Jump to content

Spitfire 1500 engine oil


Chris Bracey

Recommended Posts

No... Is the short answer. Our engines were designed to run on 20W50 mineral oil and that's what's best for them. Lower viscosity modern synthetic oils will cost more and increase oil consumption.

Just choose a good quality classic 20W50 oil. Castrol, Miller's, Morris are all good. Other good brands are also available! Change the oil and filter at least once each year and your Triumph engine should be happy

Nigel

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Chris Bracey said:

An open question. I need an oil change and am looking at normal 20/50 but are there better modern oils that do the job better?

It depends what sort of driving you will be doing. 

If general use, yes a normal 20-50 will be fine. But needs changing at 3K miles or yearly, whatever comes first. But if driven hard, so steady 70+mpgh for long distances, or used in any form of motorsport/trackdays etc, you really want something better. I appreciate Sams VR1 recommendation, but I have found Millers CSS20-60 to be superior, maintaining 5-10 psi hot more than the VR1 in the same engine, and that was way ahead of a classic 20-50 that I initially used when checking the engine was OK.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you run the car every day then change the oil every 6 months, if it is being driven normally then 20/50  standard oil should be ok. If driven hard or low mileage then may be you need a better oil. If low mileage then change the oil before you lay the car up.

Graham

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Chris Bracey said:

An open question. I need an oil change and am looking at normal 20/50 but are there better modern oils that do the job better?

Hi,

Yes... Is the short answer. But I don't recommend using the latest synthetic 0W20 unless you have plenty of oil pressure.

Cheers,

Iain.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, clive said:

I appreciate Sams VR1 recommendation, but I have found Millers CSS20-60 to be superior, maintaining 5-10 psi hot more than the VR1 in the same engine,

Very interesting Clive, I might have to give Millers a try at my next oil change. Especially as I drive past the place on my way home from work! (when I'm not on lock down WFH)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, SpitFire6 said:

Hi,

Yes... Is the short answer. But I don't recommend using the latest synthetic 0W20 unless you have plenty of oil pressure.

Cheers,

Iain.

Agree!   Once I built me a new engine aiming at low tolerances of course, and ran it first on synthetic.  I was aghast the the low oil pressure!

Probably Ok, the oil was getting to the bearings, just low viscosity, but I felt much happier when I refilled with 20W-50, and saw 80 cold, 40 hot.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sam, watch out on price, it can be scarily expensive. I bought some at Stoneleigh a few years ago, I suspect the apprentice had put the wrong price on it (£19 a tin!)

Just now, JohnD said:

Agree!   Once I built me a new engine aiming at low tolerances of course, and ran it first on synthetic.  I was aghast the the low oil pressure!

Probably Ok, the oil was getting to the bearings, just low viscosity, but I felt much happier when I refilled with 20W-50, and saw 80 cold, 40 hot.

John, which grade synthetic did you try?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, clive said:

Sam, watch out on price, it can be scarily expensive. I bought some at Stoneleigh a few years ago, I suspect the apprentice had put the wrong price on it (£19 a tin!)

Cor, you are not wrong! I just got a gallon of VR1 for £32 including delivery, Opie want £47 for the Millers oil and then another £5 for delivery!?!
I might save the switch to Millers for next time I'm planning a trip up some Alpine passes and just run VR1 for now 🙂

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, clive said:

Sam, watch out on price, it can be scarily expensive. I bought some at Stoneleigh a few years ago, I suspect the apprentice had put the wrong price on it (£19 a tin!)

John, which grade synthetic did you try?

Can't recall now, Clive!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi,

 looks like Valvoline Europe make the types of Racing oil for racing cars:

5W50
10W60
20W50

They are all API SL

One is fully Synthetic, One is a mix, One is conventional.

Cheers,

Iain.

oilvr.PNG

oilvr2.PNG

Edited by SpitFire6
pics
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...