TOVA gains more experience - with TORCO SR-5

Following the positive experience from using TORCO SR-1 synthetic engine oil on my Honda Jazz VTEC, my curiousity turns towards their higher end SR-5 synthetic engine oil. TORCO calls their SR-5 Racing Oil versus their SR-1 Motor Oil. SR-5 was developed by TORCO for the 'most severe racing conditions' and offers the highest possible performance and protection for highly modified race engines. The oil features base oil and additives engineered to withstand extreme loads, constant severe temperatures and maximum engine revolutions. TORCO SR-5 features their proprietry MPZ technology which reduces engine operating friction loses for maximum power delivery and also superior engine operating temperature control.

To start me off, the TORCO distributor forwarded me some dyno-charts to show me the kind of benefits TORCO SR-5 can deliver on the dyno. I received three power charts, one of them for a Honda NSX while the other two are for a BMW and 5-series and a VW Golf GTi.

Obviously the dyno chart for the Honda NSX would be of greatest interest to us. The chart lists the NSX as 'Eric NSX' and it is a manual unit. The dyno-check was run on a Dynapack dynamometer which measures power at the wheel-hubs - i.e. the dyno run involves removing the wheels and bolting the measuring equipment to the wheel-hub. Base power for the NSX in this comparison was at 260.4hp at the wheel-hub while the use of TORCO's SR-5 allowed it to deliver 268.7hp at the wheel-hub, a 3% increase. This is actually slightly more (0.5%) than the gain I got when I used TORCO SR-1 on my Jazz VTEC. The power gain was delivered all across the dyno'ed rpm band, from as low as 1,600rpm right to the red-line of 8,000rpm.

Of the other two cars, firstly the BMW. This was a previous generation 528i with the 2.8l inline-6 DOHC VANOS engine rated (if I remember correctly) at 190ps. It showed an impressive result on the dyno, this time the more familiar Dynojet dynamometer. The gain in the lower rpms - 4,300rpm and below - is especially impressive. The standard oil recommended by BMW seems to have a rather restrictive effect on the lower rpm power output of the engine and the use of TORCO SR-5 liberated as much as 10ps at the driving wheels. This is a 9% increase ! Max power went up from 163ps to 165ps, a 2ps gain and there is power gain all across the rpm band as well. I did find the power chart a little bit unusual with power going up right at the extreme high-rpms after dipping from the max-power rpm point.

The third car is a VW Golf GTi. This very famous hot-hatch uses a 2.0l DOHC Turbo-charged engine rated at 200ps and of course is famous for its 6-speed DSG gearbox. I was assured that the unit in the dyno-chart is completely stock and that the result I saw is representative of stock units. This was because the GTi's dyno-chart was showing a max-power in excess of 190ps at the wheels ! Dyno'ed on a Dynojet dynamometer, an engine flywheel rating of 200ps with a DSG in theory should not deliver very much higher than 170+hp but yet the dyno-chart is actually showing 193ps max power with TORCO SR-5 liberating 3 more ps to make it 196ps max power. The power-chart seems a bit uneven though and the power gain was a little inconsistent but the result very impressive nonetheless.

Take Two : Using TORCO SR-5 in my DA6 Integra XSi

After my initial experience with TORCO SR-1 synthetic engine oil on my Honda Jazz VTEC, I have since also tried TORCO SR-5 on my DA6 Integra XSi as well. This time, I do not have a dyno chart to show but instead have some interesting experiences to share.

Prior to TORCO SR-5, I have been trying out a number of different brands of engine oil, all of them fully synthetic. As I have turbo charged my B16A, running in Kuala Lumpur's hot and humid condition often leads to high water and oil temperature, exceeding the 100-degC mark. Thus proper cooling have always been of great concern to me. So my primary criteria for choosing the engine oil for my DA6 is one that can help me control my water temperature and oil temperature rather than pure outright power. Having tried things from regular oils like Mobil-1 and Shell Helix, to Honda's own fully synthetic oil, and others, I settled on Motul's 300V Competition for a period of time. This was the best commonly available and affordable engine oil I could find. However even with MOTUL 300V Competition, my water temperature still frequently runs above 100-degC, often up to 110-degC on hot afternoons when traffic conditions are slow moving. I wasn't even driving hard, just the normal excruciating stop and go traffic in hot and stuffy afternoons with outside air-temperature approaching 35degC and my water temperature will start to climb towards 105-degC and beyond. With 110-degC being the upper limit before the water temp is considered 'too high', running at 105+ degC consistently was barely acceptable.

