New formulation for the Enzo

The original 0W-30 RLI thinned some from severe fuel dilution and shear. I worked with the formulator and a new product is now available. Also I got around to cutting open the Enzo oil filter, very clean, no debris. It is a very sturdy filter:
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10/2007:
This is my neighbor’s 2003 Ferrari Enzo with a total of 8,800 miles on the left column and my 2003 Enzo with a total of 3,000 miles on the right column (middle column as of today-2009). Both cars had 1,400 miles on the oil. His obviously had more break-in time. He had the oil changed by the Ferrari dealer using the required 10W60 Shell Helix Ultra Racing oil. I ran 0W30 Castrol GC.

The recommended interval is 5,000 miles, less if on the track. This is strictly off track use in town and on the highway, probably 50-50 for his car and 90 percent city for me.

His oil was tested by: www.youroil.net, while I got the full, total evaluation from Terry Dyson at www.dysonanalysis.com.

7/2009:
Another 1,400 miles on the Enzo now with 4,400 miles, still not broken in fully. When I took out the GC I put in 0W-30 RLI. This is what we are testing here today. Again, tested by Dyson. Remember that his testing counts larger particles as well as all the smaller ones so other labs may give false lower values.

My driving has been exclusively in town and most often back and forth from Home Depot for small items. Just before this sample was taken we drove to the Ferrari dealership in Tampa to test drive the new Ferrari California. Going there and back took a total of 2.5 hours or so and about half of the way back it rained (very hard).

So the fuel dilution was probably much higher before this short trip. At no time has the oil temperature in this engine gotten above 180 F. This oil has been in for nearly two years but Terry Dyson says I should just keep going (and going and going).

What is particularly interesting is that I put in 0W-30 RLI and the viscosity (with probably even a lesser dilution after this trip) is in the 20 grade area now. Remember that a 60 grade oil is spec’ed.
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Again, all 3 tests were done with 1,400 miles on each oil sample, The first column (Shell) is my neighbor's car with a total of about 9,000 miles on the car but 1,400 miles on this oils sample. The GC column was my car with Castrol 0W-30 and the last column was the vegetable based RLI oil.

Terry Dyson does my testing and is a formulating consultant.

_____________Shell..GC...RLI
Iron___________ 32...11...7
Chromium ______<1...0....1
Nickel ___*_______ 2...1....0
Aluminum ______ 11...3....2
lead ___________ 16...0....3
Copper _________25...8....4
Tin ____________<1...0....0
Silver _________<.1....0....0
Titanium _______<1....0....0
Silicon _________ 7...3....4
Boron __________ 1...3....16
Sodium _________ 8...3....10
Potassium ______<10...0....0
Molybdenum ____ <5....1....2
Phosphorus ___1026..935...1032
Zinc ________ 1135..1228..1055
Calcium _____ 1454..1671..2108
Barium _______ <10....0....2
Magnesium ___1219...526..53
Antimony _____<30...0....265
Vanadium ______<1...0....0
Fuel %Vol _____<1...1.2...1.3
Flash_______not done..335..320
Abs Oxid ______ 34...10...127
Abs Nitr _______ 11...8....8
Wtr %vol ______<0.1...KF=247....KF=1063 &#8220;a little damp, but not bad&#8221;
Vis CS 100C __ 15.8...11.8...8.6
Vic CS 40C___not done...66...44
SAE Grade _____40....30....20
Gly test ______NEG...0.37 &#8220;not antifreeze&#8221;....0
TBN _________not done...7.9....5.9
Visc Index_____not done..154...177
Soot__________not done...0...0.01

aehaas

PS, William Garmier, the formulator at RLI, retested the last oil sample (new draw of fluid) and got the same results.

 

One must look at the test results. We are comparing two similar cars driven exactly the same way in the same location. One car is more broken in so should show less wear. By the numbers alone one Enzo has over 5 times the wear rate using the 10W-60 OEM Shell compared to the RLI in a car not broken in. This car should have higher numbers but is actually much lower.

In addition, my testing lab counts not only small, dissolved particles, but also large particles. I examine the filter elements myself for even larger particles. My lab can show several fold more wear numbers if wear was occurring. This suggests that the other Enzo may have 6 - 10+ more wear using the OEM oil than my car. In any event, his wear is still low, appropriate for the car and use.

The conclusion for me is that perhaps running a premium, thinner oil, may result in less wear for those few of us who seldom or never track our car and burn rubber only on mundane public roads.

aehaas

PS I send all my test results to Ferrari. That is all I can say about that.

 

If you study the oil test results further you will see that after only 1,400 miles of town/highway, non-track use, the Shell oil is only a 40 grade fluid now. And this is with slightly less fuel dilution than with my oil. I have found this trend to be typical of all Ferrari OEM Shell oils. The 5W-40 used in many other cars had thinned into the 20 and 30 grade range. Yup, I go around stealing oil samples from others and send them off for oil analysis at my own cost just to get data points. I do send the results to FNA as well.

I also find the OEM Shell oils to be very volatile. People are always adding oil to their engines. It always ends up in the exhaust and hurts the catalytic converters for sure. Any other oils that I have used in several Ferraris never used a drop of oil (after dropping the OEM oil). Again, this is with the use of thinner oils, and oils that have better characteristics by my point of view.

Let us go back. The OEM Ferrari recommended Enzo oil is a 40 grade now, after non intensive use. It is supposed to be a 60 grade oil. How much further will it thin with more fuel dilution, with harder use? Many would say then that a more shear stable 40 grade oil is better from the start rather than using a very shear unstable oil(s). Who knows, it may be that all those complaining about my thin oil may in fact be running oils in the same grade right now.

I always liked Shell oils in the past but recently I hate to say it but I would not use them in my cars. The volatility is my issue. From another point of view, I think there is a Shell article that shows better ring seal using thinner oils.

aehaas