<div>Thanks for the info.</div><div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr">On Wed, Sep 5, 2018 at 1:59 PM Randall <<a href="mailto:tr3driver@ca.rr.com">tr3driver@ca.rr.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><br>
> I've been told that Valvoline Racing oil has zinc in it. <br>
> It's odd that the newer cars don't require it. In fact, why <br>
> is it important?<br>
<br>
Lots of opinions, here are mine:<br>
<br>
In a nutshell, it helps protect critical surfaces (like cam lobes and<br>
lifters) in case the oil film breaks down (gets rubbed away by the relative<br>
motion of parts).<br>
<br>
The TR camshaft (along with many other performance cars) is actually pretty<br>
aggressive in terms of force developed between the camshaft lobe and lifter<br>
during high rpm engine operation. <br>
<br>
Newer engines either use roller lifters (to eliminate the rubbing between<br>
lobe and lifter) or less aggressive camshafts (that are less likely to rub<br>
away the oil film).<br>
<br>
Honestly, I'm not absolutely convinced that the TR motor needs the extra<br>
ZDDP. But it seems clear that many older engines do (even those not<br>
particularly high performance by today's standards); and it hardly seems<br>
worth taking a chance by using a lower ZDDP oil. (AFAIK, all modern motor<br>
oils still contain some ZDDP, they just have lower amounts. The oil<br>
industry has been searching for a suitable substitute, but I haven't heard<br>
of them finding one yet.)<br>
<br>
-- Randall <br>
<br>
</blockquote></div></div>