Originally Posted By: BTLew81
I've genuinely curious as to everyone's thoughts on HM oils. Seems to me that MaxLife is the champion of these oils and is well priced. Also, it seems like it has a good dose of Phos and Zinc.
Are they really necessary? Are they also a good choice for cars with fewer miles, if just to take advantage of a nice add pack and keep things clean?
Interested to hear your thoughts!
MaxLife synthetic blend has the ZDDP level of SM, GF-4, in both 5W and 10W-30. However, the ZDDP add pack is of higher endurance than most ZDDP packs and will probably be in all GF-5 oils. It meets all the GF-4 protection requirements but not the energy conserving specks. The big difference from a regular or syn blend oil is in the base oil and the add pack. The 10W-30 MaxLife blend has a HTHS of 3.3. It has a 100C cSt of 11.7. It is a low SA oil with 1910 calcium and 490 sodium for excellent detergents. It has a moly content of 300.
The full synthetic MaxLife has a HTHS of 3.6, it actually meets ACEA A3 specks.
Mobil 1 HM 10W-30 has a HTHS of 3.66, 100C cSt of 11.79, and 1000 ZDDP. It has extra boron, extra moly, and extra antioxidants.
Valvoline MaxLife blend, MaxLife full synthetic and Mobil 1 HM are rather heavy duty 30 grade oils with excellent add packs.
I like the add pack and the ZDDP used in the MaxLife oils but Mobil 1 has a primary PAO base, and both Valvoline oils have primarily the hydro-cracked heavy paraffin base oils(II/III blend and III.) Both Valvoline oils are SM and the Mobil 1 HM is SL.
Valvoline and Mobil both say it is perfectly acceptable to use their HM oils in new engines. Valvoline even warrants their oil for use in new engines. I know, comparatively, lots of folk that use MaxLife full synthetic 10W-30 in new vehicles.