Which Motor Oil Is Best | Take 5 with Maxima Racing Oil
We all know that all oils and lubricants are not created equal. There is a big difference between the cheap stuff at the parts store and a high quality racing oil. To learn more about some of these differences, we spoke to Troy Green from Maxima Racing Oil. He’s passionate about his products and had a lot to say about how they work and why you should be using them in your high performance or racing engine.
Q: Where should you use assembly lubes while assembling an engine?
A: Use assembly lube to provide a durable protective film on moving components such as engine bearings, wrist pins and piston skirts. When assembling an engine with a flat tappet camshaft, coat the lobes and lifter faces with a quality assembly grease. Assembly grease is also perfect for high pressure areas such as pushrod tips, rocker arm pivots, thrust faces and any other high load area.
We recommend our Maxima Assembly Lube and Grease. Our assembly lube features an advanced 2X Zinc anti-wear system that activates at both high and low temperatures always ensuring Zinc protection during break-in.
Q: What’s the difference between a break in oil and regular oil?
A: True break-in oils are formulated with altered levels of Zinc, detergents, dispersants and are designed to allow a certain amount of “wear” to happen during the break in process. By allowing this “wear” we are removing peaks and filling valleys ensuring quick and efficient ring seal and smoother load bearing surfaces for longer life and better performance.
Maxima break-in oils are mineral based oils specially formulated for providing ultimate protection during break in on all flat tappet and roller cam applications. Maxima’s high ZDDP formulation combines the highest quality base stock with a shear stable polymer system to provide dyno proven fast and effective ring seal. With Zinc being a critical component of a break-in oil, we should discuss what function Zinc serves. Zinc, also known as ZDDP is there to build a protective layer on crankshaft journals, camshaft lobes, lifter faces and other high load surfaces by bonding with the material.
Q: Talk about the difference between a regular parts store oil and a premium product like Maxima Racing Oil?
A: When we talk about what separates average engine oils from premium high performance/racing oil, we start by talking about base stocks. Maxima uses the most highly refined mineral base stocks for our petroleum-based oils and complex ester-based oils for our full synthetic. By using Esters, Maxima has ultimate control of what goes into our oil and every component serves a specific function to either provide better protection, produce better ring seal, stabilize the oil in extreme conditions etc.
We then move into additive packages. Maxima engineers have developed some of the most advanced additive packages ensuring that we out protect and outperform our competitors. Maxima does this by using our exclusive 2X Zinc formula and by providing a shear stable oil that will resist mechanical break-down and viscosity loss with increased loads and temperatures.
Q: What is a “2X Zinc” formula?
A: Maxima Racing Oils feature 2 types of Zinc. Maxima uses a low temperature activated Zinc to provide Zinc protection from the second the engine is started. Standard Zinc requires higher oil temperatures to activate. That means that you get ultimate protection from Maxima Racing Oils at all temperatures, especially helpful in drag race engines where oil temperatures are typically low.
Q: You’ve talked about Maxima oil being “shear stable,” what does that mean?
Maximas's shear stable polymer system is a system made up of regenerative polymers that will “rebuild” themselves by re-attaching to other polymers and becoming whole again as they get beat up inside the engine while performing their normal duties. This makes for a very stable oil with longer service life.
Q: Other than protection of engine components, what are some performance benefits of a high-quality oil that people might not know about?
A: A high quality racing oil will actually produce more power by reducing friction on moving parts and providing better ring seal. We’ve seen this in dyno tests using Maxima Racing oils.
Check out all the Maxima Racing Oils that Speedway Motors offers.
