HPL 5W40 testing complete (for now), all data etc. provided here

TiGeo

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So I’ve been running several different HPL oils for the last ~10 mos in my ’18 Golf Sportwagen (tuned, larger turbo, blah blah blah) over variable conditions including drag racing (40+ runs), normal daily driving which for me is a bit spirited, and a number of hooning mountain runs (Tail of the Dragon etc.). Unfortunately I didn’t get to test it at the track yet as the HPDE I had planned on attending back in March was cancelled due to snow but I will be attending two multi-day HPDEs before the end of year with HPL in the crank case, at least that's the plan.

Sitting sadly at the shop waiting for a new timing chain kit which should be done by early next week:

Thread on this issue can be found here:
20220918_150242.jpg

engine bay.jpg

The oils have been the current formulation of their 5W40 Euro oil, the previous formulation of this oil, and a custom blend of this oil that David had made for me to try. This has been over ~10K miles so 2 changes. Unfortunately due to a mechanical issue (timing chain tensioner…not lubrication related!!!) the third run of HPL oil I have in there now will be dumped next week with only about 500 miles on it; my shop will fill with Liquimoly Leichtlauf High Tech 5W40 which is no issue; I’ll likely do a short OCI with that to flush anything else that may be in there out due to failure and go back to HPL Euro.

My goal was to see/test/check if the viscosity drop I see over my OCIs could be reduced using HPL products with higher quality base stocks and formulations. In the end, what I have going on in my car appears to be a bit of fuel dilution combined with a some small volume of oil remaining in the engine (that will be lower viscosity) after a change.

Here are my UOA and VOA data. David @High Performance Lubricants has been great to work with on this including running some split samples I sent him to look at BS’s results. To be transparent, to-date I have paid for the 12qts of Euro 5W40 oil used for this testing and I was given the 12 qts of custom oil to try with the arrangement of sharing data and samples to help with development. I also used a qt of the Engine Cleaner before switching to HPL at the ~73K change from the Liquimoly Molygen I was running; I ran the EC for about 2K miles prior to the oil change.

In the end, for me and how I use this car, I'm going to use the best I can put in it and will continue to run the HPL 5W40 Euro going forward...probalby start buying this stuff in larger containers with the new shipping deal he has!

Here is a key for the VOA/UOA data with dates/mileage:
HPL testing key.JPG


VOAs –the first oil I tested on 2/13/22 was the custom formulation of their 5W40 Euro oil and the second on 8/24/22 was their revised formula; I didn’t do a VOA on other intermediate oil I had which was their standard Euro 5W40 (as of the first part of this year, formula has since changed) that I ran. The revision looks to have added some moly, has a higher TBN, and a higher 100C viscosity. Also note the Si values of ~10ppm which you will see in the UOAs….no…it’s not the high-flow air filter I run with my aftermarket intake.

VOAs:
VOA-page-001.jpg


UOAs – I did a lot of these b/c per convos with David, he suggested collecting samples after about ~500 miles as a baseline vs. comparing to the VOA. Additionally, I ran a short ~500 mile OCI as a “flush” oil to test the fuel dilution hypothesis and to see if there was older oil not being drained contributing to the drop in viscosity. This confirmed I am getting some fuel and likely a bit of old oil both contributing to the drop in viscosity to the 30W I always see at the end of an OCI vs. mechanical shearing that I was concerned about.

UOAs:
UOA-page-001.jpg

All oil changes since new UOA info:
UOA data.JPG

Graph from above table for ending 100C viscosity and % drop vs. VOA:
viscosity chart.JPG


All oil changes since new wear metals:
wear metals.JPG
 
Cool stuff!

I'd love to use the HPL, but based off of my driving style, I don't think I'd be worth it for me.
 
Hope he’s smarter - had to show CC how an overhead booze dispenser worked (AC lounge) …

We shall see, look what happened with CC and that Brinkley girl in the pool, but on a more serious note, it is nice ta see members here who have used HPL reporting back.
 
Pondering while eating breakfast. All these UOAs and you found your engine problem via filter inspection. Could we question , was the problem caused by the oil?
 
That is a fair and relevant question!
You can easily read my OP and answer that question as all the details are presented. I also thought I was clear in the Ceratec thread that I wasn't running any additional additives with the HPL oil.
 
Pondering while eating breakfast. All these UOAs and you found your engine problem via filter inspection. Could we question , was the problem caused by the oil?
Not that I can see - the problem was caused by a mechanical failure of the tensioner spring and wasn't lubrication-related that I can tell and merely coincidence with the change in oil.
 
You can easily read my OP and answer that question as all the details are presented. I also thought I was clear in the Ceratec thread that I wasn't running any additional additives with the HPL oil.
Now you are confusing me, isn't this the car you used Ceratec (and posted a picture of you pouring it it in) and MoS2 in previously? If so isn't the effect of the Ceratec supposed to last 30K?
This has nothing to do with the oil or any oil for that matter, I have to question the validity of the UOA regardless of the oil used or are you saying the Ceratec didn't last and is basically snake oil of no value when a premium oil is used?
 
Now you are confusing me, isn't this the car you used Ceratec (and posted a picture of you pouring it it in) and MoS2 in previously? If so isn't the effect of the Ceratec supposed to last 30K?
This has nothing to do with the oil or any oil for that matter, I have to question the validity of the UOA regardless of the oil used or are you saying the Ceratec didn't last and is basically snake oil of no value when a premium oil is used?
I used Ceratec at my ~20K oil change; I'm at 84K now so that is long gone; you may be thinking of my W8 Passat that I used Ceratec in about a year ago and posted a picture. Per LM, the solids will be gone after the next change but the other "chemical friction modifier" will be good for 30K. My UOAs showed the spike in boron and moly after use. You can go back and search my UOAs in the appropriate forum if you are interested in the impact of Ceratec on my UOAs; UOA after application of Ceratec was 2/20/2020 @ ~30K so my longest OCI. You can also look at my trend lines for wear metals at that time; note that I swapped in a low-mileage turbo just after that change which shows a corresponding rise in wear metals (iron) as would be expected after a new part is installed.
 
Pondering while eating breakfast. All these UOAs and you found your engine problem via filter inspection. Could we question , was the problem caused by the oil?
Did you see the rise in aluminum in the last change? That's what prompted the filter inspection combined with the noise. All the details of that issue are in the linked thread in my OP.
 
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