Originally Posted By: unDummy
There are dozens of other variables other than mileage.
Also, comparative study and why many of us are here.
Exactly. The point of a UOA is to learn something. Any mileage for a UOA is totally justified if it helps you answer your questions. If you need a shorter mileage UOA to help answer your questions/concerns, do it. If you are either not curious or don't think you need a UOA at all, don't do it. If you think a longer UOA will answer your questions, do that.
For example a person may want to do a shorter UOA if they:
have an engine that is known to destroy oils quickly or has high fuel dilution
wonder how does your oil hold up with different driving patterns or weather change, etc.
have done modifications and want to see how that affects oil life
have a concern that something might be wrong with their engine
enjoy teasing out which oil performs best in their engine
want to see how a change in viscosity affects oil life or other properties
want to see how an additive affects the oil
If you are trying to learn the absolute wear rate of your engine, a single-pass UOA is probably not going to help you unless you have many of your own UOAs to trend, other UOAs from similar units to compare to, and probably expert advice such as Dyson