Good morning, Lesterino...
the factory 948 powered Sprite did 0-60
in 19-20 secs. on level ground, a little faster
with a free-flow muffler (such as an Abarth
or a straight-thru glasspack such as a
Cherry Bomb/Thrush).
Anyone can "artificially" raise oil pressure
by this method. Only problem is that this
method doesn't solve the REAL reason for the low pressure....it "just" masks it.
However, in your case....
....there is nothing wrong with a 20psi
reading (10psi or above is acceptable in accordance with the manual)
at factory recommended idle
rpm (800+-) on a TRULY HOT
street application assuming you are using the factory recommended
weight petroleum-based oil for the
operational ambient temperatures you find yourself in.
Bearing in mind the foregoing, as long as
the engine delivers 60psi (hot) at 3k, all is
fine (we ass-u-me an accurate gauge:).
Vizard states that anything
substantially more than 60psi@3k on a truly hot street engine does not enhance
lubrication and simply robs the engine
of HP by way of excessive oil pump loads,
causes "foaming", etc.
An engine in good condition will
normally show 70-75 psi "cold"
at inital start-up before the petroleum
based oil heats up and normally thins out accordingly as the engine reaches
normal
operating temperatures.
Most of us generally use a 10W-30 (or 40) weight petroleum oil in the winter
and a 20-50 in the summer.
I personally use a 5W-20 weight in the
"cold" considering I don't use the car much
in the winter along with the town (lower
rpm) driving I now do rather than the mainly higher rpm highway driving I used
to do wherein I'd use 10W-40. As long as
the motor delivers a minimum of
10psi or better at factory recommended idle rpm and 60psi@3k when truly hot,
all is well.
Desired or acceptable oil pressures for racing by way of either stock or tuned
motors, I will leave to those who know. :)
Cap'n Bob
Basic Frog
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