Dry sump vs wet sump

[Mark Thompson]

It seems to me that there is no benefit to spending a lot of money on a dry sump system unless you are building a race and not a road car. If you fit the right sump and keep it full of oil you can reliably drive as hard as you want, even occasionally on the track, and keep your oil pressure at a reliable level.

Your question did get me thinking about why there are a few road cars that have long been fitted with dry sumps for the road, the Porsche flat 6 (997) and the Ferrari V8 (430 & 458) come to mind, and why their engineers concluded the complexity was necessary. In both cases the tank and some of the plumbing are integrated into the engine and incorporate water/oil intercoolers to eliminate the remote oil cooler. The oil comes up to temperature very quickly as a result of the intercooler. The additional reliability gained by having the oil brought rapidly up to temperature and the offset of remote cooler appears to tip the balance, particularly in engines with very high rpm capability. Porsche uses this to specify 10000 mile oil changes. Ferrari combines transmission fluid intercooling through the same block (separate fluid) in the F1 box as well, so it is more difficult for some hero to try one of the sub-100ms shifts with cold transmission oil. None of these reliability benefits will translate in an aftermarket fitment.

I'd spend the money on more horsepower!

Mark