Motor Racing

Wayne Park, Championship Winning Racing Driver, Wayne Park Automotive, Milton Queensland.  Tel: 07 3369 5500

Wayne Park, driver of Australia’s champion Porsche 911 RSR says:

   "In the three years we raced a two car team in the Australian Porsche Cup Championship, PM Lubricants saved us $22,000 per car per year for three years. In a two car team, that’s $132,000."

   I started my association with PM Lubricants in 1993, when I put together a Porsche racing program, to run in the Australian Porsche Cup Championship. We had to find products and suppliers who could meet the demands and expectations placed on us to win the championship. That’s when we first discovered PM Lubricants. That relationship has flourished now to the point where we are more than happy to recommend and use PM products in any of our racing vehicles.

   Right from the start of racing in the Australian Porsche Cup Championship in 1993, we could see the superior benefits of running PM Lubricants. On our first engine rebuild, it was noted with great surprise that there was no measurable wear inside the engine. From there, we ran a series of engines over the next three years and again we could never find any measurable wear with any of our components when we opened the motors or the gearboxes.

   We’ve also had numerous opportunities to do back to back tests with other components and lubricants and to open and close a lot of engines after putting them through clinical and exhaustive testing procedures. Every time the PM products have come up trumps and every time we had to come back and say that the quality of the PM Lubricants really shone over the opposition.

   It has been almost 5 years now since we first started using PM Lubricants and we now use it in all of the cars that we prepare for all of our race teams. We currently use it in vintage racing cars, Production racing cars and Group A racing engines. I would have to say that PM Lubricants are really amazing lubricants.

   Since using PM in our cars, we’ve set something like 12 lap records across Australia, won National Championships and every major race we've been entered in. Never at any stage have we been let down by the expectations or performance of PM products.

Ragged Edge Racing (Dragster), Toowoomba, Queensland.

General Specifications of the Engine.

·         Vehicle: Big Block Chevy 475 Cu.Inch (1200hp) with GM Power Glide Transmission, 9 Inch Diff 35 Spline Axels.

·         Supercharged – 14–71 Hi-Helix 16% Overdrive

·         Max RPM – 8,200

·         Best E.T. – 6.72 seconds

·         Best Speed – 205 mph (330 kph)

·         Driver: Graham Porter

   We use PM’s famous Racing 50 in this engine. It holds very good oil pressure at full operating temperature, and resists contamination from Methanol quite well. In the past (pre-PM), we have generally had to replace the main bearings and conrod bearings every 50 passes. Since using PM, we still check the bearings after 50 passes, only to find they are still in good condition and don’t need changing.

   PM’s Racing 50 has definitely improved our performance and times. Our maintenance costs are much lower, the car is far more reliable, and we don’t need to spend anywhere near as much time working on the car as we used to. Even at race meetings, we can just sit back now and watch the other races, because the car stands up so well to the stress with the racing 50.

   We use PM oil in the transmission and diff as well. PM’s Auto-Translife has given us 98% efficiency in the torque converter even at racing temperatures. After 5 years racing the second gear clutch plates still looked new and performed well.

   The PM Diff/Gearlife has produced a noticeable improvement in the rolling resistance of the 9 inch diff as well.

Report on Engine and Gearbox September 1997.

   In September 1997, after 12 months or one season of racing, we decided it was time to overhaul the engine. First, we did a leak down test to check the condition of the rings. The result was an average of 9% leak down over the eight cylinders, which is excellent, therefore we decided to reuse the rings for another season.

   Next check was the condition of the main bearings and conrod bearings. Again, they were in excellent condition. All clearances were well within specification, so it was decided to reuse all the bearings again.

   When our engineer pulled our motor down, he couldn’t believe he had just opened a motor that had completed a full season of drag racing. There was no measurable wear, all the bearings and rings were perfect, and the bores looked as if they had just been honed. The engineer was amazed. The engine went back together as it was, and the only thing we changed was the valve springs. The engineer now recommends the oil to his other clients.

   This type of protection and performance from PM Lubricants saves us thousands of dollars every year in maintenance and repair costs, and makes racing an enjoyable pastime. Using it in your vehicles will also save you quite a lot of time and money.

Report on Engine and Gearbox March 1998 after 18 months/one and a half seasons of drag racing.

   In March of 1998, after another 6 months or half a season of racing, we checked the engine again. We did another leak down test of the rings, and the result was slightly better than the September 1997 test, with just 7% average leak down over the eight cylinders. Following our normal, regular checks of the oil filter and engine oil pressure, I see no reason to remove the sump and check bearings at this stage.

