Oil lists

[StagJonno]

The current VR1 European data sheet shows 1,500 ppm zinc.

Well that's a turn up. I was one of several emailing Valvoline Europe on this and they wern't up for divulging. Perhaps they've noticed a dent in their sales and are responding?

[Tdafforn]

I noticed teams at goodwood using VR1 racing this year and suspect they are quite focused on not having engine damage from lack of Zn.

[Motorsport Micky]

EUR_Val_VR1Racing_20W50_MO_EN.pdf[QUOTE=nigele;n830139]

The current VR1 European data sheet shows 1,500 ppm zinc.[/QUOTE

Sorry couldn't get the PDF of approval sheets to load, Valvoline now allow viewing of the Technical details but they need reading in conjunction with the approval list, you can review it yourself going through a Google search of VR1, a copy of the pertinent section is outlined below.

Lubricants - Engine Oil - Passenger Car Motor Oils Version: 025/13b
Valvoline VR1™ Racing Motor Oil SAE 20W-50 Premium quality mineral motor oil specially formulated for high-performance cars.
Engineered for ultimate performance in turbo and non-turbo charged petrol engines under extreme operating conditions such as road racing and rallying.
Applications For ultimate performance in turbo and non[1]turbocharged petrol engines. Offers extra reserve needed to resist extreme operating conditions during rallying and racing.
Not recommended for aftertreatment systems or vehicles equipped with catalytic converters.
Specially designed for racing applications, not recommended for prolonged periods of time.



I'm guessing here but there are thoughts from a few places that excessive Zinc content in the ZDDP of an area over 1300ppm is too much and can lead to damage within the engine. Maybe Valvoline think the same ? otherwise why specify a prolonged use recommendation as openly as this ?.
I think I'll remain with the safe option which specifies their contents unapologetically on their container without any lawsuit free restrictions.

Micky

[wilf]

I think that VR1, being a "racing" oil, does not contain the same level of detergents as "road" oils, hence the recommendation, effectively, for frequent changes. Not about zddp levels, IIRC.

[trunt]

The US spec sheet for VR1 is showing 1400 ppm. plus it says "recommended for Classic and muscle cars" no mention of long term use!

US_Val_VR1RacingSyn_MO_EN.pdf

[MikeParker]

It would seem there are two VR1s. A synthetic US version (Terry's pdf) and a mineral UK version (Micky's PDF). Is one a more recent version?

[EDIT] Further research reveals the following around in the UK:

VR1 Mineral Version: 025/13b 1500ppm zinc - don't know here you buy this.
VR1 Mineral Version: 025/11c unspecified zinc content, but does contain zinc (Opie Oils)
VR1 Synthetic Version: 025/05a unspecified zinc content, but does contain zinc (Opie Oils)

So... you have check which you are being sold. Is this version number on the container?

Mike

[trunt]

Ohh My bad, didnt notice it was synthetic.. yes they have conventional as well over here, thats what I use.. Pretty much the same wording..


US_Val_VR1Racing_MO_EN.pdf

And here ais a picture of the label..
IMG_4313.JPG

[MikeParker]

There are clearly many different versions of VR1 out there. The problem seems to be that the spec sheets give a VR1 "Version" and the cans only have the Part No. So yours Terry, is Part No 822347, but nowhere can I tally that with a version number and hence a ZDDP spec. My interest is that I would very much like to find a good fully synthetic oil with a moderate ZDDP content, but cannot find one.

I have used Miller fully synthetic 10/60 for many years, which I have been told by Miller has better high stress performance than high ZDDP mineral oils, but they would say that wouldn't they!

My reasoning for using this oil is that the only potentially "vulnerable" components (of having a lower ZDDP) are the cam buckets and the camshafts themselves. I can see those and check them on a fairly regular basis. They have done 160K miles in total and 80K on the fully synthetic and all good so far. The benefit of this kind of fully synthetic oil is a well controlled oil pressure (thin when cold and thick when hot, hence 10/60 rather than 20/50) and having superior lubrication for sliding parts such as engine bearings, pistons, chains etc. Those are a real bu**er to check and replace, so I would rather protect those parts more, possibly at the risk of protecting the camshafts less. But I might well have made the wrong choice. Time will tell!

An explanation of ZDDP here for those lucky enough not to have been through these discussions before:

https://www.duckhams.com/zddp-what-does-it-all-mean/

Mike