ATF: Maxlife, Royal Purple, or Redline D4?

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RPMster

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Gonna be doing a 2X drain/fill soon on my 2006 Sonata (V6, 5AT). I've been doing 2X drain/fills using the factory SP-III stuff every 25K miles. The car is approaching 75K miles. I've noticed the SP-III seems to be pretty well spent by 25K miles, so I'll be using a full synthetic this time around.

I've always liked Valvoline products, and you can't beat the price considering Maxlife ATF is full synthetic. Redline D4 seems to do well in a lot of applications. I haven't heard much about Royal Purple ATF, but it is easy to find in local stores around here and their synthetic PSF has been working well in my car. As far as fluid life and smooth shifting are concerned, will I really see any big differences between these 3 ATF choices (other than the substantial $$$ savings with Maxlife)?
 
My only experience is with maxlife in a honda with 252 k miles. Shifted soo buttery smooth afterwards, loved it.
 
I would personally go Maxlife. Shifts are smoother in the Corolla than Schaeffers was. Hard to beat that price as well.
 
Maxlife. Changed to it in response to M1 pricing and could not be happier.
Just did a 3rd drain and fill(after 20K miles on first 2 drain and fills) on wifes Mazda 3 and it has really helped with the 3rd to 2nd downshift clunk/shudder. Not to mention seems to be staying cleaner than Mazda M-V GARBAGE that came as factory fill. Did I stress enough about Mazda M-V being GARBAGE.
smile.gif
 
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Thanks for the responses so far. I checked out the product info PDF for Mobil 1 Synthetic ATF, and Exxon-Mobil does not recommend it as suitable for use in SP-III applications. Also looked at the other Mobil non-syn ATF's. Same deal - no mention of SP-III. As for Amsoil, it bugs me that it's not available in local retail stores and I just can't get past that for some reason.
 
Originally Posted By: RPMster
Thanks for the responses so far. I checked out the product info PDF for Mobil 1 Synthetic ATF, and Exxon-Mobil does not recommend it as suitable for use in SP-III applications. Also looked at the other Mobil non-syn ATF's. Same deal - no mention of SP-III. As for Amsoil, it bugs me that it's not available in local retail stores and I just can't get past that for some reason.

That is whats always bothered me as well about Amsoil.
 
Originally Posted By: RPMster
As for Amsoil, it bugs me that it's not available in local retail stores and I just can't get past that for some reason.


I don't know why it bothers you, but there's 2 locally owned retail stores near me that stock Amsoil products. I'd rather buy from the internet because the prices at those local stores is pretty high, though the Severe Gear at these local stores is still no higher than Mobil 1 75W-140 at Auto Zone.
 
I remember seeing Amsoil motor oil (but no ATF) at the local Kragen store, before Kragen was taken over by O'Reilly. Have not seen it lately, though, and no other stores around here ever carried it as far as I know.

I noticed Advance Auto Parts had Maxlife in gallon jugs for about $20. I was hoping to score a few gallons and use the online coupon code, but none of the AAP stores in the Pacific region can get it for some reason.
 
Mobil had to "reformulate" their Multi-Vehicle ATF because it wasn't California compliant.
Don't ask what was changed because I have no clue. It was banned for sale for about 8 months though.
so ridiculous.
 
Reformulate, or simply change the label?
From the feel of the Mobil1, with the new label, I don't anything has changed. YMMV, but being JASO-1A hints compatibility with the Asian ATFs.
 
Originally Posted By: EricF
Mobil had to "reformulate" their Multi-Vehicle ATF because it wasn't California compliant.
Don't ask what was changed because I have no clue. It was banned for sale for about 8 months though.
so ridiculous.


Are you sure? I don't think any ATF would be "non California compliant". Unless someone sue for its performance (or the lack of) for certain models / make to be claimed multi-vehicle.
 
so maxlife is synthetic? good to know. I thought it was just really good dino atf. either way its going in one of my cars in the next couple of days. I think I have the factory fill at 60k, so I hope for slightly improved shifting.
 
+1 for Maxlife

I would go for M1 full syn ATF before RP or amsoil.

I was thinking of RP ATF but went with the M1 as it is cheaper and available locally and its VOA looked as good as RP.
 
MaxLife Dex/Merc ATF was recently reformulated to comply with the viscosity requirements of Dexron VI specification. But MaxLife is not a certified Dexron VI fluid, because it does not use the mandated Afton additive package. Prior to this reformulation, MaxLife had a higher viscosity that was compatible with the Dexron III and Mercon specifications.

I like the Dexron VI specification, but anyone who is concerned about thin ATFs like Dexron VI should be aware that MaxLife is just as thin (6.11 cSt @ 100 C). See

http://www.valvoline.com/pdf/Maxlife_ATF.pdf

MaxLife appears to be the least expensive synthetic ATF that satisfies the Dexron VI specification (according to tests conducted by Valvoline).
 
I was impressed by how many OEM specs Maxlife is recommended for. It even covers the new Hyundai SP-IV spec, which just came out about a year ago.
 
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