Made the switch from Amsoil to PP

[LexAtlanta]

I changed my oil this morning and made the switch to Pennzoil Platinum. In the past I have been using Amsoil 5W-30 but with Amsoil raising the prices, plus the shipping costs involved, even as a preferred buyer (or whatever its called to get the wholesale price) it seemed expensive. My OCI is 10,000 miles and I figure the PP is good for that amount of mileage even here in the heat and traffic of Atlanta driving. I run PP in my wife's 2007 Quest and it seems to do well. My Tahoe just turned 130,000 this week so I'll let you all know if performance is affected a lot....good or bad.

My Tahoe takes 6 quarts. Wally World had the 5qt jug of PP for $20 plus an additional quart for $5.39. NAPA NASCAR filter was $4.76. So for ~$30.00 I got everything. I will still use Amsoil products. Their 2 cycle 100:1 premix is awesome! With the economy and fuel like it is I am trying to save wherever possible.

 

[VK56VD]

Congrats on the switch. PP is a very good oil and is probably not going to affect performance. You may even look forward to seeing an increase in performance some where down the line.

 

[lazaro]

Originally Posted By: Spartuss
Congrats on the switch. PP is a very good oil and is probably not going to affect performance. You may even look forward to seeing an increase in performance some where down the line.


only if, some oil samples could of been taken to calculate actual price/performance,

 

[demarpaint]

+1 on the switch, I am switching from Mobil 1 to PP on my next OC on one of my vehicles. Not much of a savings, but every penny counts.

Frank D

 

[VWDaniel]

No UOA how can you tell whats going on. Over a year if you break it down Amsoil is cheaper,you can change it once a year or 25k. One oil change at even $80is cheaper than multiple changes thru out the year. No mater what oi you use UOAs are a good idea

 

[FrankN4]

You may or may not care about spec sheets, product data sheets, but that is something I check from time to time. I have used the same oil since 1990 because I have found nothing with better praduct data sheet specks for the grade of oil that I use.

If you look at the product data sheets for the Amsoil 5W-30 and the PP 5W-30, especially TBN, NOACK, HTHS, VI, and 40/100, the Amsoil is a far superior oil. That does not mean the PP will not be satisfactory for your use but to me 10,000 is a really long OCI, over 3 times longer than I have ever gone. You might want every margin you can get.

 

[BarkerMan]

Frank, if exact specs are that important then tell me the difference in performance I can expect using Amsoil over PP in moderate service at 10k intervals?

 

[FZ1]

Got a flash for you. Most people shouldn't run any oil for 25k. We don't have to run the absolute "best" oil. We just need to run a good oil. PP is a good oil. .02.

 

[Solo2driver]

Hmmmm PP is still $4.01/qt here in Southern California....maybe I should stock up

 

[jarvk22]

Guys some inside info. all the big name oil co. are having a big increase on 6-16-08 so stock up ASAP.

 

[FrankN4]

BarkerMan

TO ME, it is a matter of margins, not just X000 miles down the road but the day I change oil and filter. For example, the Amsoil has a TBN of 12.2, which is excellent. This is important if you consider a long OCI. The TBN is the total base number. Think of the TBN of telling you how much life is left in the oil. If you look at a UOA, it may say, "TBN is 2.7, etc... and there is still life in the oil." It has not become overcome by the contaminants.

The HTHS is the high temperature high sheer. The better this number, the beter the oil is going to stay in grade and should the oil temperature get somewhat high, or you really stress/load the engine, the oil is going to hold its film beter without rupturing or sheering. That one is really important to me.

Noack Volatility is a measure of the oil boiling/burning off at high temperature, and getting thicker. Again, the better this number, the better the oil will hold up especially at longer OCI.

The VI, viscosity index, tells you how well the oil stays in grade over changing temperatures. Again, this is a margin, but, one I would consider important if I were considereing a long OCI.

I would guess that I could put Amsoil in you car, have you drive it, then without your knowledge switch to PP, have you drive it, and you couldn't tell which was which. But one has better margins and at 10,000 OCI, I want all the margins I can get. I have 3 vehicles in use right now. One has 300,000 miles, 22 years old, one has 202,000 miles, 10 years old, and one has 800 miles, 2 months old. I will use every margin I can get to take the one with 800 miles to 300,000 miles. The oil I actually use, and have used since 1990, has even higher spec sheet numbers than the PP or the Amsoil. I once let my OCI go to 3,500 miles and when I discovered what I had done, I parked the truck until I got the oil and filter changed. That truck now has 300,000 miles on it, runs great, gets better mileage than the origional EPA estimates, doesn't use a drop of oil between OCI.

