AMSOIL Signature series 5w-30 group test...

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Hi,
zpinch - These comparisons appear from time to time. They are a great selling platform for the Company generating the publicity material

The only real test is in real world operations - most of us on here have seen enough of these publicity documents already!
 
I like how they play fast and loose with the per quart costs (chart 2) and they base the Amsoil OCI at 11,318 miles but the others at 4,777, which leads to the "surprising" conclusion that using Amsoil is not more expensive than the lowly other synthetics.
 
Yes, I too choose to ignore that comparison (overall cost) as it is extremely arbitrary...

You have to admit though, when an oil is superior in almost every performance aspect, it 'has' to be good. I would say Pennzoil is a good second for overall performance.

I am not sure I like the 4 ball wear test, for reasons that Mobil1 SURELY can't be that bad in 'most' real world situations... obviously it's not as majority of the time there is a film of oil that is working and not the extreme anti wear additives working. This kinda gives merit to some people getting back high Iron readings in their UOA.
 
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Hmm, let's see out of 6 criteria presented by (biased) Amsoil:

Four ball wear test is meaningless for engine oil

Starting TBN is not as important as TBN retention

Cold crank viscosity doesn't apply to me and if it did I might go for a 0w instead of a 5w

If TEOST mattered I would go with Castrol Edge with Titanium over Amsoil

Noack requirements for my hot running engines are covered by the MB229.5 spec.

And their cost comparison is way off because I run my synthetics twice what they say plus I get them for $0 to $3 a quart. So Amsoil would be way more expensive than the alternatives.
 
Hi,

Originally Posted By: zpinch
This kinda gives merit to some people getting back high Iron readings in their UOA.


Please define what you mean by "high Iron readings", and how a single pass "simple" UOA may be definitive in such wear?
 
Originally Posted By: zpinch


I am not sure I like the 4 ball wear test, for reasons that Mobil1 SURELY can't be that bad in 'most' real world situations... obviously it's not as majority of the time there is a film of oil that is working and not the extreme anti wear additives working. This kinda gives merit to some people getting back high Iron readings in their UOA.


The test is for gear lubes and there is one for greases.
 
From 25k on easy (with bypass filter), to 15k on severe (with bypass filter), to 11k on average ... A lot of oils can run 11k w/o that price tag.
 
i get my amsoil for $9.50/qt. I dont see how that is expensive.

i would like to see TRC engine oil in this test, both their Gp3 and Gp4 blends... their group 3 has TBN of 15 minimum, and according to a couple UOA i have seen, the best TBN retention i have seen.
 
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Originally Posted By: Apollo14
Hmm, let's see out of 6 criteria presented by (biased) Amsoil:

Four ball wear test is meaningless for engine oil. it means something

Starting TBN is not as important as TBN retention. it has good TBN retention

Cold crank viscosity doesn't apply to me and if it did I might go for a 0w instead of a 5w. crank viscosity means something to me where i live

If TEOST mattered I would go with Castrol Edge with Titanium over Amsoil. this test they are so close....

Noack requirements for my hot running engines are covered by the MB229.5 spec. what does this even mean

And their cost comparison is way off because I run my synthetics twice what they say plus I get them for $0 to $3 a quart. So Amsoil would be way more expensive than the alternatives.
. i don't want to know what you do to get oil for $0.00/qt....
wink.gif
 
Originally Posted By: zpinch
i don't want to know what you do to get oil for $0.00/qt....
wink.gif



Are you sure?

Well I'll tell you anyway.

You buy when there is a store promo and a generous manufacturer rebate. The previous Pennzoil FRN promo was worth $4 a quart on Pennzoil and Ultra.
 
Nice rebate, I will have to try Pennzoil Ultra when the amsoil is ready to be dumped... I only have 5000km on the bypass setup.
 
Yes, we've discussed this AMSoil test here from time to time, and I do like it, despite self-serving conditions that AMSoil imposed on the test. In my opinion, Ultra won the comparison because the assumptions in the economic analysis were made to favor AMSoil. But I believe the technical data is valid because it was produced by a 3rd-party lab that has top-notch credentials: Southwest Research Institute.

Unfortunately, Pennzoil Ultra has changed since this study was done, and PUP 5w30 has much higher Noack.
 
Originally Posted By: zpinch
i get my amsoil for $9.50/qt. I dont see how that is expensive.


Compared to what? I get a Schaeffer 9003D 5w30 full syn (group IV/III combo) shipped free to my house for about $5.70 a quart as of my last buy. One of the oil brands that I have never seen Amsoil compare any products to.
 
yes, i would like to see schaeffers compared in a test as well.

AHarmon, i thought people were showing that PUP WAS NOT as good as the Ultra? This new formulation [censored] is hard to keep up with.... lol

I am really liking the way my 2003 CRV runs on amsoil SS, but i contemplating trying something different each oil change... otherwise I will run amsoil until the end, whenever that will be (dual remote bypass installed).
 
As A_H mentioned this Amsoil comparison has been discussed many times on this board; it's well over a year old now.
Firstly this is a very limited number of oils that are compared and depending what criterion are important to your application there can be no winner. And why is a heavy A3/B4 oil like RL in this comparison of much lighter A5/B5 oils? If they had to include RL they should have selected their lighter 0W-30 but of course it's not a 5W-30 grade which is self limiting.

The only test of any value that we don't see very often was TEOST and that could be of value to those with DI engines.

If you really want to see a great 5W-30 comparison of probably almost 50 different conventional and synthetic oils is to check out the PQIA website, but you'll have to choose your own winner:

http://www.pqiamerica.com/March2013PCMO/Marchsyntheticsallfinal.html
 
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