, valves, rockers, etc. Sludge happens because it gets so thick that heat cannot break the oil down. Now they do have oil additives you can pour into your oil and run just before doing an oil change. Vehicles designed with direct injection are more prone to sludge buildup if driven with neglected oil changes as they tend to create more carbon buildup.

Ultimately, dirty oil will lead to engine failure. This is because of the lack of lubrication from dirty oil, and dirty particles will get trapped between the rod bearings, main bearings, and the journals. When you have wear on your bearings, this leads to low oil pressure which will result in a loss of power. And if the damage is high enough on the rod bearings, the wear will deepen causing a wide enough gap to create rod knock.

 

PAY EXTRA ATTENTION E85 USERS

As automotive enthusiasts, we all love E-85. It’s much cheaper than race gas, and we can make a lot of power through it. However, it is highly corrosive, and that is why you need to use PTFE fuel lines, your fuel pumps must be E-85 friendly, as well as your injectors. The good news is that now, most aftermarket fuel components are E-85 friendly. However, E-85 requires your attention, and it can really have an effect on your oil, and you MUST change your oil if you use E-85 regularly. We’re talking about no more than 2,000 miles. Even sooner to be safe. E-85 can contaminate the oil, especially if you’re tune is too rich, or if you’re running a standalone engine management system, and you have a bad cold start map. What will happen is every time you try and start your engine on E-85, and granted, E-85 cold starts are always a struggle especially in the winter, but your injectors will continue to dump fuel in the cylinders. If you flood your engine, that E-85 can make it past the rings and into the oil. Now when you do get your car started the heat will burn off that E-85, and this is why the smell of ethanol is very apparent in your oil. The problem is that too much E-85 getting into the oil, or old E-85 can actually make your oil gel up, almost turning the oil into this thick honey-like consistency. So, with ethanol, your oil will get dirtier faster, just pay close attention to your dipstick. And if you’re going to a weekend track event, or making hits at the local dragstrip, make sure your oil is in good shape to get the best lubrication as possible. Most importantly especially if you store your Subaru or other enthusiast vehicle in the wintertime, make sure you run pump gas a few cycles before storage to flush out the E-85 out of our fuel system. If you store your vehicle from October to April and you still have E-85 in the tank, and E-85 vapors in your fuel, your oil will become contaminated, and it must be changed immediately come spring time.

 

DO YOU RACE YOUR SUBARU?

There are several variables that are needed to make sure your engine is running at its best condition at the track. Doing a visual inspection and making sure your all your nuts and bolts are tight, no boost leaks, no loose ends. When it comes to oil, it’s all about having the right protection for the oil, because excessive heat can affect the viscosity of the oil. This is why race cars always have larger oil coolers when compared to the conventional oil cooler installed on your vehicle. Keeping oil temps below that extreme temperature threshold will maintain its lubricating properties especially when the engine is living in the upper RPM range. If the oil gets too hot, it will get thin enough to lose it’s protecting properties, causing more friction which will lead to engine failure.

One of the most important variables for racing engines in relation with oil, is the oil pressure. A sudden drop in your oil pressure means that something bad is wrong. Newer cars will have fail safes by initiating limp mode while driving if your oil pressure drops. And any proper race cars will have a standalone engine management system that will shut down the engine if an oil pressure sensor reads below a certain level. What are causes of low oil pressure?

One of the causes of oil pressure is excessive leaking. This is the least common factor, but still a factor. You might have blown a main seal on the front or back of th4e block, or you could have blown an oil line. However, if something like this happens, there would be excessive smoking as the oil would slick on the bottom side of your car, getting all over the exhaust components. If you did something drastic as blowing a rod through your block, you would also know, and oil pressure would go from 100 psi to 0 in no time. Another cause of low oil pressure is a failed oil pump. Either the gears inside the oil pump have seized, or in some cases, metal debris could have affected clearances inside the oil pump, preventing proper flow rates. And if you’re not leaking oil, and you lose oil pressure, then it could be something very serious, such as a spun main bearing or rod bearing. With your engine bearings, there needs to be constant film of oil that sits between the bearing, and the journal on the crankshaft, otherwise you have metal to metal contact, and this is why you will see glitter in the oil of blown engines. If the bearing clearances are not correct, this will lead to engine failure. Too tight of a bearing will cause premature bearing wear sending metal debris cycling throughout the inside of the motor, wiping everything else out. Too loose of a bearing clearance will widen the gap between the rod and the crank journal causing knock. In either case, damaged bearings that have a gap wide enough to cause rod knock will create a sudden loss in oil pressure, and your engine will need a rebuild.

 

WHAT ABOUT WEIGHT AND VISCOSITY? WHAT DO THOSE 10W30 NUMBERS MEAN?

