[SMFCPACFP]

My speedometer just rolled over 10,000 miles, and the car has been just great - everything I could have hoped for. I had the oil changed once at about 1,000 miles and the oil life is down to 8%. I had to add one quart of oil at about 6,700 miles while on a long trip.

During my 11 1/2 months of ownership, I had to garage the car for 5 months of winter, and it was in the bodyshop for one month being repaired after about $9,000 worth of body damage from a Expedition driver not paying attention.

I have never had to take the car to a Chevy dealer for any work. I just realized that I need to look at the service manual to see when the first service should been conducted.

My only mods are installing a Blackwing and the trunk partition. I don't plan on any others. The car is just great as is.

I plan to keep the car until that really hot new C6 Z06 comes forth. If I don't like the C6 styling, I will probably keep this car until it rolls over to 6 digits and give it to my daughter when she graduates from college.

I am just curious as to how many miles some of the people who get to drive their car year round have on their Z06?

 

[IMA Z06]

SMFCPACFP,

Glad to hear your good report. I remember when you posted pic's of the mishap. Lotsa folks make um everday drivers............

:cheers:

 

[fcalmes]

Steve,

9.500 miles...zero problems...runs like a _____ Fill in the blank. :lol: Badass is all I have to say!! Love this machine!!

11,500 on Sherylann's. Hers must run good..she got a speeding ticket yesterday. No problem...$100 to the lawyer and it's reduced to a non-moving violation.

 

[01ZEE06]

SMF,

I've had my Z for 1 year on October 1, 2001. Only problem has been water pumps.....I'm on #4 and it's been a while since I've had a leak, so I imagine it's fixed now. Must have been a batch of bad pumps!?

Exact mileage is: 8,865.

9,000 annually/ 750 per month.

Sunny Southern California.....doesn't rain much here, but when it does she stays in the Garage

Used 1 1/2 qts of oil.

Just did a Very Fast Run in the SoCal mtns. Led 16 Vettes(3 Z'S), a Viper, and a 440hp Mustang. Everyone was commenting on how good my Z sounded. I've got TPIS 1 3/4" LT headers flowing into Random Tech High Flow Cats, Bassani X-Pipe, and Corsa Indy's

Barrie

 

[ddle]

You have been driving for 9,000 miles without changing the oil????? I changed mine after 1,000 miles then another at 4,000 miles. I now have about 7,000 miles after 5 months. I checked the oil yesterday and notice the color still very fresh. So, maybe I don't have to change it every 3,000 miles. I know the manual recommended every 15,000 miles, but I think only if you never step on it. I do step on mine every chance I get. Took it up to 160+MPH couple weeks ago while racing a Supra TT. Very smooth, even changed lane while going that fast with no problem.

What is the color of the oil in your Z look like after 9,000 miles? Mine used about 1/4 qt or less every 3,000 miles. No problems reported. Feel much stronger than new. Average fuel mileage currently is exactly 24 MPG.

:guiness:

 

[01ZEE06]

ddle,

I've used 1 1/2 qts in 9,000 miles.....i.e. the engine "burned" 1 1/2 qts in 9,000 miles.

I first changed oil/filter(GM's synthetic oil filter) to Red Line at 1,000 miles. Changed again at 4,000 and 7,000. I change oil/filter every 3,000 miles. At $8.00/qt. Red Line may be on the expensive side, and the GM filter is $8.00, (with our Corvette Club discount), but I think it's cheap insurance.

I guess I should have said: My engine "burned" 1 1/2 qts vs. "used" 1 1/2 qts.....

I had a highly moded '93 TT Supra.....did you beat the Supra?

Barrie

 

[MARZ06]

I've had my car for 10 months, 17,000 miles. Even after 11 trips to the dealer for a leaking differential, bad fuel sensor, broken outside temp guage and......a new motor (12K under warrantly) I still love the car!!

 

[AgentZ06]

I've had my car for 10 months, 17,000 miles. Even after 11 trips to the dealer for a leaking differential, bad fuel sensor, broken outside temp guage and......a new motor (12K under warrantly) I still love the car!!