However, I also have a small stock of HKS Turbo Racing Pro super-premium grade full synthetic racing oil. These oils are designed by HKS for use with wildly modified japanese super-cars, like 700ps Nissan Skyline GT-Rs and 500ps EVOs. And they are ridiculously expensive as well - retailing for $600 here in Malaysia. When ex HKS distributor Aerotech shifted their workshop premises to Nilai, I grabbed their remaining stock at a special discount but even at that discount, I still paid $400 for each can of 4-litre TURBO RACING PRO. So I was really saving these special oils only for sessions at the Sepang track. Nevertheless, eventually I became too concerned with the (in)-ability of Motul 300V Competition to control my water temperature, and so I finally relented and started to dig into my reserve stock of HKS Turbo Racing Pro.

With HKS Turbo Racing Pro, I was delighted to find my water and oil temperatures are much better controlled. Under the same or even more stressful conditions, HKS Turbo Racing Pro will keep the water temperature in check, at 100-degC or below. Similarly with the oil temperature. I could be 'VTEC-ing' on a hot and humid afternoon. But even getting stuck in traffic after that, the water temp was still controlled within the 100-degC range. This means that my cooling system (DC2-R radiator with Redline Water wetter added to the water) was finally able to cope. Clearly engine friction has reduced due to the superior HKS oil which is also better able to dissipate heat. So HKS Turbo Racing Pro was the best engine oil I have tried before TORCO SR-5. The only problem is that it is so expensive and my reserve stocks was running out. And I don't fancy paying half-a-thousand ringgit for engine oil every 3 months !

So my primary hope of TORCO SR-5 was really that if my engine can deliver similar power output as with HKS Turbo Racing Pro (which delivered slightly more power than with Motul 300V Competition) and if it can also deliver the same water temperature control ability, then I would be ecstatic. This was because a 4-litre supply of TORCO SR-5 would cost me less than a 4-litre pack of Motul 300V Competition, what more HKS's TURBO RACING PRO. So in many ways, I was having rather unfair expectations of TORCO's SR-5 since I was expecting it to be significantly cheaper than HSK Turbo Racing Pro but yet delivering the same benefits.

But just like with TORCO's SR-1, I was most happily shocked by TORCO SR-5 because it actually managed to exceed the ability of Turbo Racing Pro for water temperature control. Under the same stressful conditions, my water temperature is now stabilizing at 95-degC or below. In fact, such was the ability of SR-5 to hold temperature, if stuck in a jam, with the air-cond on, the water temperature will actually drop to 90-degC or below just from the airflow generated by the two fans over the DC2-R radiator ! Having used TORCO SR-5 for close to over 5,000 km and almost four months by now, I will say that it outperforms all the other oils (those that I tried anyway) in its ability to control the engine's operating temperature.

In terms of power delivery, a quick dynojet run showed that TORCO SR-5 managed to maintain the same power delivery as HKS' Turbo Racing Pro on my engine. On the road however, the engine actually feels slightly smoother with a more consistent power delivery across a very wide range of conditions - hot humid weather to heavy pouring rain. This was primarily the benefit of a more stable engine operating temperature (as highlighted by better control of the water and oil temperatures). Outright power delivery can often be meaningless if we cannot maintain that level of power on the roads where it counts so in this case, TORCO SR-5 truly delivers the goods.

Conclusion

I was already suitably impressed with TORCO SR-1 when I tried it on my Jazz VTEC. Now that I have also tried TORCO SR-5 on my DA6 Integra Turbo, I am even more impressed. Its main benefit is not outright power gain but rather the improvement to the engine's smoothness, and in the case of my DA6, the successful control of the engine's operating temperature. TORCO SR-5 manages to control the oil and water temperature of my engine to within the optimum range - 90-degC and below for almost all conditions and in the most stressful of conditions, still within the good range at around 95-degC. This benefit alone is most significant.

For those with modified engines, especially the DOHC VTEC and DOHC i-VTECs, I think it's most logical for me to recommend giving TORCO SR-5 a try. It is really of extremely high quality and have made my DA6 at least a lot more enjoyable to drive, eventhough it's starting to show its age.

To get contact information for Cosmic Elite, Malaysian importer for TORCO, click on the TORCO banner on the left.