Miata Mailing List: February 1994, Message #95
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   From: sling@dseg.ti.com (Steven Ling)
Subject: RedLine Oil, Miata Newsletter
   Date: Mon, 7 Feb 1994 11:22:03 -0500

In response to Martin Goodale :

[deleted stuff about RedLine synthetic gear oil]

>I'm surprised they recommend the NS for the trany. I looked in the Pegasus
>Auto Racing Supplies Catalog and here is what they say about the two
>products:

>75W90 Gear Oil   Red Line gear oils will reduce gearbox temperature by 10 to
>70 degrees F. They protect gears under much higher loads than any petroleum
>product. 75W90 is recommended for most differentials and gearboxes for
>greatest durability and component life. Can be used in all hypoid
>differentials including limited-slip and posi-traction models. Exceeds GL-5
>and GL-6 protection ratings.

>75W90 Non-slip Gear Oil  Very similar to above 75W90 gear oil but with a
>special formulation to help insure more effective lock up of limited-slip and
>posi-traction differentials. Exceeds GL-5 and GL-6 protection ratings. This
>oil may cause increased noise and therefore is only recommended for racing
>applications.

The reason for using 75W90NS in the transmission, according to the RedLine rep 
I spoke with, is that it does not contain the slip additive used in 75W90. The 
slip additive is needed to keep the limited slip differential from chattering 
on corners. In transmissions, the slip additive actually *increases* the time 
it takes for the synchonizers to synchronize, causing a crunch as you shift. 
The possible increased noise in the description above is referring to use in 
the differential, not the transmission. I noticed no change in transmission 
noise or differential noise. [No, I don't work for RedLine, but maybe I 
should...]

                                   ****

In response to Craig Boyle :

[deleted stuff about Miata newsletter]

>In reality, I don't think the market would be big enough yet. As others
>have noted most Miata club members tend not to be technical/driving enthusiasts.
>They are an easy sell for wooden gearshift-knobs and style-bars, but 
>probably don't care for technical stuff.

>The typical owner gets all his/her work done at the dealership. Several 
>years from now, when old Miatas are plentiful and everything is breaking
>things will be different, IMHO.

I guess I'm atypical. I do all of my own maintenance, and I've made numerous 
modification for convenience and for Solo II. I'm just a curious, hands-on 
kind of guy. Case in point: I discovered the section in the factory service 
manual about the engine error codes. I studied the information and figured out 
how to see the error codes without the special tool. [All it takes is short 
piece of wire.] Then I disconnected the throttle position sensor so I could 
see an error code. [Don't try this at home!] I think all of us are curious 
about how our cars work, but most don't have the guts/time/facilities to 
go exploring. 

>How about writing a regular column for the MCA magazine (do they have
>a regular tech section?)?

Hey, if you just offered to do spelling/grammar checking for them you would 
make a huge improvement! Think about it, $25 times maybe 15,000 members 
is a cool $375K! What does your money buy?

                                  [][][]
     Steve Ling                                Texas Instruments, Inc.
     sling@dseg.ti.com                         P.O. Box 655012, m/s 31
     214-995-1378                              Dallas, Texas  75265