Good to hear... the fact that you still love the Z06 that is!

 

[ddle]

I had a highly moded '93 TT Supra.....did you beat the Supra?

Barrie

01ZEE06,

The question that I had on my previous post was actually for SMFCPACFP. I guess I was editing my post and you got yours in ahead of mine. It was a coincident about the 9,000 miles. SMFCPACFP said that his car has 10,000 miles and he did the only oil change at 1,000 miles, so it means that he hasn't change oil in 9,000 miles.

Anyway, back to the race with the Supra TT. The guy actually pulled away from me. We were running 70MPH roll-on. Everytime, I let him go first. So, his turbos had already boosted before I jammed mine in third and floored it. The first time, he pulled away from me pretty bad then we had to shut it down due to traffic. The 2nd time, we had more open road, he pulled away all the way up to about 120MPH (about 4-5 car lengths), then I started to gain back slowly. I was even with him by the time we got to 150MPH. Then I started pulling at 160MPH. I don't know if he hits the limiter in his car at 157MPH or he shuts it down. I don't know what kind of mod the guy got in his Supra, all I know is, it was one fast Supra. It got to be very highly moded. It was very loud, the big muffler, the turbos, and his tranny. But, now I know, next time when I see a Supra, I'll go first. I'd have a second or so head start on the Z before the turbos in the Supra spools up, then he'll have to catch me. But, if I let the Supra go first, it's too late. It was lots of fun. I think we ran for about 5-6 miles of open road. We gave each other thumbs up afterwards.

 

[SMFCPACFP]

You have been driving for 9,000 miles without changing the oil????? I changed mine after 1,000 miles then another at 4,000 miles. I now have about 7,000 miles after 5 months. I checked the oil yesterday and notice the color still very fresh. So, maybe I don't have to change it every 3,000 miles. I know the manual recommended every 15,000 miles, but I think only if you never step on it. I do step on mine every chance I get. Took it up to 160+MPH couple weeks ago while racing a Supra TT. Very smooth, even changed lane while going that fast with no problem.

What is the color of the oil in your Z look like after 9,000 miles? Mine used about 1/4 qt or less every 3,000 miles. No problems reported. Feel much stronger than new. Average fuel mileage currently is exactly 24 MPG.

:guiness:

A few years ago, we had the international logging congress in our town. Mobil Oil had two of their "oil" engineers here. I asked these experts how often you really needed to change your oil in a passenger car. They said changing oil more often than every 15,000 miles under normal driving conditions with a V-8 was simply a waste of money. They said you should change the filter every 7,500 miles. Normal driving is where you get your car up to normal operating condition so that the sulfuric acid from incomplete combustion is evaporated.

There is nobody more knowledgeable about when oil changes are needed than the people who design the oil and test it. You guys who change the oil every 3,000 miles are applying a rule that applied to castor oils back before motor oil was petroleum based which was before it was synthetic based. Oil has improved a lot over the years. As a long standing shareholder of Exxon - Mobil, I thank you from the bottom of my wallet for the frequent oil changes. As someone said it can't hurt, but the point is, it doesn't help. I am following what GM says, which is to change it every 15,000 miles or when the oil life gets close to 0%. Mine is at 5%, not 8%, so if I have a chance this week, I will change it on Friday.

 

[proexpert]

2 Comments

Frank...Sherylann must have been wearing pants, 'cause with legs like that, a ticket would be tough to dish out.

As far as the oil change frequency: How many Z06 owners drive under 'normal operating conditions'? Drag racing, racing Toyotas and Vipers on the street, driving the car like a madman on a daily basis, cause me to change my oil every 3000 or less. If my mother was driving the car, then 15,000 miles between changes would be okay with me. Just MHO.

 

[BrianK]

Proexpert makes a great point.. How it was driven makes a difference.

How high do the oil temps get on the Z06 when running on road courses in hot conditions?

On the merits of 3000 vs. 15000 miles.. 15000 seems long to me, but an oil test would tell.

