Best Motor Oil For Engine Wear - The Facts Only - No Hype Zone Here

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About which oil to use: I've researched that and here goes:

Chevron Delo 400 Synthetic 0W-30 if you live north of Texas, and Mobil 1 0W-30 if you live south of Texas (southern states only).

Why? Almost half your lifetime engine wear occurs during cranking (confirmed by several engineer friends and also by Mobil Oil Company), so a 0W-30 is the right weight to cut wear down. The "0W" part means the oil gets up and gets going to the bearings the fastest during engine cranking at start-up. Therefore, a "0W" is the best. (A "0W-30" can be used where the manufacturer recommends a 5w-30.)

But why Chevron Delo Synthetic 0W-30 for anybody who lives north of Texas? Taking the "Dragnet" approach, "Just-The-Facts", look at the incredible technical spec sheet at http://bestsyntheticoil.com/dealers...une-17-2003.pdf and notice that Chevron, employing some of the best engineers and having some of the best labs in the world, have come up with a synthetic oil that has a Pour Point of -76 degrees below zero. BEST THERE IS. That low number means that their Delo Synthetic 0W-30 oil resists the thickening effects of cool temperatures, indicating that it is going to flow better when the weather is simply below freezing as well. By the way, the Chevron oil's Flash Point is still OK at 419 degrees (any number over 400 is good).

South of Texas (any southern state), its fine to use Mobil 1 0W-30, since its Pour Point is almost as good as Chevron's Delo Synthetic, and Mobil 1 has a slight edge on high temperature Flash Point.

Also, Mobil 1, like Chevron Delo Synthetic, is produced by world-class, well-funded engineers with some of the best labs anywhere. This means Mobil 1 or Chevron synthetic have proper additive packages in addition to having oil that flows at cooler temps and hangs in there at high temps.

One note: If racing or pulling a trailer, you might want to use Chevron Delo Synthetic 5w-40 weight or Mobil 1 synthetic 0w-40 weight. However, the 0w-30 weights in both brands of oil would probably do just fine there too. One more note about racing: Using Mobil 1 0w-20 may be the best for racing, since the lower-viscosity "20" number means it takes less horsepower to run the oil pump, giving you slightly more horsepower available to drive the wheels! Slight horsepower advantage with the thinner "0w-20" Mobil 1 synthetic, but possibly less engine life. Again, the Mobil 1 "0w-40" would make the engine last longer in racing, but it soaks up more horsepower than the Mobil 1 "0w-20" --- you choose which is more important when racing!

Chevron Delo Synthetic 0w-30 may only be available at trucking supply stores. Mobil 1 is available everywhere.

I don't work for Chevron or Mobil. I am an engineer (Mechanical/Aerospace/Computer) and I think you've got to go on the facts without ANY marketing hype.

It may be noted that Chevron sells the Delo Synthetic to trucking fleet managers who they know will see the numbers, so marketing hype is not going to suffice. That might be why Chevron has the best Pour Point while some other more heavily consumer-advertised oils don't.

For higher mileage (more than 75,000 miles) it may be good to go to Mobil 1 0W-40. Again, stick with the "0w", but in this case make the top number "40" to fill the larger clearances in older engines. I'm not completely sure about whether you really have to go to the 0w-40, and if it was me I would stick with the Chevron Delo Synthetic 0w-30 for any car in states north of Texas, and Mobil 1 synthetic 0w-30 for southern states, as in the analysis above, even for older engines.

