Is it just my 'magination ... ?

[Eiron]

This is the first time in nearly 20 yrs that I've used a 50wt oil, & I don't remember if my Bug reacted differently when I switched from 2&1/2qts of Castrol 10W-30 to 2qts of Castrol 20W-50 (& 1/2qt of graphite additive).

So now in my Saab, I've switched from 4qts of Castrol Syntec 10W-30 to 4qts of Mobil 1 15W-50. My expectations were that I'd lose some engine noise, fuel efficiency & hp. Well, the engine noise is down as expected, but I'm not seeing a change in either fuel efficiency or hp. Fuel use is easy enough to quantify with a pencil & paper, but hp isn't. And this is where my imagination comes into play. I'd expected to see slower acceleration & quicker deceleration due to the thicker oil creating more drag on all the engine parts. Well, acceleration doesn't seem any slower than it already was (3,000 lbs, 14yrs-old, 161k miles, 2.0L 4cyl), & deceleration, if anything, seems to be taking longer than before (sometimes it feels like an auto tranny instead of a 5sp manual!). It's been 11k miles since my last tuneup, & 2k miles since I put in the 15W-50.

So again, is it just my 'magination ... runnin' away with me?

 

[unDummy]

Mobil1 vs Castrol Syntec???? Let the battle begin!

Stick with your imagination. I've always felt that Mobil1 was better than the Syntec.

Lately, I've avoided the M1 15w50 because off all the engine clearance/tolerance hearsay. But, I think it is mostly BS since it "Flows at -45°C (-49°F), pumps at temperatures as low as many conventional SAE 5W-30 oils." Also it is factory fill for a car with no MPG worries--"Mobil 1 with SuperSyn™ 15W-50 is factory fill in Ford Mustang Cobra R."

I probably wouldn't use it in a brand new car requiring Xw20 motor oils, but once the 100k's of miles racks up, anything goes.

Because of the high mileage of your engine, I wouldn't be surprised if you are experiencing better engine compression and better oil pressure with the thicker oil, which might make up for the added resistance to flow.

 

[J]

quote:

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Originally posted by Greg Netzner:


So again, is it just my 'magination ... runnin' away with me?

---

Hey Greg,

I think it's your lead foot. You've been
braggin' that you can go 120mph up a 6% grade
at 10,000 feet above sea-level with a 2.0L
NA engine in your Saab.

So, under such conditions, I'm betting a
wimpy xW-30 weight oil is not able to stay
in the bearings and provide hydrodynamic
lubrication.

Good thing you're finally using a quality oil.
Otherwise, it could have been early trip to
that junk-yard in the sky for Wiggly-mobile.

Jae

 

[J]

quote:

---

Originally posted by J:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Greg Netzner:


So again, is it just my 'magination ... runnin' away with me?

---

Hey Greg,

I think it's your lead foot. You've been
braggin' that you can go 120mph up a 6% grade
at 10,000 feet above sea-level with a 2.0L
NA engine in your Saab.

---

Sorry about that. It's actually Vlad "the
Impaler" who managed to coax 120mph up 6%
grade at 10,000 feet above sea-level with 2.0L
NA engine. My mistake!

By the way Vlad is called the "impaler" for
an entirely different reason than you might
imagine.

Jae

 

[Eiron]

quote:

---

Originally posted by J:
... Sorry about that. It's actually Vlad "the Impaler" who managed to coax 120mph up 6%grade at 10,000 feet above sea-level with 2.0L NA engine. My mistake! ...

---

Thanks for clearing that up; I was beginning to think there was another me driving around in the car I should've had all this time! (The last time I was going up a grade like that at 10k feet, I had two other people in the car & I was struggling to maintain 45mph! "3rd!! No, 4th!! No, 3rd!!"

)

And I hate to be the one to bring this up, but I think you need to get out on more dates. (Yes, I know about your weekend arrangements, so please don't restate them here & embarrass both of us...

)

 

[Eiron]

quote:

---

Originally posted by unDummy:
... Because of the high mileage of your engine, I wouldn't be surprised if you are experiencing better engine compression and better oil pressure with the thicker oil, which might make up for the added resistance to flow.

---

Would this prolong the deceleration cycle? It's just weird (to me) that the engine revs as high as it does for as long as it does on this oil. Could it also be partly due to a Group IV oil being "slipperier" than a Group III oil? Or a better FM package in M1?

 

[sprintman]

That 15W50 M1 would be good for my old turbo but strangely not sold here. Guess the 40W70 (yes 40W70) I saw at Autobarn the other day will have to do?

 

[J]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Greg Netzner:

quote:

---

Originally posted by J:
... Sorry about that. It's actually Vlad "the Impaler" who managed to coax 120mph up 6%grade at 10,000 feet above sea-level with 2.0L NA engine. My mistake! ...

---

And I hate to be the one to bring this up, but I think you need to get out on more dates.

---

Hey Greg,

I think that I need to go on more dates too.

Also, I've been hanging around too many
Italians. If you think I'm wild and crazy, you
don't know the half of it!

Jae

 

[Flimflam]

quote:

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Originally posted by sprintman:
That 15W50 M1 would be good for my old turbo but strangely not sold here. Guess the 40W70 (yes 40W70) I saw at Autobarn the other day will have to do?

---

Sprintman, when reading your post, I am reminded of a guy who wrote in here some joke about Texans. It went something like, "Real men use only Straight 90-Weight gear oil in their engines. And when they're done with it at 100,000 miles, they use it as cooking oil, shave cream, or toilet un-clogger depending on whether they happen to be hungry, hairy, or Gotta Go."

Maybe that's why Texan's and Aussies get along!!!! That is, after they are done beltin' each other from one end of the bar to the other!!!!

 

[Eiron]

quote:

---

Originally posted by sprintman:
That 15W50 M1 would be good for my old turbo but strangely not sold here. Guess the 40W70 (yes 40W70) I saw at Autobarn the other day will have to do?

---

40W-70 huh?

So which cars want this?

And what do you replace it with when the weather turns warm?

 

[sprintman]

I was joking about me using 40W70 in my turbo but I did run Penrite 25W70 'turbo' for a year before I discovered this sight. There was plenty 40W70 on the Autobarn shelves, maybe it cooking oil?. And yes Texans in fact all yanks get on well with Aussies even after belting the beejesus out of each other. Something to do with who can drink the most beer or Bourbon maybe?