Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
How could you possibly tell the difference in real world applications?
Simple - do a controlled series of micro-analysis UOAs. It will take about 60 UOAs total, over perhaps 300k miles.
But that is why you don't see these here at BITOG; takes too much time, money, patience and dedication. Aspects and traits that most BITOGers simply don't have, or at least are not interested in.
I will say that, presuming one runs a "normal" OCI plan, it simply won't matter which product you choose overall. The engine will likely fail from some other malady long before a lube-related issue specific to brand loyalty would ever cause it to stop running.
The PQIA info is good info, but only if you understand what it's telling you. It is NOT, repeat NOT, intended to find a "best" lube. That is NOT what the PQIA has as a goal. Their goal is to show how API qualified lubes compare/contrast. But they do NOT pick "winners" that are "best". Essentially, that PQIA info is perhaps "best" utilized in the example of showing that there are many, many roads to the same destination. While you'll see many different formulations for HDEO and PCMO products, they all do a great job of protecting the equipment.
We have literally thousands of UOAs here on BITOG that prove this out. There are thousands of examples of UOAs that show a long list of successful lubes doing their job quite well. It's hard to know which is "best", because too many folks lack the dedication to really define and find the answer, but what we can take from these UOAs is that they all show decent products do decent jobs. And most any UOA here is an example of how to under-utilize a fluid. VERY FEW extend out their OCIs to a point where real condemnation limits are met. Most OCI when they get the jitters and can't keep their hand off the wrenches, because they succumb to some arbitrary mental limit long before the lube is used up. Therefore, the UOAs here typically will never show which is "best", but they certainly can show which ones are capable of doing the minimal job most folks put them up to.
If one wants to know what is "best" for any specific application, then a large controlled series of data is required. (See my article on the homepage for UOA data understandings).
If one wants to know what is well more than good enough, then pick any API qualified lube and live long and prosper.