I've got some good info on oil filters: Good ones are Purolator, AC, Bosch, Wix, Mobil 1, NAPA,... pretty much anything but FRAM. Ban Fram and you'll be fine. The details are at: http://minimopar.knizefamily.net/oilfilterstudy.html if you'd like to read all that. By the way, beware of oil filters that merely put a new label on an actual Fram filter. Compare the way the filter looks from the opening end if you aren't sure if it is really a Fram-filter-in-hiding.


good luck
 
IIRC GC 0w30 has a pour point of -81......and I think it has a higher flashpoint than mobil 1 0w30. Two oils may have vastly different pour points and have the same viscosity at 10 degrees, or 20 degrees or whatever. Some experts here think that pour point is merely academic in most cases. Russ Knize was a member here, last I recall. Everyone here is familiar with his study. Welcome to Bitog. I will think that you find that there is much more to an oil, than what you think.
welcome.gif
 
IIRC GC ?
I haven't heard of that oil, and a google.com search turned up nothing. It also doesn't appear on my list of 250 engine oils. The GC might stand for German Castrol. Is that right?
 
Maybe a good point to make is that an oil needs to be from a world-class company (Chevron or Mobil) with world-class labs, highly paid engineers, and the acounting-types in management should stay out, to avoid cost-compromises. After all, I'm after the best engine oil, not the most compromised and hyped.

The IIRC GC does sound remarkable if it has a pour point of -81 deg F, with a high flash point, too.
 
quote:

Originally posted by Engine_Mapper:
Maybe a good point to make is that an oil needs to be from a world-class company (Chevron or Mobil) with world-class labs, highly paid engineers, and the acounting-types in management should stay out, to avoid cost-compromises. After all, I'm after the best engine oil, not the most compromised and hyped.

I agree. Too bad that is not always how it works. Often the largest companies are controlled by profit for the shareholders.
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IIRC stands for "If I Remember Correctly".

[ March 23, 2004, 12:30 AM: Message edited by: sbc350gearhead ]
 
quote:

Originally posted by sbc350gearhead:
IIRC GC 0w30 has a pour point of -81......and I think it has a higher flashpoint than mobil 1 0w30. Two oils may have vastly different pour points and have the same viscosity at 10 degrees, or 20 degrees or whatever. Some experts here think that pour point is merely academic in most cases.

Castrol Elixion 0W-30 (England) has a pour point of -70 deg F (-57 deg C) on their own spec sheet on the web. I found a German Castrol website, but I don't think they have a spec sheet there (or my German is not good enough to find it).

Of course, the problem with Castrol is simply trying to figure out if you are buying the Syntec (not as good) formulation or actually getting the German or English version. Very confusing.

On whether Pour Point is academic, I think that an oil must remain a liquid to get to the bearings. Thinner when cold is better, unless there is a weird non-linearity in the viscosity change from the Pour Point to the actual cold-start temperature. Without a graph to look at, the Chevron Delo Synthetic 0w-30 is still the one, although Mobil 1 and English Castrol come very close.
 
quote:

Originally posted by sbc350gearhead:
IIRC GC 0w30 has a pour point of -81......and I think it has a higher flashpoint than mobil 1 0w30. Two oils may have vastly different pour points and have the same viscosity at 10 degrees, or 20 degrees or whatever. Some experts here think that pour point is merely academic in most cases. Russ Knize was a member here, last I recall. Everyone here is familiar with his study. Welcome to Bitog. I will think that you find that there is much more to an oil, than what you think.
welcome.gif


OK, I finally got it (copied from another post):
German Castrol 0w-30:
Color: Green
Pour Point: -61*C (-78 F) ** NOT BAD!!!!!!!
Flash Point: 238*C (460 F) ** VERY GOOD
Viscosity @ 40*C: 68.5
Viscosity @ 100*C: 12.1
Viscosity @ 150*C: 5.7
HTHS: 3.6
Cold Cranking Vis @ -30*C: 3200
TBN: 10.6
VI: 179

We have a winner. GC 0w-30 beats Chevron Delo Synthetic 0w-30, but its hard to buy.
 
An oil must not only be a liquid......It must be thin enough for your oil pump to pump it. Pour point doesn't have alot to do with with the pumpability point. For instance, Pennzoil straight 30 has a pour point of -22. Pennzoil high mileage 10w30 also has a pour point of -22. Which one will have better cold temp pumpability? As far as building a better oil.....there is still the issue of additive package to consider as well.

