A BITOG mental exercise

[Graham Piccinini]

Days of $2/qt oil are over. Seems like $3/qt is the new "cheapest oil" category standard. One hero stands tall in that category - Super Tech Heavy Duty 15w40 at $11.74/gallon, which works out to $2.94/qt. Or $3.58/qt if you buy in 1qt bottles. Or $2.92/qt if you buy in 2-gallon jugs.
Realistically - this oil can successfully be used in a 1-cyl air cooled motorcycle, a 3-cyl Mitsubishi Mirage, or 16-cyl Bugatti, as well as everything in between. May not be the correct spec, but it will do the job, as long as it's within the temperature limits of 15W-40 (which in general is roughly -15C to +40C or 5F to 104F), and shouldn't cause any oil-related issues that have to do with level of protection that this oil offers. Some engines have factory defects, and no oil can stop those from blowing up or spinning a rod bearing. So we'll leave those out of this exercise (BMW V8/V10 for example).

The Mental Exercise: in a wide range of automotive engines and vehicles (ignoring motorcycle engines with shared sump) can we come up with scenarios/vehicles where Super Tech 15W-40 won't be able to protect the engine well enough? For the sake of the exercise let's say that said engine won't see ambient temperatures outside of 15W-40 range, and engine isn't a subject to overheating issues. Period of protection needed is 150k miles with 3k-5k OCIs. Go.

 

[kschachn]

Is this a “thick vs. thin” or “meaning of the winter rating” discussion? I can see both here.

 

[RoadDukie]

I'm pretty sure this 15W-40 would work just fine in a shared sump motorcycle too.

 

[4WD]

Not putting that in my GDI engine

 

[RooflessVW]

Noack and SA too high for modern passenger vehicles with DPF/GPF

 

[simple_gifts]

It is a mental exercise against purpose built lubricants that offer more and better choices. j/k. I suppose we can do that with tires too.

Have started my Echo @ 10F with 15W-40; I 'can' do it according to the spec, but why would I?

I am going to the tax office to pay my overdue taxes if anyone is interested.

 

[Graham Piccinini]

Is this a “thick vs. thin” or “meaning of the winter rating” discussion? I can see both here.

More of "If this was the only oil available, would you trust it in any motor you got, or are there potential applications where it would cause harm?"

I'm pretty sure this 15W-40 would work just fine in a shared sump motorcycle too.

It would, and it does. Reason why I felt like the shared sump category should be excluded is - all things being equal (ambient temp, mileage, OCI) the oil in a shared sump will be beat up badly in 5k OCI, compared to a separate sump with the same 5k OCI.

Not putting that in my GDI engine

Good point. But if (for whatever imaginable reason) that was the only option available for long term, then I wonder how that would affect the intake runners and the cleaning interval? Intake ports and valves on a GDI need to be cleaned no matter what oil is used, but I never saw any info (school me if I missed it) on how using HDEO in GDI affects the carbon buildup and LSPI issues, vs using LSPI-battling oil. For example: are we talking 80k-100k intervals on recommended oils VS 60k-80k on HDEO between manual cleaning? or way more often? I just don't know, will research.

It is a mental exercise against purpose built lubricants that offer more and better choices. j/k. I suppose we can do that with tires too.

Have started my Echo @ 10F with 15W-40; I 'can' do it according to the spec, but why would I?

I am going to the tax office to pay my overdue taxes if anyone is interested.

But that's what it is though - how much better are purpose built lubricants truly? If they are 100%-500% more expensive, does that proportionally reflect on their performance as well? Or are we as consumers paying 300% premium for 25% increase in performance? Just throwing numbers out there... But hope my point comes across.




I guess mainly what "grinds my gears" is - Could an HDEO 15W40 just be used long term across the board, with only adjustment being the length of the OCI? And if not - then which applications are a 100% NO-GO for the Super Tech 15W40 HDEO?

 

[kschachn]

More of "If this was the only oil available, would you trust it in any motor you got, or are there potential applications where it would cause harm?"