   The vehicle has now done one and a half season or 18 months racing without having to replace anything, and there is still no measurable wear.

   The next major check of the engine and gearbox is planned for September 1998.

   We use PM in our transporters as well. There was a noticeable increase in pulling power, evidenced by the fact we required a lot less gear changes than normal on our trips, and we achieved a 15% improvement in fuel economy. Our first trip to Sydney with PM in the truck saw a saving of $60 in fuel over previous trips.

   Following is an observation by our engine builder Martin White of John White Racing Engines and Equipment.

"The oil used in this engine is certainly adding to the life of the parts, especially the bearings.

   The gearbox is a GM Power-Glide, built and serviced by Neil Maxwell of Precise Automatics. His aim is to only see and service the gearbox only once every 12 months. The part that shows the most sign of wear is usually the clutch packs or bands. Evidence to date has shown that the clutch plates are in good condition, which we believe is because of the good quality oil used in the transmission."

Michael Tricklebank – Motorcycle Racer, Brisbane, Queensland.

   I race in Supermono Class Racing (single cylinder four strokes). My bike is a heavily modified Husqvana TE 610 engine in a 1990 Yamaha TZ250 frame, and I use PM Lubricants’ Racing 50 in the engine.

With help from PM Lubricants and several other sources, we have been able to achieve some very good results, such as 1^st in the Queensland Championships for Clubman Singles, and 2^nd outright in Supermono Class for 1997.

   In the National Bears Competition (British, European and American Racing), we managed 1^st in C & D Grade up to 720cc and 2^nd in the Open up to 720cc against some very respectable and fancied opposition.

   Having used quite a few other brands of oil before PM’s oil, I have noticed considerable differences in the engine component life since using PM oil. Each time we pull the motor down for inspection, thinking it’s probably time to do a rebuild or replace certain parts, it’s usually only to find that there are no signs of wear on any engine parts.

   The engines in Supermono get a very hard time, as they are really only hot-rodded trail bike engines putting out 70 HP more than they were originally designed to. With so much extra power output, the Husqvana’s have a severe problem with crankcases breaking under the extra pressure and stress caused by racing. However, my current bike has run on PM since new, and after about 40 race meetings, hasn’t broken one case. On the other hand, other similar bikes that I race against break about two engine cases per season on average.

   Another one of my race bikes had quite a problem with a slipping clutch once it reached racing temperature, and nothing we did could cure it. But again, once we put PM’s Racing 50 into it, we’ve not had a problem with it. We are very happy with PM’s oil, and I can say without hesitation that it has improved our performance at race meetings, and the bikes are far more reliable. We have also saved a fair amount of money, because components no longer wear out like they used to. If you’re not using PM oil, you should. It’s very good.

John Bourke, Racing Car Driver, John Bourke Wholesaling, Erina, New South Wales.

   I find PM Lubricants products quite remarkable. The 1994 Annual James Hardie 12 hour Production race, my first introduction to PM Lubricants, is a classic example.

   In the first instance, just by changing the engine oil to PM Racing 50, we increased our fuel economy from 25 laps per tank of fuel in practice to 29 laps per tank of fuel in the race. The only difference between practice and the race was that PM Lubricants were used during the actual race, as opposed to another major product used during practice.

   During practice we had a problem with the front wheel bearings in that they were failing under the intense heat of the brakes. Normally we have to change the hubs mid race or they fail. However, in this race they went full distance, and were still like new at the end of the 12 hours. This hub failure problem was overcome by using PM Lubricants grease, and post-race testing of the engine oil and the grease found that there was no break down of wither products.

   After two hours of practice on the Friday, we found the gearbox was "notchy", that is, unable to change gears smoothly. We changed the oil over to the PM product and the gearbox performed faultlessly for the rest of practice and for the entire race.

   Hence, we were able to maintain the car efficiently throughout the race, and managed to win its class, placing seventh outright. From my experience with PM Lubricants, I can highly recommend them as I feel they enabled our Subaru WRX to perform above expectation. I can safely say from my previous experience with this 12 hour race, that, without PM Lubricants, this car wouldn’t have got home.

   I have since gone on to use PM Lubricants very successfully in many other applications, racing and otherwise, and I am only too happy to encourage other drivers to try the products. That way, they can see first hand for themselves the benefits to be gained from using these Preventative Maintenance Lubricants.