Interesting. I'd still rather go by time or miles since the car has no idea what the condition of the oil actually is or what oil is in it as it treats generic 5-20 and high dollar 20-50 the same.
True, the car doesn’t know the type of oil or its condition, but adjusting oil change intervals based on use is much more useful than just time or mileage. If I said I’m going to change every 3 months or 3k miles, I could have 8-10 track weekends on the car without an oil change, and hitch would not be good no matter the quality of oil.
Ummm the car IS going by time and miles. Its also going by RPM, oil pressure, and temp. So it does know what the condition of the oil is. It's all recorded in the computer.
The car still doesn't really know the condition of the oil. It's just guessing. The same use with one oil isn't going to be in the same condition as the exact same use with another oil.
I know that - they suggest track use intervals in the manual. I'd rather go by that, than the OLM is what I'm saying. Or at least see how things line up. And are you doing road course, autocross, drag racing? Three very different things. Hour of autox isn't anything like an hour of drag racing.
The car isn't guessing if you just reset the oil life a then took it to the track. It knows the starting point and driving conditions it was under thereafter. It's following a very accurate algorithm based on the information it's recording. You can believe it or not, but it's obviously more accurate than people give it credit for. The OP asked why his oil life went to 0 so quickly, and that is why. I had a similar experience with my oil life dropping significantly after track use.The car still doesn't really know the condition of the oil. It's just guessing. The same use with one oil isn't going to be in the same condition as the exact same use with another oil.
I know that - they suggest track use intervals in the manual. I'd rather go by that, than the OLM is what I'm saying. Or at least see how things line up. And are you doing road course, autocross, drag racing? Three very different things. Hour of autox isn't anything like an hour of drag racing.
I don't blindly follow that extended intervals they suggest for regular driving either.
But did he do an oil analysis (or whatever people want to use) to truly judge the condition of the oil?
Bro. Your just saying the same thing over and over and way over thinking this. The OP asked a question and I answered it. Did I ever say the computer was 100% acurate and takes into account ALL posible varients when calculating oil life? Of course not. No one is saying that. Do normal people do oil annalysis before each oil change to see if its really needed? No, of course not. The oil life feature on these cars is just a tool to help guide you. Yeesh.
Bro.
High speed commuting and track use are two very different things. I would say it is not so much the vehicle speed as it is the constant on and off the throttle, repeated full throttle runs, and maintained high engine RPMs as well as temperatures. Hard acceleration followed by miles of sustained high speed is nowhere near as demanding as what occurs on the track. From everything I’ve seen, the Coyote is a great engine. Frequent need for an oil change with track use does not to me indicate any sort of weakness or flaw; it is realizing the limitations and life of the consumables.
Bikes are very different for exactly the reason you called out, a bike's oil is formulated for that environment. The main reason a car's oil needs to be changed after a few days on the track is because of the repeated hard throttle and hard braking, robbing the car of all the power it just created, just for you to ask for that power again. But that is how you get to throw the weight of the car around, get that grip, and make the car really fly around the track!
