🔴💊 Engine Oil Red Pill Thread: Only Post If You Have UOA - Official Honda Civic Type R K20C1 Engine Oil Analysis

[PNEUMA]

It certainly doesnt hurt. As mentioned, our first oil change at 858 miles on the FL5 we put in MOS2. Adding moly wont hurt. Only help - yes we have data on it helping.

Thank you kindly.

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[johnloov]

Here is a good video on scientific data driven lab results on additives mixed with PAO base oil. It can go very good or very bad the results above with motul eco clean and that additive look amazing

 

[PNEUMA]

Here is a good video on scientific data driven lab results on additives mixed with PAO base oil. It can go very good or very bad the results above with motul eco clean and that additive look amazing

I think I will do another oil/filter change shortly, and get that shit out of there. I drive my FL5 maybe once a week, so two weeks from now I should have the time to change again.

 

[johnloov]

I think I've found the maximum threshold I'm comfortable with for using Honda Ultimate 0W-20 Full Synthetic. It lost approximately 1.4 cSt at 100°C.

This was the longest interval I've run it—about 2,500 miles and three very hard track days. COTA definitely felt harsher on the car, and it was noticeably hotter than my sessions at Laguna Seca in California.

My goal is to reduce aluminum and iron levels, but based on the current analysis, this still looks like an excellent result. Please let me know if you interpret the wear metal values differently.

Now that I have a baseline, I’ll most likely try another API SP-certified oil—possibly Pennzoil Ultra Platinum. Motul 300V tends to shift viscosity grades rather quickly, which might not be ideal for my use case. I prefer to change the oil every 2,000 miles or after 2–3 track days.

A friend of mine ran Motul Power 5W-30 API SP under extremely aggressive conditions—daily driving plus track use—and still got excellent results with a 5,000-mile change interval. That’s another oil I’m considering testing.

Red Line 0W-20 and 0W-30 could also be interesting experiments. From what I’ve seen, these appear to be formulated to meet or exceed API SP standards. However, Red Line's current 5W-30 formula is not API SP certified. It has a lot higher calcium values, which could potentially get close to LSPI. I spoke to Red Line, and they mentioned they might update the 5W-30 formulation in the near future.

Red Line could be a strong alternative to Motul 300V—especially if it doesn’t require draining after every race day.

 

[PNEUMA]

I’m going to replace what I put in mine with LiquiMoly New Generation, also SP rated.

 

[cryptolime]

I think I've found the maximum threshold I'm comfortable with for using Honda Ultimate 0W-20 Full Synthetic. It lost approximately 1.4 cSt at 100°C.

This was the longest interval I've run it—about 2,500 miles and three very hard track days. COTA definitely felt harsher on the car, and it was noticeably hotter than my sessions at Laguna Seca in California.

My goal is to reduce aluminum and iron levels, but based on the current analysis, this still looks like an excellent result. Please let me know if you interpret the wear metal values differently.

Now that I have a baseline, I’ll most likely try another API SP-certified oil—possibly Pennzoil Ultra Platinum. Motul 300V tends to shift viscosity grades rather quickly, which might not be ideal for my use case. I prefer to change the oil every 2,000 miles or after 2–3 track days.

A friend of mine ran Motul Power 5W-30 API SP under extremely aggressive conditions—daily driving plus track use—and still got excellent results with a 5,000-mile change interval. That’s another oil I’m considering testing.

Red Line 0W-20 and 0W-30 could also be interesting experiments. From what I’ve seen, these appear to be formulated to meet or exceed API SP standards. However, Red Line's current 5W-30 formula is not API SP certified. It has a lot higher calcium values, which could potentially get close to LSPI. I spoke to Red Line, and they mentioned they might update the 5W-30 formulation in the near future.

Red Line could be a strong alternative to Motul 300V—especially if it doesn’t require draining after every race day.

i wouldn't even be considering 0w20 for the track. you should try a 5w-30 or 10w-30. i know this is not scientific, but my engine normally sounds very smooth but after 5-6 hours of driving and doing a pull...it sounds pretty rough. i imagine the oil gets pretty hot and has thinned out. going to switch from 0w-20 to 5w-30 next time and see how the car likes it.

 

[johnloov]

i wouldn't even be considering 0w20 for the track. you should try a 5w-30 or 10w-30. i know this is not scientific, but my engine normally sounds very smooth but after 5-6 hours of driving and doing a pull...it sounds pretty rough. i imagine the oil gets pretty hot and has thinned out.

I will try it out and measure results. Do you have any used oil analysis from your 5w30 or 10w30?

 

[cryptolime]

I will try it out and measure results. Do you have any used oil analysis from your 5w30 or 10w30?

no, i have only used 0w-20 up to this point but going to try 5w-30 this summer. No UOAs yet.

 

[Ktrw]

I received my second UOA and I'm happier with the viscosity over a longer interval, so I personally wouldn't use factory fill over PUP 0W-20. It's hard to say much else conclusively since I didn't perform a double flush, the intervals are short, and the engine was still brand new. It is interesting that the fuel dilution is quite a bit lower despite the same usage, though maybe that was just from very early mileage when the ring seal was poor. Running PUP 5W-30 now.

