Get extra power by driving with very little oil

Here’s the worst advice you’ll get today: If you want to get more power out of your engine for free, drain some oil. Obviously, a combustion engine runs more powerfully when there is less oil in it. In a video of Engine oil geek You see, the big V8 gains nearly 10 percent more power by cutting the oil level in half. We repeat again: this is bad advice.

In the video at the bottom of the page, you see a big V8 engine (not pictured above) on a test stand. First, they dumped five liters of oil into the engine. At high revs, they see power reach just under 650 horsepower, but they see the oil pressure drop. Makes sense, because there is very little oil in the engine. That’s why they throw an extra two liters into the engine on the next run.

Two liters produces 16 hp with a big V8 engine

At low revs, the engine produces the same amount of power as before. At 6400 rpm the difference is clear: two liters of oil costs the engine about 16 horsepower. Here too, the oil pressure is not quite healthy yet. That’s why they add another two liters. With nine liters of oil, the pressure remains constant, but it requires a lot of power: at high revs, the engine reduces by 60 hp.

Oil collects at the bottom of the engine where the crankshaft hangs directly above. According to the video, the reason for the decrease in power is that the crankshaft must move through the oil. This extra resistance costs energy. On the other hand, your engine will last longer with the correct oil pressure: so loss of power is a necessary evil.

We dare not quantify how much power you’ll gain by draining your oil. It will vary for each engine. But again, your engine really appreciates having enough oil, so make sure there is enough oil in your engine to maintain oil pressure.