You have weight and viscosity. For example, when you need to top off your engine and you go to your local auto parts store, you would need to look for the exact oil type your engine uses. If your vehicle uses 10W30 for example, 10W would represent how the weight and viscosity of the oil in the cold, 30 represents the oil’s thickness and how the oil performs during operating or hot temperatures. With viscosity, the lower the number represents how fast oil travels through an engine. So, the number 30, is generally universal for all cars, and that is why most cars will run a 5W30, and more commonly a 10W30 oil type. The higher the viscosity such as 50 and 60, are going to be thicker oils, and will move slower throughout the engine. Vehicles such as the E46 BMW M3 use a 10W60 due to its thickness because the bearing clearances are tight in those motors. Now the viscosity numbers in oils are always rated at 100° Celsius just because this is the average running temperature of all engines.

Now, going back to the first references numbers in oil weight in 10W30, 10 represents how thin the oil operates in cooler conditions. Oil would need to be thinner in cold conditions so that it can quickly circulate the engine. And there are always different types. For example, in European vehicles that use a 0W40 oil, the oil remains thin upon startup or during winter months, while thickening up during operating temperatures. Many Mercedes vehicles use a 0W40 because it needs to be thin during colder temps but thicken up when the car is at operating temperature. And this is mainly due to the bearing clearances, or how the valvetrain is designed in certain engines. Some more complicated than others. However generally, 10W30 is the most common oil weight because it’s the perfect median to handle all weather types. BUT you must use what your owner’s manual suggests always.

Now track-dedicated race cars, or high-horsepower builds will use a thicker weight such as 20W50, or 15W50 because the internally moving components are going to move much quicker with more boost, more horsepower, and for prolonged track use so the heavier the weight, the more friction protection these engines will have. These engines will more than likely have aftermarket forged internals, different cylinder bores to accommodate a wider piston, and a higher lift cam. This is where any competent engine builder will know exactly what oil you should be using in terms of weight and viscosity and will be outside of your factory suggested oil weight.

 

WHAT MOTUL OIL SHOULD I RUN IN MY CAR?

Now MOTUL has several different oil types and choices. All using the finest in oil technology to provide your car, truck, motorcycle, and industrial equipment with the finest oils and additives to maintain the best protection against friction. It’s overwhelming to a degree with the number of choices they provide. But if you have a Subaru WRX, STI, or perhaps another performance platform such as a Porsche 911 or a newer Nissan GTR, MOTUL’s 300V is the ticket. This particular oil is going to be performance focused. IMOTUL recommends this oil for all racing gasoline or diesel engines in both naturally aspirated engines, as well as engines with forced induction. The 300V is available in a wide variety of viscosity types, and offers demanding protection on the track, as well as for daily driving duties. And because most of us enthusiasts like to think our personal cars as race cars and run ethanol, the 300V is formulated to work with E85, just make sure you stay diligent on those oil changes.

Another excellent choice is the 8100 ECO-Nergy series oil found in some of our oil change kits available for select Subaru models including the WRX and STI. This formula is available in viscosities used by Subaru engines.

STI Engine Break-In Kit w/ Motul Break In Oil, OEM filter, & Washer - 2004-2021 Subaru STI

 

Oil Change Kit w/ Motul 0w20, OEM filter, & Washer - 2022-2024 Subaru WRX

 

 

SYNTHETIC VS NON-SYNTHETIC?

If you just purchased a brand new WRX right off the show room floor without the break-in mileage completed, or if you had just had your machine shop or mechanic rebuild your motor, you will more than likely not have a fully synthetic formula in your engine. And the main reasoning for this is because fully synthetic oils are much thinner, and slicker. You want to give your engine bearings a change to settle in and get some initial wear first before switching to a fully synthetic formula. When a new motor gets fired up for the first time, you let the piston rings settle in and let it run for 10-15 minutes. The you immediately change the oil to get rid of any assembly lubes, and any micro metallic elements that will come off new components. Then you do a short drive to make sure there are no leaks, you do multiple accelerations to 60 MPH to decelerate because a proper number of decelerations really helps seat those piston rings in. And then you need to change the oil again, and then you continue your break-in miles which is 500-1000 miles of easy driving while staying off boost. If you have a purpose-built race car, you just send it on the dyno and seat the rings in that way. However, if you have a daily driver that you enjoy, the longer you drive with easy miles, the better you will seat your rings in. Again, this would spark a debate among ‘experts’, but it depends on what exactly you use your car for. After a proper break-in period has been performed, you can switch over to a fully synthetic formula that will maintain a high level of lubrication for your engine, as well as your turbocharger. And if you have purchased a pre-owned WRX or STI, you can always stick to fully synthetic. 

Remeber, the more you remain diligent on your oil changes, the better the performance and the longer life and protect you will have on your engine. Dirty oil is thicker making your internal components work harder, and dirty oil can build up which will effect your engine at first, but can lead to failure if you're hard on your car. Changng the oil every 3K miles on modded cars and every 2K miles for E-85 users is a great weay to maintain your engine's internals for the street, or on the track.