Greetings!! This is my first to this forum (just found it today!) Regarding oil usage, I can speak from personal experience. I work for a large state agency that beats the #@$%! out of their cars 8 hours a day. Sometimes, these cars are driven at FULL-throttle for 30-45 minutes (or more), then forced to idle for sometimes more than an hour in the heat of California's Central Valley. The heat here is not quite as bad as Death Valley but were trying! On a daily basis, every car put into the field is taken from 0-60+, at full throttle, 10-15 times a day; every day. It's not uncommon for cars to go from being parked at the office (i.e. cold) to an extended full-throttle run in less than a minute. What I'm saying is, we abuse our cars more than probably anyone. Particularly the way any self-respecting owner who loves their car. (Even those who run theirs at the track.) We've had everything from Ford Crown Victoria's, Mustangs, to Chevy Caprice's. In 17 years I have NEVER, EVER, seen, heard, or read of even one case of an oil related engine failure- EVER! With a track record like that you'd think were using some super synthetic oil that maintains a perfect hydro-dynamic wedge between all moving engine parts, during all driving conditions at, all times, ...bla, bla, bla. We're not. Our oil is standard "mineral" (e.g. not synthetic) 30W or 10W-30 depending on the time of the year. The brand is the type you get at your local gas station. Nothing special at all! We run our cars out at 100,000 mi. so longevity isn't an issue either.
That being said, it's seems that a minimum protection baseline can be established using even 'average' oils in cars that get beat-on every day. However, I just can't bring my self to use an 'average' oil in any of my vehicles; especially the high-performance ones. Yea, I did a bunch of research, talking to several oil companies. As you might imagine, they all said their oil was best. (Just like gas companies want you to buy Premium because it cleans deposits better. Yea, right!!) Personally, I chose Mobil 1 in varying viscosities depending on what vehicle it's going into. I only change it every 7000 mi., or once a year, if it's in a vehicle that's parked most of the time. In my SRT8 Charger I use only what Mopar recommends, 0W40. That way, if anything breaks in the motor, I have given my pain-in-the-a$$ local Dodge dealer one less excuse for not covering the warranty.
M