Also, if we're talking about wear metal concentrations, I think we should really be normalizing values to the mileage on the oil change. 5ppm aluminum in 1,283 miles (@johnloov) is more wear than (@UCF120) 9ppm aluminum over 3,000 miles. Obviously, there could be good reasons why one sample is higher than another, like your car seeing a few track days versus street driving or something, but just comparing the raw numbers without context is kinda pointless. Let's do wear metals per 1,000 miles since the math is simple. I would argue in general that you should just add up your wear metals and divide them by the number of miles. 16ppm/3k miles = 5.33ppm per 1000 miles. From there, I think it's helpful to look at how different oils may provide better wear protection for something like the block, but perhaps not for the valvetrain, as that can often be a trade-off.

Since we likely have a lot of folks who will browse threads like this throughout time, some experienced and some not, it's more useful to do it that way instead of simply comparing the magnitude.

 

[johnloov]

Excellent data, I was also looking at this exact oil. For sure track driving is much more abuse and Pennzoil ultra platinum 0w-20 is one of the few engine oils at the highest thickness api sp at 8.8cst for a 0w20 in the virgin oil sample. Looks like it lost 1.4cst over 2200 miles. Thank you for providing this data- it’s excellent.

 

[sackofcheese]

here are the results from my first OA I haven't gotten my second analysis done yet, I didn't get the kit in time for my second oil change at 95k miles. I was commuting 150 mi./day on the interstate, so I racked up the miles quickly, and wanted to test out waiting for the maintenance monitor to tell me to change. I got cold feet at 10k and changed it with 20% still showing. I run off the shelf Valvoline 0W-20 Extended Protection and a Honda RTA filter from my dealer parts counter. I now only commute 5ish miles a day and have sprinkled in a couple of autocrosses so it will be interesting to see if the shorter drives have effected things. I will update when I get my next one done in 3000 miles.

 

[johnloov]

I've heard incredible things about off the shelf Valvoline Extended Protection. It looks like it didn't sheer much at all at 7.25cst at 10,000 miles is excellent. I believe the virgin sample of that oil is about mid 8cst.

It's very high in Moly, and very close to the same CST in thickness as the Pennzoil Ultra Platinum.

 

[Ktrw]

here are the results from my first OA I haven't gotten my second analysis done yet, I didn't get the kit in time for my second oil change at 95k miles. I was commuting 150 mi./day on the interstate, so I racked up the miles quickly, and wanted to test out waiting for the maintenance monitor to tell me to change. I got cold feet at 10k and changed it with 20% still showing. I run off the shelf Valvoline 0W-20 Extended Protection and a Honda RTA filter from my dealer parts counter. I now only commute 5ish miles a day and have sprinkled in a couple of autocrosses so it will be interesting to see if the shorter drives have effected things. I will update when I get my next one done in 3000 miles.

I wish more folks would default to Valvoline oils as opposed to Mobil 1. I feel that they have one of the more solid lineups across a wide variety of viscosities, and they have a legitimate engine testing laboratory, unlike most of the others. Your wear metals look excellent there, my friend. 1.5ppm per 1k miles is textbook great engine wear from what we can see. Kinda awesome you have that many miles, so we can see what we should expect later in our engine life.

This is a great example of matching your oil selection to your use case, extended OCIs since you were commuting a lot, and using oil analysis to confirm that it is fine for the engine to do so. I'm not sure I would push past this since 10k miles is already pretty impressive for this performance but it does appear the oil is holding up fine.

 

[johnloov]

100% agree with this. Lakespeed Junior - Oil Geek guy Proved this in the shoot out with using Napa engine oil, made by Valvoline, and it out performed the more expensive OE Amsoil and Royal Purple. Smoked them both. Go figure. Formulation over Brand name. Data proven.



The Valvoline Line of engine oils, are incredibly high in Moly across the range.

Here are the Virgin Oil Analysis on the Valvoline line.



I was debating Pennzoil Ultra Platinum vs. Valvoline Maxlife Extended Mileage - since someone has data on PUP 0W-20, would be interesting if anyone has Maxlife. Maybe I try that one Ultra Max Life.

 

[Ktrw]

100% agree with this. Lakespeed Junior - Oil Geek guy Proved this in the shoot out with using Napa engine oil, made by Valvoline, and it out performed the more expensive OE Amsoil and Royal Purple. Smoked them both. Go figure. Formulation over Brand name. Data proven.



The Valvoline Line of engine oils, are incredibly high in Moly across the range.

Here are the Virgin Oil Analysis on the Valvoline line.



I was debating Pennzoil Ultra Platinum vs. Valvoline Maxlife Extended Mileage - since someone has data on PUP 0W-20, would be interesting if anyone has Maxlife. Maybe I try that one Ultra Max Life.

I think Valvoline Advanced is pretty excellent too if you're not planning on doing long OCIs (not saying it can't, but they have others for that purpose) and your engine is still fairly new. I really like the extended protection and max life products, but they're formulated more for long OCIs and older engines that may benefit from seal swelling agents and whatnot.

I've debated running restore and protect as well, just because I'm impressed by their commitment to improving their oils, and that one clearly has some interesting tech.

Not a K20C UOA and I screwed up the input information for the oil twice due to a mixup, but these results are for 0W-16 Valvoline Advanced in a RAV4 Hybrid in my family fleet. The viscosity is still a bit low for 16 grade so I'm now running 0W-20 in them to see how that does, but the wear rate is still excellent. I may have to try some Valvoline in my DE5 just because.

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