Failing a lab test, how does 15K oil look, smell and feel?

 

[ddle]

A few years ago, we had the international logging congress in our town. Mobil Oil had two of their "oil" engineers here. I asked these experts how often you really needed to change your oil in a passenger car. They said changing oil more often than every 15,000 miles under normal driving conditions with a V-8 was simply a waste of money. They said you should change the filter every 7,500 miles. Normal driving is where you get your car up to normal operating condition so that the sulfuric acid from incomplete combustion is evaporated.

There is nobody more knowledgeable about when oil changes are needed than the people who design the oil and test it. You guys who change the oil every 3,000 miles are applying a rule that applied to castor oils back before motor oil was petroleum based which was before it was synthetic based. Oil has improved a lot over the years. As a long standing shareholder of Exxon - Mobil, I thank you from the bottom of my wallet for the frequent oil changes. As someone said it can't hurt, but the point is, it doesn't help. I am following what GM says, which is to change it every 15,000 miles or when the oil life gets close to 0%. Mine is at 5%, not 8%, so if I have a chance this week, I will change it on Friday.

The reason I asked because my LT1 is using the same oil. Even when it had around 30,000 miles on it, everytime after I changed the oil, I can feel the difference in performance. This is not a psychological thingy. I mean, I can really feel the difference after an oil change, and I change the oil once every 3-4K miles. If I take it real easy then after 1k miles, I checked the oil, it still look good. But, if I just get on it 2-3 times and took it above 100MPH, then everytime I checked the oil, it turned dark. If I don't change oil every 3-4k miles, the oil almost turned to water. The color is black almost like black ink. I wouldn't leave anything like this inside my engine. My LT1 doesn't burn a single drop of oil.

This is why I asked you to see if the oil in your Z turned to a darker color or is it still yellow-brown(oil like color) looking after 9,000 miles. If it still looks good, you right, there are no reason to change it. If you get on your Z alot like some of us do, the high RPMs can really breakdown the oil molecular and turn oil into water. This is how engine gets seize if one is not careful.

JMO

 

[N4C5S]

Even look and feel is deceptive.

I think what is being discussed above is known as "shearing" where the oil molecule is actually sheared under extreme pressure. This may or may not be an issue with Mobil1......IDK...

JC

 

[SMFCPACFP]

Re: 2 Comments

Frank...Sherylann must have been wearing pants, 'cause with legs like that, a ticket would be tough to dish out.

As far as the oil change frequency: How many Z06 owners drive under 'normal operating conditions'? Drag racing, racing Toyotas and Vipers on the street, driving the car like a madman on a daily basis, cause me to change my oil every 3000 or less. If my mother was driving the car, then 15,000 miles between changes would be okay with me. Just MHO.

The engineers defined "normal" as getting it up to operating temperatures. You need to boil out the sulfuric acid which forms from cool crakcase gases on start up.

You are forgetting that your car regulates engine temperatures within a fairly narrow range, whether you are driving fast or slow. The oil temperature isn't going to vary that much. If your car isn't regulating temperatures well then you can have a problem.

The guys at the 24 hour races don't change their oil during the race, and they drive a lot of miles, a lot harder than you do. When I used to race motorcycles professionally we used castor oil (mineral oil) and changed the oil every time we replaced the engine which could be after a 10 minute race. It is a new world.

Here is a site you might want to consider looking at:

http://rconcepts.com/beard/dragnet/drag/oilinfo.html

His recommendation is that under "severe" driving conditions (a lot of short hauls with a cold engine) the oil change interval for synthetics should be 6 to 9K miles. My own driving conditions would not be considered severe.

Nothing wrong with changing too frequently, but why the 3,000 mile rule? Where did you come up with it? Is it magical? Here is the answer. It dates from the 40's when cars used mineral oil and was passed down from your grandfather, to your dad to you. :lol:

I really wanted to find out how many miles people had on their cars, not get into a debate on oil change intervals. I will tell you this. I won't have this car when oil change interval will become an issue.