$20 budget oil choice.

Pennzoil motor oil
I notice that Quaker State and Supertech are neck and neck in this discussion. People of good will will place either oil on top, and relegate the other to the second position. I also note (again) that folks rightly equate Kirkland with Supertech. Personally, my right brain will allow that these two (three) oils are excellent and equivalent, and that the Valvoline product, though fine, is correctly in last place. My left brain, though, has me giving the nod to the Quaker State brand, which has been delivering lubrication since 1921.
 
TomYoung said:
I notice that Quaker State and Supertech are neck and neck in this discussion. People of good will will place either oil on top, and relegate the other to the second position. I also note (again) that folks rightly equate Kirkland with Supertech. Personally, my right brain will allow that these two (three) oils are excellent and equivalent, and that the Valvoline product, though fine, is correctly in last place. My left brain, though, has me giving the nod to the Quaker State brand, which has been delivering lubrication since 1921.
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All discussed are great oil just no need to pay a few bucks more for no noticeable difference especially with the oci and time the oil/filter will be in service for.
 
I just made this decision and ended up with the Quaker State.

If I honestly thought the ~$5 more for Mobil 1 or PP was going to yield materially better results, I'd have spent it.
 
I went through this same decision when my daughter bought her 08 Civic with 162k miles on it.
I was just debating between the top two.
I went with the ST Adv Syn HM 5W30 for $20.
 
Assuming 2 oil changes a year and 5qts per change, the difference every year between the most expensive oil (like Amsoil) and the least expensive (like SuperTech) is $30 per change or $60 per year. Personally, changing oil and filter every 3K miles, I have no problem using SuperTech in my daughter's 10 yr old Subaru, which saves me about $90 a year over Amsoil. There are a lot of "premium oils" in between however, and the $difference is much less. Personally, if I were convinced the advantages of using Amsoil were significant in my case, the $90 a year would not be a deal breaker. Having said that, I do like what I've read about Valvoline Restore and Protect, and started using it on our other 2 cars, and I have no problem paying $20-30 more per year for that.

There is no wrong answer; SuperTech is a good oil and if changed regularly, will offer excellent protection and life. Some other oils may offer a little better protection and longer life for your engine, but exactly how much is debatable, and only you can decide if they are worth the extra money.
 
OilStainedNapkin said:
Why?
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High mileage oils contain additional seal swellers. There are those that say the seal will only absorb as much as it needs - but I find that uncompelling. A seal is a composite. Changing what it has absorbed changes the composite. So I am in the camp of "if it aint broke don't fix it".

If I did have a leaky main seal I would definitely try a High Mileage oil.
 
Zee09 said:
Expensive oil can't fix bad engineering. Staying in the $20 to $25 range on a 5 quart jug is doing no harm as long as it meets the specs or approvals.
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Yes but it can slow down or completely negate the effects in the case of Amsoil. This is easily and commonly demonstrated here in Subarus for example. People running boutiques have no issues. Even using high quality OTS synthetics, people develop oil burning. There is a very easily observable spectrum of outcomes directly related to oil quality. I detailed it in this post with links to examples.
 
tired said:
Yes but it can slow down or completely negate the effects in the case of Amsoil. This is easily and commonly demonstrated here in Subarus for example. People running boutiques have no issues. Even using high quality OTS synthetics, people develop oil burning. There is a very easily observable spectrum of outcomes directly related to oil quality. I detailed it in this post with links to examples.
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Tell that to a 6.0 L powerstroke owner or a 5.4 L Triton owner etc.
Engines noted for catastrophic failure may get and extra 3 miles of life on a boutique oil.... 😁
 
Zee09 said:
Tell that to a 6.0 L powerstroke owner or a 5.4 L Triton owner etc.
Engines noted for catastrophic failure may get and extra 3 miles of life on a boutique oil.... 😁
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I don't know those engines specifically, but I'm sure there are some designed so poorly that no oil can pick up the slack.
 
tired said:
Yes but it can slow down or completely negate the effects in the case of Amsoil. This is easily and commonly demonstrated here in Subarus for example. People running boutiques have no issues. Even using high quality OTS synthetics, people develop oil burning. There is a very easily observable spectrum of outcomes directly related to oil quality. I detailed it in this post with links to examples.
Click to expand...
It’s application dependent. My daughter’s Hyundai PFI 1.8L survived on quick lube bulk for +200K miles before she got it. Doesn’t noticeably burn or dilute coming up on 220K miles. The engine design initially called for SM/GF4 so an SP or SQ budget full synthetic might as well be a boutique oil. It gets whatever we give it which is usually whatever is cheapest at time. Could be Supertech, NAPA, Quaker State, doesn’t really matter.
 
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