There are chemists, and various experts here, who will blow your mind with their vast knowledge of pour point depressants, VI improvers, cold temp properties of various basestocks, etc. Unfortunatly, I am not one of them.
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I bet that Molakule (resident expert on this site), or one of the other guru's will chime in tomorrow.
smile.gif
 
Motul oils with a very low pour point.

8100 E-tech 0W-40

also,

Motul E-tech Lite 0W30.

Viscosity at 100c = 10.2 cSt
Viscosity at 40c = 58.1 cSt
Viscosity Index = 177
Pour Point = -76 F
Flash Point = 432 F
TBN 12.5

Edit: corrected specs

[ March 23, 2004, 02:07 AM: Message edited by: Bobert ]
 
quote:

Originally posted by Bobert:
Motul oil with a very low pour point. Specs were copied from another thread.

Motul E-tech Lite 0W30.

Vis at 100c = 10.2
Pour Point = -76F
Vis Index = 177
Flash = 482
TBN = 12.2


Like the German Castrol 0w-30, which seems to have won the Pour Point -- Flash Point spread wars, I don't think I can buy this Motul anywhere around here. Besides, its Pour Point only ties the Chevron Delo Synthetic 0w-30.
 
quote:

Originally posted by Engine_Mapper:
Originally posted by sbc350gearhead:
[qb]
German Castrol 0w-30:
Color: Green
Pour Point: -61*C (-78 F) ** NOT BAD!!!!!!!
Flash Point: 238*C (460 F) ** VERY GOOD
Viscosity @ 40*C: 68.5
Viscosity @ 100*C: 12.1
Viscosity @ 150*C: 5.7
HTHS: 3.6
Cold Cranking Vis @ -30*C: 3200
TBN: 10.6
VI: 179

We have a winner. GC 0w-30 beats Chevron Delo Synthetic 0w-30, but its hard to buy.
It is available at AutoZone in the U.S.
 
quote:

Originally posted by SSDude:

quote:

Originally posted by Engine_Mapper:
Originally posted by sbc350gearhead:
[qb]
German Castrol 0w-30:
Color: Green
Pour Point: -61*C (-78 F) ** NOT BAD!!!!!!!
Flash Point: 238*C (460 F) ** VERY GOOD
Viscosity @ 40*C: 68.5
Viscosity @ 100*C: 12.1
Viscosity @ 150*C: 5.7
HTHS: 3.6
Cold Cranking Vis @ -30*C: 3200
TBN: 10.6
VI: 179

We have a winner. GC 0w-30 beats Chevron Delo Synthetic 0w-30, but its hard to buy.
It is available at AutoZone in the U.S.
But is that Castrol Syntec? That is not the same as the German (nor the English) Castrol. How do you know what you are getting. I thought the inferior Syntec was the only one they market in the U.S.
 
quote:

Originally posted by SSDude:

quote:

Originally posted by Engine_Mapper:
Originally posted by sbc350gearhead:
[qb]
German Castrol 0w-30:
Color: Green

We have a winner. GC 0w-30 beats Chevron Delo Synthetic 0w-30, but its hard to buy.
It is available at AutoZone in the U.S.
I just remembered something. I don't know why I didn't think of this before. I had a BMW 5-series a couple of years ago. The BMW-brand oil, available at all BMW dealership parts counters, may be the elusive and hard-to-find German Castrol "Bigfoot" sighting after all. However, I seem to remember that BMW was demanding use of some higher viscosity numbers than my preferred 0w-30. That could be a problem.
 
The Castrol SLX 0w-30 (sold in Europe) and German Castrol Syntec 0w-30 (sold in U.S.) are the same animal. It's not too hard to find, as I have some sitting on my desk.
grin.gif
 
It is comical when someones makes the statement that a oils is "THE BEST" and bases this observation on only two data points.
 
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