Mobil 1 does contain Group III

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quote:

Originally posted by Sin City:
Losiho and Patman, BMW Canada is using Castrol Formula RS 0W-40 to service some of their newer vehicles. Several months ago I called the two BMW dealers in the Las Vegas area and both dealers had never heard of Castrol Formula RS 0W-40 synthetic oil so as far as I know it is not being used in the USA.

I remember DrT mentioning that a few weeks ago that the BMW 0w40 might possibly be the Formula R 0w40, however it's also $13 to $14 per liter too, versus $6.66 for GC or $7 and change for M1 0w40, so that's quite a large jump!
 
I would rather pay $6.66 per liter for the "German" Castrol Syntec 0W-30 than pay $13.00
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per liter for the Castrol Formula RS 0W-40. Both oils are ACEA rated A3/B3/B4.

[ March 23, 2004, 09:51 AM: Message edited by: Sin City ]
 
quote:

Originally posted by Ray H:
I've said it before, but it bears repeating - Group-IV is both an energy and a resource hog to manufacture and is in limited supply due to manufacturing constraints

Ray:

Sorry, I don't mean to de-rail this thread, but your statement above gives me cause for concern.

One of the reasons (among many) I switched to Mobil 1 was that I THOUGHT I was being environmentally conscious, i.e. not using up our precious petroleum reserves changing dino oil every 3,000 miles. If PAOs are that "unfriendly" to manufacture, perhaps I want to re-think my reasoning...can you expand on your statement a little?
 
quote:

Originally posted by Sin City:
I would rather pay $6.66 per liter for the "German" Castrol Syntec 0W-30 than pay $13.00
shocked.gif
per liter for the Castrol Formula RS 0W-40. Both oils are ACEA rated A3/B3/B4.


Yep, the difference in viscosity between the two is small also, GC is 12.2 while Formula R is 12.9

And I found my GC thickened up to 12.9 anyways by the end of the 6.2k interval. Perhaps the Formula R might have gone from 12.9 down to 12.0? If so, either way it's a wash.

But if the Formula R 0w40 did end up being repackaged as Syntec and also sold for under $7, that would be very cool. But to pay double the price for it just cuz it's got a BMW label on it, no thanks. I gotta draw the line somewhere. If I can get great results from a $7 oil, that makes me happy. Especially if I start doing 15,000km intervals, which gets me down to 2 oil changes per year from the current 3.
 
Although it has basically been proven in this thread that M1 is Group 4, for those interested I'd like to share part of an e-mail I received from a Mobil Australia customer service rep :

"Thanks for your enquiry regarding Mobil 1.

Firstly, all of the products that carry the Mobil 1 name are fully
synthetic, PAO based oils.
Unlike some of our competitors, Mobil believes that only oils that contain
only PAO base oils deserve to be called synthetic. We believe the superior
performance provided by such oils is unsurpassed and as such we clearly
market these oils separately.

Where we blend oils that contain a mix of mineral and synthetic oils, we
call these semi-synthetic oils. You can rest assured that when Mobil says
synthetic oil, we mean real synthetic, not high quality man made oil like
hydrocracked oils. "

"Unlike some of our competitors".....hmmm, I wonder which company he had in mind ?
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quote:

Originally posted by sprintman:
BP Visco 7000 0W40 is the same oil as Formula R 0W40. Maybe that's available in Canada?

I've never seen any BP oils up here actually.

I wish we had more 0w40s available, but all we have is Motul 0w40 ($13 a liter), Rotella 0w40 ($30 for 4L jug) or M1 0w40 (just over $7 per liter) There is also the BMW 0w40 at $13 per liter, which could possibly be Formula R 0w40 but that's not for sure either.
 
quote:

...and is in limited supply due to manufacturing constraints,...

I don't think POA's are in short supply since ChevronPhillips and 5 other producers are making PAO's. Actually, I think this is a good thing, since it might drive down PAO base oil prices, assuming crude oil prices stabilize.
 
quote:

Originally posted by Losiho:
"Thanks for your enquiry regarding Mobil 1.

Firstly, all of the products that carry the Mobil 1 name are fully
synthetic, PAO based oils.
Unlike some of our competitors, Mobil believes that only oils that contain
only PAO base oils deserve to be called synthetic.


It is very odd to see this printed. I have seen internal memos from corporate Mobil (not from a sales representative) which lead me to believe that from a chemical standpoint they don't even consider group 4 PAO to be a synthetic. The reasoning is that synthesized hydrocarbons are still hydrocarbons from the crude slurry. Mobil distinquishes their group4 SHC products as such in other marketing areas yet succumbs to the advertising hype in the USA.

I realize that this is all purely academic definition but some people at Exxon/Mobil actually consider synthetic lubricants to be none other than esters. PAO's are still synthesized hydrocarbons (SHC) and is labeled as such in Europe.
 
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