I'm simply looking for a general consensus, which I know may be difficult, regarding the "best" motor oil for the VQ family of engines. What has the most complete additive package, strongest film strength, least likely to break down? In the Euro car world, high cost boutique brands such as Liqui Moly, Driven, and Motul are often the favorites. Is it simpler for the VQ? Does a mass produced, highly accessible (but still high quality) oil like Castrol Edge come out on top? For those really focused on getting their G35 to that 200k mile mark and beyond, what's your drink of choice?

 

Research how much ZDDP is in the oil, my opinion is there's no better oil for the VQ35DE or VQ35HR than Valvoline VR1 oil. Conventional or synthetic VR1 will depend on if you engine will handle synthetic without drinking it.

VR1 has ZDDP levels of about 1200ppm which is the same ZDDP levels that the engine was engineered to use (API SJ/SL or ILSAC 2,3). All your modern oil available for highway use is now API/ILSAC 5 oil which has substantially lower ZDDP, this is mandated by the EPA and the only way you can get the higher ZDDP oil if by buying it as "racing oil", hence the Valvoline VR1.

Personally I think the EPA is degrading the oil ZDDP as part of a "planned obsolescence" scheme to get older cars off the road. Mandate oil that doesn't have the same protection and it causes the engine to burn up prematurely.

Thankfully we can still buy the API SJ/SL / ILSAC 2 levels of ZDDP disguised as racing oil

 

I'll admit, I didn't see that recommendation coming. Much appreciated with the high ZZDP content facts. I see it's been phased out due to its toxicity. It's sort of a hot rod era oil with their high pressure friction points. I have read that the phosphorus can damage cats though.

 

Well the levels have dropped significantly (incrementally with every new API/ILSAC revision) over the past decades due to a hostile EPA attacking the internal combustion engine automotive industry. Yes the ZDDP is technically "harmful" to catalytic converters but can you name ANY manufacturer in the past 40 years that has a chronic problem with catalytic converter failure? The answer is NO, the EPA is basically using that as an excuse to push lower ZDDP levels. Cats typically last for the life of the vehicle and the only thing that really destroys them is poor fuel management dumping too much unburned fuel into them, definitely NOT the ZDDP which will only ever enter the cats if the engine is burning oil. Even on something that notoriously burns oil like the VQ35DE it's not an issue and you rarely hear of cat failure for anything except poor fuel management.

Our engines were literally designed by Nissan to use 1200ppm ZDDP, that's your API SJ/SL oil.

"Hot rod oil" for flat tappet engines uses upwards of 2500ppm or more because it's an extreme friction point as the cam rides on the hydraulic lifter, you don't want to use something that high in the VQ engine because it will eventually damage the cats, using 1200ppm oil will not because it's engineered for it.

The issue with our engines is we don't use roller lifters/cam/buckets, the camshaft rides directly on the lifter bucket, it's a fairly high friction point. Not as high as an old school pushrod driven flat tappet lifter/cam but significantly higher than something using roller lifters like the GM LS series engines.

The EPA via API / ILSAC doesn't mandate oil specification differently for various manufacturers, they set the same standard for ALL and that MUST be complied with (because they outlaw the sale of all other oil types for highway use), then every few years they tighten up the restrictions regardless of previous engine requirements and it's up to the manufacturers to design the engine to work with the new oil. Each new oil standard is significantly more restrictive than the one before, each new oil standard provides significantly LESS protection than the one before. It's up to the engine manufacturers to build the engine to be able to handle the new oil.

This is where the problem arises, a car that's 3-4 years old can no longer get the correct oil because it's sale is outlawed except for racing use. Instead you just expect accelerated wear on the engine with the newer grade of oil. Fortunately the VQ is fairly robust in it's engineering and everything is a little overbuilt, it's still always the best practice to give it the oil it was designed for.

And I know you'll come across it but NO the modern anti-wear additives do not provide equal protection as ZDDP. They're better than nothing but when the oil molecules shear ZDDP is still hands-down the best anti-wear additive which is why the EPA can't simply remove ALL the ZDDP. Engines would die within 100k miles if there was no ZDDP.

 

Excellent. I guess I'll try the synthetic (black bottle containing 1200) and periodically check the level and see how the consumption is going.

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Since you have an HR engine I would not expect significant oil consumption, at least not like the DE engine, but wouldn't be surprised if you're drinking about a quart (maybe 1.5) over the 7200 mile interval for synthetic.

 

@cleric670 which exact grade to use for hr I see they don't have 5w-30 on the vr1?

 

Depends on your ambient conditions but the owners manual has the viscosity chart, normally 10w-30 is what I use year-round for my environment of 20F to 120F. The