Break in Oil Change?

[MYFASTEFE]

First i will do between 500 and 600 miles. I do mine every year and def less than 5k miles.
I'll be keeping mine until the wheels fall off

 

[Eagle7]

I did the first one at 600, about to do a 2nd one at 1000ish. From there every 3000.

Used 6qts of RedLine 0w40, Amsoil oil filter and a HPS magnetic drain plug with OEM Toyota washer.

Here’s a UOA of the factory oil:

View attachment 42952

And here’s a VOA of the RedLine oil I used:

View attachment 42958

Notice the OEM oil viscosity grade is lower than expected. Range for 0W40 weight oil is 12.5 - 16.2 mm²/s.

You can sure see the difference in the quality of protection the Redline oil provides. It's more expensive, but it delivers.

 

[Maurice R]

Can you advise which brand of oil, number of quarts and specs (0w40?) you used? thanks.

Was what Looks recommended. The dealership did. I did not ask.

 

[Stiffarm]

Does this mean I should do the first oil change at 600 miles?

1,000 ain't bad, but damn sure better than 10,000

 

[Stiffarm]

You can sure see the difference in the quality of protection the Redline oil provides. It's more expensive, but it delivers.

Thanks for your input on Redline---I will use that if Pennzoil Platinum or Mobil 1 is not as good. Do you hae any opinion on them?

 

[Eagle7]

Thanks for your input on Redline---I will use that if Pennzoil Platinum or Mobil 1 is not as good. Do you hae any opinion on them?

Pennzoil Ultra Platinum is a solid second choice, much easier to find and less expensive. A quart of Pennzoil Ultra is about $8 while a quart of Redline is about $14. If you're going to track you car, I'd say go with Redline, but if you don't want to spend the extra money on Redline, Pennzoil Ultra is perfectly good for the street.

 

[GrahamClark_60-68]

After my epic OC to Seattle road trip (will post a journal soon), I'm up to around 1500 miles and have scheduled my break in oil change at Park Place in Bellevue, WA (as I don't have the means, or desire to do it myself at this point in time). They've quoted me $425 which is certainly not as good as do-it-yourself or even independent shops, but a lot better than @On rails $1149 quote experience. It also seems to be somewhat consistent to what others have been quoted by their Lotus dealers.
I've asked about oil brands they use and weight and they've replied that Lotus specifies 0W40 and they can offer Motul or Mobil 1. Can I get your thoughts on which of these you would choose (or stay away from) and why?
EDIT: I am not planning on tracking the car at this point, just some spirited road trips and local driving.

 

[netsinah]

After my epic OC to Seattle road trip (will post a journal soon), I'm up to around 1500 miles and have scheduled my break in oil change at Park Place in Bellevue, WA (as I don't have the means, or desire to do it myself at this point in time). They've quoted me $425 which is certainly not as good as do-it-yourself or even independent shops, but a lot better than @On rails $1149 quote experience. It also seems to be somewhat consistent to what others have been quoted by their Lotus dealers.
I've asked about oil brands they use and weight and they've replied that Lotus specifies 0W40 and they can offer Motul or Mobil 1. Can I get your thoughts on which of these you would choose (or stay away from) and why?
EDIT: I am not planning on tracking the car at this point, just some spirited road trips and local driving.

Up to you and the oil suggested by your dealer is likely AOK, but I'm admittedly fussy and whenever possible, I like to use the exact oil recommended by the vehicle manufacturer. For the Emira, it's an oil that's made in France: "Total Quartz 9000 Energy SAE 0W-40 fully-synthetic" (see page 275 of the Emira handbook, aka the "owner's manual" for this exact reference). Knowing it came from France, which makes more sense for a vehicle manufactured in the UK, I initially thought I'd never find a local distributor. But after a few phone calls and to my surprise, I found an oil/fluid wholesaler in my City, that sold Total Quartz and had the exact oil specified for the Emira, in stock (in either 1 litre or 5 litre jugs). Just like a different oil wholesaler for my Corvette C8, the Total Energy wholesaler I spoke to had no problem "selling retail" and the price was good. Even better, he was willing to negotiate so I wound up buying 5 cases at a lesser price that worked out to about Can$10/litre on average, FAR cheaper than a dealership. I like to do my own oil/filter changes but for those who don't, almost all dealers will accept you bringing in your own oil and using it for the oil change.

I looked quickly on the Web and found a Total Energy "distributor locate" on their website, which shows several locations in the States including some in Southern California...the one I found (there were others) was called International Metric Specialist-Wholesale, located at 7309 Lankershim Blvd, North Hollywood, CA. I didn't verify whether they're still in business, but use them as an illustration. If interested, here's the link to their "distributor map":

Find Us

Map to find TOTAL Distributors

services.us.totalenergies.com

Perhaps if you join up with others in your area and do a "group buy" you could do even better on the price. Some food for thought. Good luck!

 

[Eagle7]

I just did the oil change on mine, and I used Pennzoil Ultra Platinum. I'm just driving mine on the street so it's not going to get the same usage it would if I was going to track it. Unless you're tracking your car, I don't believe there's any significant of enough difference between the top brands that would matter for street use. If you change the oil every 5k miles or yearly anyways, the oil won't be in the engine long enough for a more expensive blend to matter.

 

[seriously]

Full synthetic, right weight, and right change frequency and I don’t think the top brands vary too much. You are still being quite conservative. Synthetic oils are rated to last much longer than 5k. Mechanics I trust tell me the change frequency is most important.

 

[marc1adrien]

Did mine around 1,400. Dealer had no issue at all doing it, and said the GM did the same with his. $300.

 

[ManOfSteel]

Did mine around 1,400. Dealer had no issue at all doing it, and said the GM did the same with his. $300.

I just did mine at 1,150 miles. Penzoil Ultra Platinum. New oil looked just like "old" oil. I used a genuine Toyota filter kit, installed a magnetic drain plug. Total materials cost was +/- $100, so $300 from the dealer is a fair price. 75% of the effort is removing and replacing the undertray and engine covers. I was absurdly careful, it took me about 5 hours including a test drive to check for leaks. I'll probably do it in 2-3 hours next time. I'm SO GLAD I finally bought a four post lift. 16 years of doing Elise oil changes on my back using Rhino Ramps...uggh!!

 

[scc.131.fe]

I just did mine at 1,150 miles. Penzoil Ultra Platinum. New oil looked just like "old" oil. I used a genuine Toyota filter kit, installed a magnetic drain plug. Total materials cost was +/- $100, so $300 from the dealer is a fair price. 75% of the effort is removing and replacing the undertray and engine covers. I was absurdly careful, it took me about 5 hours including a test drive to check for leaks. I'll probably do it in 2-3 hours next time. I'm SO GLAD I finally bought a four post lift. 16 years of doing Elise oil changes on my back using Rhino Ramps...uggh!!

+1 for taking your time. I hate to rush these things, especially the first few times when you're really getting a chance to know the car!