How much better are engine oils that far exceed API ratings?

[OilUzer]

When in doubt, the best oil is a shorter OCIs ... and thicker.

Otherwise, if you don't trust your judgement and/or chasing fancy bells and whistles (approvals), I see Euro oil on sale quite often. That is if the price is a concern! Clint Eastwood used Euro For a Few Dollars More.

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

Define far exceeds. I've never seen that hype on any oil label.

 

[nascarnation]

"Even the best oils couldn't help the Chevrolet Vega engine last." Ouch, that one hit home. Also, not related to the oil, the Vega rusted through quicker, and more completely than any other vehicle I've ever owned. But the wife got it in the settlement, I figured it was the least I could do.......

On one of my Vegas, the head gasket failed but not at the cylinder bore to head joint, it was from the coolant passage to the outside at the rear of the head. Very unusual. The other problem I had was the valve stem seals. They were low grade nitrile that with heat and oil transformed into a rock hard condition. When you removed them, they broke into
pieces. And due to the OHC design, they basically pumped oil down the valve stems.

 

[facility1]

go look up Cenex Maxtron gasoline engine oil on their site, it says far exceeds, got a case of the 5w-30 in my oil stash yet to use, sounds like good stuff, posted on here in past to see if anyone else has used (no recent info) ....see what you all think?

 

[02zx9r rev2]

Where is @kschachn when we need him most?

What do you need him to say

 

[Foreman04]

What you can be sure of for the most part, are the major oil companies will squeeze every spec to its bare minimum and every penny to its max. That of course doesn’t mean that their oil is not good and as long as it meets the spec that’s what matters. Where as the “boutique formulators” have more incentive to exceed a given specification. That can certainly result in a far better oil, but then you must question whether or not that really matters as long as the specification is met. So an engine oil that exceeds API specification can be far better but it depends if that is important to you vs just meeting the API requirements.
Disclaimer - I’d say many on this site already realize this so forgive my post and I also didn’t read every thread in this post if somebody has already said the same.

 

[Plumb Bob]

What do you need him to say

It was intended as a lame joke. This, like many others during the last 20 years, is another "Best Oil" thread. The member mentioned above "specializes' in using the search function to bring up the previous threads that have discussed the [dead horse] topics before.

 

[wsar10]

That went well...

 

[Revving2Redline]

Well I would worry about best or better as we have a ton of gear heads in here whom have went beyond what is normal rates of power for a car. I think for those I hope they are putting priorities into better oils

 

[wpod]

How disappointing. I just spent an hour at WM reading all the oil jugs looking for the one that claims

"Far EXCEEDS API Ratings!"

New and improved !

 

[02zx9r rev2]

It was intended as a lame joke. This, like many others during the last 20 years, is another "Best Oil" thread. The member mentioned above "specializes' in using the search function to bring up the previous threads that have discussed the [dead horse] topics before.

I know. I got you

 

[userfriendly]

www.oilspecifications.org

When API isn’t good enough for you.

 

[Revving2Redline]

As in cvt fluid, i choose fluids with higher cst and such as the factory spec fluid just didn't cut it