Amsoil ATF 25k miles vs SPIII 25k 2006 Kia Rio

[Cup of Joe]

Comparison of Amsoil ATF and SPIII both with 25k miles. The SPIII was the factory installed fluid. The pan was dropped/cleaned and refilled with SPIII for another 15k miles before another pan drop and flush with Amsoil. Along with the pan drop and flush I added a magnafine that was replaced at 15k miles of the amsoil run. The magnafine was added due to the lack of a replacement transmission filter until July 2008 when they finally made them available. The filter has not been replaced but there is a replacement on the shelf for the next pan drop.

 Code:

2006 Kia rio total mileage at 2nd UOA was 65141

1st column amsoil atf 25041 miles on fluid 
2nd column SPIII aft 25712 miles on fluid




 		Amsoil ATF	SPIII
Iron		17		38
Chromium	0		0
Nickel		0		0
Aluminum	15		24
Copper		59		42
Lead		1		0
Tin		3		3
Cadmium		0		0
Silver		0		0
Vanadium	0		0
Silicon		17		16
Sodium		5		5
Potassium	1		0
Titanium	0		0
Moly		0		0
Antimony	0		0
Manganese	0		0
Lithium		0		0
Boron		190		34
Magnesium	0		2
Calcium		84		67
Barium		0		0
Phosphorus	453		198
Zinc		5		16

[email protected]		5.9		4.53
TAN		1.84		1.16 
Solids		<.1		TR
Ox		41
Nit		12

 

[bepperb]

That's a pretty unfair comparison for wear metals, with one being the breakin lube. Though, the Amsoil did hold its viscosity a little better.

 

[LargeCarManX2]

What are the prices of the two Automatic Transmission Fluids? Or the difference between them in cost?

 

[Cup of Joe]

There is no break in for automatic transmissions. This is PPM so I would call them a wash on wear. What is more important to me is how the fluid is holding up. VOA SPIII for reference the vis dropped like a rock in use. I will say Terry recommended no longer then 30k miles on the SPIII at the most. For the OEM fluid or nothing crowd this clearly does show there is no issues using Amsoil in place of SPIII. The cost of the SPIII depended highly on where it was purchased. I bought 2 quarts at the kia dealer, they charged $9 per quart. I went down the street literally to the mitsu dealer and it was less then $6 per quart. That was 2 years ago, I don't know the price now. The amsoil is today $7.28 per quart in a 2.5 gallon container. The amsoil is still serviceable and the transmission shifts much smoother then with SPIII.

 

[Pablo]

Good info. One more nail in the "Amsoil eats the [censored] out of Kia AT's" rumor coffin.

 

[benjamming]

Which labs?

 

[Cup of Joe]

Staveley for SPIII Polaris for amsoil

 

[Brons2]

Sheesh. What in the world is so special about SPIII? Nothing, it looks like.

 

[REDDOG]

The Amsoil ATF works great in SPIII apps. I ran it out to 45k in a Mitsu Outlander with great results. I second the better shifting part as well.

 

[unDummy]

Amsoil is definitely holding up better, and has a pretty stout additive package. Wear is wash. I'd swap the magnefine with a permacool. I don't think that the micron rating is good enough. A quality oil filter should do better. Toss on a filter mag and you'll have a longer lasting cheaper to replace oil filter. And, there is nothing special about SPIII.

 

[Cup of Joe]

 Originally Posted By: unDummy

I'd swap the magnefine with a permacool. I don't think that the micron rating is good enough. A quality oil filter should do better. Toss on a filter mag and you'll have a longer lasting cheaper to replace oil filter.

I had the same idea. I bought everything you just listed before going with the magnafine, but I could not find enough room to mount the filter. I slapped the filtermag onto my tractor and I may mount the permacool on it for use with a bypass filter.