An opinion on popular synthetic oils...

[pbm]

I was perusing a website for a popular vehicle when I came across this opinion from one of the moderators. I won't identify the site for various reasons but his 'Tiers' seem to fly in the face of BITOG conventional wisdom.
Moderators: If it isn't cool to post this then by all means delete it. I just thought it was interesting.


Tier 1
Group 3/4/5 base stock blends.
- Amsoil Signature Series 0W-30/5W-30
- Pennzoil Ultra
- Quaker State Ultimate Durability

Tier 2
NOACK of under 11%, TBN of at least 8. These are mostly Group 3 hydrocracked oils.
- Amsoil OE
- Amsoil XL (Same as Amsoil OE but with high additive package for longer drain intervals)
- Auto Extra
- ENEOS Synthetic
- Kendall GT-1
- Pennzoil Platinum
- Royal Purple HPS (NOT the standard Royal Purple at your auto store; not recommended below freezing temperatures)
- Schaeffer's Supreme
- Shell Formula
- Super Tech Synthetic

Tier 3
Use these if you cannot get your hands on any of the above oils. These are Group 3 hydrocracked oils but have a higher NOACK volatility than Tier 2 oils.
- Mobil 1
- Mobil 1 Super Synthetic
- NAPA Synthetic
- Redline Synthetic 0W-30
- Valvoline SynPower

NOT RECOMMENDED
- Royal Purple (excessive thinning, shearing, and elevated wear metals)
- Mobil 1 Extended Performance (very low film strength according to Shell's 4-ball wear test and poor thermo-oxidization resistance)
- Castrol Edge (very low film strength according to Shell's 4-ball wear test), excessive use of Mg-based detergents.

 

[Amirkhat]

Interesting, is this a non bias source I wonder. Also, I have noticed in one study conducted by an oil company, their top competitors rankings were just about always last. In addition, the company (listed in tier 1 above) that conducted it did not always place first. I am not aware of any studies that are conducted totally independently, does any one else know any, if so please do share!

 

[Redpatches]

Let the wild rumpus start.

 

[MrHorspwer]

Tell us the website and release the horde!

Seriously though... it lost all validity when it says Redline is a hydrocraked Group III and that 4-ball wear test results (performed by a competitor no less!) is a reason to shelf an oil.

 

[LoneRanger]

Well the source categorized Mobil 1 wrong because it contains Group V Alkylated Naphthalene as the additive carrier so technically it is a III/V blend. They may even be using their propreitary VISOM III+ product in the automotive Mobil 1 instead of std III. I think the entire list is arbitrary.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: pbm

- Castrol Edge (very low film strength according to Shell's 4-ball wear test),

Oh dear. Not this again...

 

[andrewp1998]

Redline oils are all ester syns,, I checked their site

 

[Sayjac]

Originally Posted By: pbm
...NOT RECOMMENDED
-.... Mobil 1 Extended Performance (very low film strength according to Shell's 4-ball wear test.....

 

[tommygunn]

Auto Extra is the same thing as Napa Synthetic, both being rebranded Synpower...

Also, PP is GTL now. Even the pre-GTL PP was the same as QSUD, and of course QSUD may also be GTL now.

M1 0w20, 0w30, and 0w40 are also a step better than other varieties of M1. Same goes for Castrol's 0w30.

Do you have a link by any chance?

 

[Quattro Pete]

There are so many things wrong with that list, it's not even worth dissecting. Just kill it. Kill it with fire.

 

[Shannow]

Hmmmm, another Amsoil dealer plain making stuff up (*) to diss mobil and sell HIS product.

(*) note, learned from another thread, this is not saying that they all do so, but this is another one of the ones that do.

 

[Nickdfresh]

Well, I certainly going to stop using Mobil 1 as a lube for my four ball machine!

 

[pbm]

Yeah, I thought the knock on Mobil 1 EP was way off base.

I found it interesting that he thinks so highly of QSUD.

 

[Trav]

Unbelievable. Some of the outright tripe floating around the web is insane. .

 

[oldhp]

Well that's nice. I guess I ruined my 4-ball engine by using Mobil1.

 

[Gradient]

Originally Posted By: MrHorspwer
Tell us the website and release the horde!

Seriously though... it lost all validity when it says Redline is a hydrocraked Group III and that 4-ball wear test results (performed by a competitor no less!) is a reason to shelf an oil.


www.cruzetalk.com

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Gradient
www.cruzetalk.com

Thanks. Shannow was right.

 

[Pablo]

Originally Posted By: andrewp1998
Redline oils are all ester syns,, I checked their site


No, no they aren't. They use PAO and ester.

The list above is garbage. Not even worth discussing.

Can someone link to one of the base oil irrelevance threads please?

 

[spasm3]

Mostly speculation?

 

[tig1]

Originally Posted By: LoneRanger
Well the source categorized Mobil 1 wrong because it contains Group V Alkylated Naphthalene as the additive carrier so technically it is a III/V blend. They may even be using their propreitary VISOM III+ product in the automotive Mobil 1 instead of std III. I think the entire list is arbitrary.


+1. Most everything in this is wrong because he doesn't have a clue of what the base stock is of these oils.