We've had quite a few of those over the years as well, this is a variant if "If I had to choose only one brand/grade/specification/approval for my entire fleet what would I buy?"

 

[Graham Piccinini]

We've had quite a few of those over the years as well, this is a variant if "If I had to choose only one brand/grade/specification/approval for my entire fleet what would I buy?"

Yea... Oil forum, yunno?

I did pick one approval for my fleet - Porsche A40. But with Super Tech being ~60% cheaper I couldn't help, but wonder - are oils of my choice really THAT much better in performance, or just marginally edging it out? Does 60% price premium equal 60% better performance? Would long term use lead to issues? And if so, then in what scenario/application? Stuff like that...

P.S. Boring day at work, so my mind is drifting off into oil topics and speculations. Co-workers don't share my fascination with automotive lubricants, so I venture over to a forum dedicated to automotive lubricants.

 

[PandaBear]

If you see all the certificate the engine need I don't see why wouldn't it work well. If you don't see the certificate you need then are you feeling lucky?

 

[Cujet]

Some will even find that such an oil choice will result in exceptionally long engine life.

 

[kschachn]

Yea... Oil forum, yunno?

I did pick one approval for my fleet - Porsche A40. But with Super Tech being ~60% cheaper I couldn't help, but wonder - are oils of my choice really THAT much better in performance, or just marginally edging it out? Does 60% price premium equal 60% better performance? Would long term use lead to issues? And if so, then in what scenario/application? Stuff like that...

Supertech is 60% cheaper than Castrol 0W-40 at Walmart?

And no, unless you have a specific problem with a higher SAPS oil then it won’t cause problems.

 

[Graham Piccinini]

Supertech is 60% cheaper than Castrol 0W-40 at Walmart?

And no, unless you have a specific problem with a higher SAPS oil then it won’t cause problems.

Current price for Castrol 0W40 is $24.47. Works out to $4.894 per quart.
Current price for SuperTech 15W40 is $11.74. Works out to $2.935 per quart.
Excuse me for being incorrect, I was just throwing numbers out there to make a point. Actual difference is 40.02%. Supertech costs 59.97% of Castrol.

Happy?

 

[kschachn]

Right okay yeah I forgot it was Supertech conventional.

 

[Slow Car Sport Mode]

If you see all the certificate the engine need I don't see why wouldn't it work well. If you don't see the certificate you need then are you feeling lucky?

I'm sorry this pic contains the word punk but...

For levity.

 

[Nick1994]

Alright, who remembers the good ol' days of $0.33 MaxLife NextGen 10w40 and $1 Pennzoil Ultra?

 

[ollie]

P.S. Boring day at work, so my mind is drifting off into oil topics and speculations. Co-workers don't share my fascination with automotive lubricants, so I venture over to a forum dedicated to automotive lubricants.

What the heck? I can’t remember a job I got paid for that allowed me to steal time so I could post on a social media platform. I lived in a working environment where I took pride in my job and always found something to do even when bored or slow.

Super Tech Heavy Duty 15w40

There is no vehicle I owned or currently own that I would put that oil in.

 

[Graham Piccinini]

Alright, who remembers the good ol' days of $0.33 MaxLife NextGen 10w40 and $1 Pennzoil Ultra?

That comment hurts... Imma go cry over my stash...

 

[Graham Piccinini]

What the heck? I can’t remember a job I got paid for that allowed me to steal time so I could post on a social media platform. I lived in a working environment where I took pride in my job and always found something to do even when bored or slow.

Great for you bud! Here is a pat on the back for you, you deserve it.
My job is always done 100% and I pick up the slack of a few lazy co-workers. So if I do get time to sneak up on the interwebs - I will. Especially if I get paid for it and already am forced to stare at the computer and monitor run states of billion$ worth of equipment.

 

[JustinH]

I'll say anywhere down south you can put 15w40 in a car and won't have problems. If you don't believe me check the oil recommendations in Australia and other countries where its hot, and there is not CAFE standards.