Again, this is all about margins. To me, margins are really important. You may have no thought of keeping a vehicle for 10+ years and 250,000+ miles, and you know that you will never overheat or overstress, PP will be a great oil for you and you will save some $$.

 

[Pablo]

Originally Posted By: Spartuss
You may even look forward to seeing an increase in performance some where down the line.


Not taking anything away from PP - but tell me more about this!

 

[Bill in Utah]

Originally Posted By: VWDaniel
No UOA how can you tell whats going on. Over a year if you break it down Amsoil is cheaper,you can change it once a year or 25k. One oil change at even $80is cheaper than multiple changes thru out the year. No mater what oi you use UOAs are a good idea


You need to get rid of the link and ZO number in your tag...

We have site sponsers who send $$$ into this board to keep it running. And they are known not to spread the Koolaid. They keep it real (ie, there are times where Amsoil is not needed or the best for the OCI/vehicle)

We have others who spread the koolaid (one even posted in this thread...)

Take care, bill

Bill

 

[Turk]

Before you take PP to 10,000 miles, check the UOA section for results of others that have done them with PP. IIRC, most run 6-8k and IIRC, PP is pretty good up to about ~7-8k.

I am not sure PP is what you want to go to 10k - I have pinged back and forth between Amsoil & PP on my truck for the last 60k, but I know darn well with what I read, I would not run PP to 10k. You are much better off getting the Amsoil if you are going to run that many miles between OCI's.

 

[Firehawk409]

Frank,

Do you mind telling me what oil you use? Not sure if it's a secret cause you only say "the oil i use". If that's the case maybe a PM?

 

[Yary]

Originally Posted By: Solo2driver
Hmmmm PP is still $4.01/qt here in Southern California....maybe I should stock up

$4.01? where?

 

[Solo2driver]

Originally Posted By: Yary
Originally Posted By: Solo2driver
Hmmmm PP is still $4.01/qt here in Southern California....maybe I should stock up

$4.01? where?


All San Diego County Wal-Marts still have it at $4.01, and $19.97 for the 5-qt jugs.

I was at Kragen/Checker/Schucks/Murray's yesterday and picked up the M1 0w-30 for $4.99/qt on coupon sale, but at reg price of $6.49 that is too much...they were working on an oil plan-o-gram for today (Sunday) that had ALL oil prices increasing another 10% or so, with another one planned for the following month.

Looks like PP is still the best bang-for-the-buck synthetic around, even if it is $5.76/qt elsewhere. Too bad I can't get it in a 40-wt for the Saab, but the Rotella Syn is still pretty cheap as well.

 

[FrankN4]

Firehawk409

It is not a secret. I use Mobil 1 15W-50 and have used it in every vehicle I have owned since 1990, my daughters and son in laws vehicles, and have many friends and close neighbors that use this oil. It has high ZDDP, high HTHS, and a fantastic film strength. We have used it in 1.5 L DOHC 4 cyl engines all the way to 5.7 L American pushrod V8's. My Toyota has 260,000 of its 300,000 miles on this oil. My wife's Cavalier has all of its 202,000 miles on this oil.

This oil is out of grade for every vehicle I have used it in and I have been warned that I will damage my engines with this oil. I have been warned that it could cause warranty problems.
I AM NOT RECOMMENDING THAT YOU USE AN OUT OF GRADE OIL, JUST REPORTING WHAT HAS WORKED FOR ME FOR 18 YEARS.

I am PAYING for a custom blended oil for my 2008 truck that meets some very special wants that I have.

 

[Johnny]

Agree with those who say don't push PP to 10K. With UOA would have no problem going 7-8K.

FrankN4, why in the world do you change Mobil 1 15W-50 at 3K. You say it's a matter of margins and at 3K you are no where near the margins of that oil. At a minimum I would take it to 5-7K, and maybe more. Darn good oil.

What custom blended oil are you using in your 2008?

 

[FZ1]

Maybe the oil starts thickening above a 50 grade and his cars won't go over 50???