Maxlife, Standard vs. Synthetic

[JZiggy]

I realize a PDS is only part of the story of a motor oil's performance, but compare the data:

Standard Maxlife (synthetic blend):
http://www.valvoline.com/pdf/maxlife.pdf

Full Synthetic Maxlife:
http://www.valvoline.com/pdf/maxlife_full_synthetic.pdf

The only benefit I see is in the lower NOACK of the 10w30 full synthetic.

Anything I'm missing here?

[I originally posted this mistakenly in the ATF section, FYI in case you see it there too]

 

[fdcg27]

You may not be missing anything.
Maxlife SB is very good.
It may be that Valvoline has updated the formulation of the SB more than it has bothered to do with the Full Synthetic.
The Full Synthetic is almost a unicorn, not widely seen on shelves, while the SB is everywhere.
Valvoline may not be putting much effort into an oil which is probably sold in pretty low volume, probably volume numbers similar to Durablend.

 

[Hermann]

Try a OCI of both. and see which one trips your placebo receptors. J/K they are both very good oils and IMO the Full Synthetic is one of the best oils on the market. Especially if you can find some SM/GF-4 on the shelves.

 

[Oregoonian]

Another 10w30 user....Hummm

Any reason your using a 10w30, when IMO, a 5w30 would serve you better....better cold start-ups and possibly a slight increase in MPG.

If you are tending toward a 'Blend', you might consider either Motorcraft of Kendall 5w30 semi-syn. Both have had excellent used oil analysis on this sight.

 

[fdcg27]

The OP lives in Georgia.
That is, the US state of Georgia, not the CIS Georgia.
They don't have much in the way of cold weather in GA, so there's no great advantage in a 5w30 over a 10w30.
We spent the night at a motel just south of Atlanta on a road trip in late December one year.
It had gotten cold overnight and the following morning there was a tiny patch of ice on a very mild upgrade into a bank parking lot which we could view from the place where we were having breakfast.
We almost died laughing at the inability of the Georgia drivers to cross a small bit of ice on a mild hill.
Any grandma from the north would have crossed it with aplomb.
My point is that it doesn't get all that cold in Georgia, so a 10w30 would be just fine, better than it was during the many northern winters where it was just fine as well over many years.

 

[Hermann]

I have 12 qts of the Full Synthetic 10w30 and eventually it will make it into a vehicle. It is my newest oil, so it will be a while. I am sure it will be the cause of a massive engine explosion.

 

[NMBurb02]

Originally Posted By: Oregoonian
Another 10w30 user....Hummm

Any reason your using a 10w30, when IMO, a 5w30 would serve you better....better cold start-ups and possibly a slight increase in MPG.

If you are tending toward a 'Blend', you might consider either Motorcraft of Kendall 5w30 semi-syn. Both have had excellent used oil analysis on this sight.

He never said he was a 10w30 user, he just pointed out that the NOACK of the 10w30 syn was significantly lower than all flavors of the syn-blends (and of the 5w30 syn for that matter): 6.x vs 10.x for all others.

And he never said he was looking to use a syn-blend, but was pointing out that the Full Synthetic MaxLife doesn't seem to have a strong advantage over the syn-blend.

 

[JZiggy]

Thanks NMBurb. Full points for reading comprehension

 

[ziggy]

My local autozone has the maxlife blend and synthetic...but at $8.99 a quart ouch!

 

[bigt61]

If you're trying to stop an actual leak, I'd stick with the blend. If it's a consumption problem, it's possible the full synthetic will work better.

 

[JZiggy]

The question is, are the two products truly different and if so, how? Is it possible they are really the same thing?