Racing fluids, Oil, trans... what would you use for an endurance race? Options

[ThePaintedMan]

All right boys and girls, I DID use the glorious search function, but didn't find quite the answers I was looking for. After talking with John (FourBlades) at the PCA DE this weekend about brake fluid for a track car, I thought it might be pertinent to have some of you racers weigh in on your choice of fluids. Keep in mind, the *goal* is 14 hours at Sebring. Quite likely that the first motor won't make it that long, but to give us the best chance possible, what do you think would be a good engine oil and transmission fluid to go with for a long race like that? I think 20-50 is still the go-to, but would something like Brad Penn stand up to that long of a race at temps that high? How about Swepco for the transmission? I would think both of these would call for some kind of chemistry designed for racing, but have never heard of what endurance guys use in their aircooled Porsches for long races like these.

Don't worry about the brake fluid - I think we've already decided that SRF is the only way to go.

[brant]

20 years ago at a DE...

I knew a guy who ran a 914
he built a small/simple bracket that bolted into the targa bar using the stock ski rack mounting point.

he installed a cooler with a simple oil filter take off adapter
he ran the lines up through the tin work and above the engine.
he pulled one of the small 5x4 engine grill covers on the chassis beside the engine lid.

and left the cooler lines long enough to bolt the cooler to his home made bracket on the targa bar.

at the end of the DE, he simply lowered the cooler back into the engine bay and had it tied securely so it didn't bounce around. the car was driven to the track and fully street legal (none of us had trailered cars back in those days)

this would be the perfect set up for a chump car
the cooler stood proud, above the targa roof into the direct air flow for maximum cooling..... yet is was small and not a huge aerodynamic drag.



oh and my opinion about the transfluid:
I've had double the number of trans failures that I have had engine failures
I honestly believe the trans fluid is VERY important these days...
I believe that the long standing reputation about 901's having high failures was earned for a reason... and I believe the reason is that they overheat when increased horsepower is applied... then failure ultimately from heat

against EVERYONES recommendation on this site, we ran mobil 1 trans fluid for 12 years on track only cars... we did it for heat.... not because it was better on porsche style syncros (it isn't) but because as a synthetic it could deal with the heat better... The bearing in the intermediate plate is usually the failure point.

Now we've switched to redline for the same reasons and I know many other 914 race cars using redline in 901's for the same reason... (just not on this site)

brant