Not trolling, but all things being equal, why not just use SuperTech for everything?

[Hall]

I don't care what other people are using for their oil choice, I worry about what I can control in life.

That's the same reason I don't announce or even ask about oil (and filter) choices in my case. Someone will chime in about why it's a bad choice (and throw around abbreviations for things they actually know nothing about or repeat when someone else said as if it's factual).

 

[OppositeLocK]

That's the same reason I don't announce or even ask about oil (and filter) choices in my case. Someone will chime in about why it's a bad choice (and throw around abbreviations for things they actually know nothing about or repeat when someone else said as if it's factual).

Nothing wrong with sharing opinions and knowledge, sometimes you just have to wade through the BS.

I certainly don't have the answers to everything and am happy to be proven wrong because it means I learned something from it.

 

[Hall]

I need 504 and 508 oils in 3 of my vehicles.

What would happen if you didn't use those oils ?

Heck for the first couple years my wife did the "free" oil changes on her CRV at the dealer. They did not use "Honda" oil. They did not even use bulk brand name top tier oil. Man I think ST might be a step up from unknown, verbal, bulk oil.

Was the engine replacement covered under warranty ?

 

[Hall]

So how can it be Kirkland > Walmart assuming it's the same manufacturer and certifications? I highly doubt they would formulate a superior oil for Costco. Chances are it's the exact same thing with a different label.

It's hypocrisy on the part of the people you're referring to

 

[Brons2]

I'm not opposed to using Supertech, the vehicles in my garage are not exactly on the bleeding edge of technology.

But I have more than 150 quarts of Chevron Pro Deposit Shield in my garage that I paid less than half the price of Supertech oil for. So I'm going to keep using that. I am running a Supertech oil filter on my wife's Outlander, so WM did get that business.

Come to think of it, I bought some clearance 10w40 QS HM at WM to put in the Navigator for less than ST oil, and I bought the FL-820S filter at WM. So they really should be happy with me even if I'm not buying supertech.

Someone earlier in the thread was complaining about Walmart's predatory pricing practices. When it comes to oil, I am happy for these practices because oil companies are some of the most profitable companies in the world. I have no problem with Walmarts practices beating up EOM on prices.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Supertech Wpp Synthetic was great in the old days. Remember when it met/conformed to Corvette GM 4718M? Folks started taking notice.
It thought it was better than many of majors back then IMO. Last time I tried (maybe 4-5 years ago) it it wasn't great at all.
My WM has the habit of putting supertech bottles with used oil up on the shelves. I don't know if this is tech in the Service center or customers returns. I have to Make sure the seal isnt broken and sniff the stuff. Nobody ushered me out for doing this yet
I have my magic blend of Valvoline Advanced and Maggie. we will see how the new Valvoline formulation works.
I would be happy to use it straight without the maggie if the engine likes it.

 

[OppositeLocK]

Supertech Wpp Synthetic was great in the old days. Remember when it met/conformed to Corvette GM 4718M? Folks started taking notice.
It thought it was better than many of majors back then IMO. Last time I tried (maybe 4-5 years ago) it it wasn't great at all.
My WM has the habit of putting supertech bottles with used oil up on the shelves. I don't know if this is tech in the Service center or customers returns. I have to Make sure the seal isnt broken and sniff the stuff. Nobody ushered me out for doing this yet
I have my magic blend of Valvoline Advanced and Maggie. we will see how the new Valvoline formulation works.
I would be happy to use it straight without the maggie if the engine likes it.

I've never heard of that... but it's easy to unscrew the cap and see if the seal is there. That's if it's not one of those caps that has an integrated seal already.

 

[Drew7a]

Before we send Wal-Mart down the toilet, consider this. Walmart's vary just like car dealers. The Walmart in the non inner city locations are very nice places to shop here in the Kansas City area. Mine is clean, staffed by long term employee's and have done a fantastic job during the pandemic. No where else I have shopped has had fewer price increases, and the one that happened are not excessive. Yes, the 800 lb Gorilla has its plus side.

When Walmart says we are not paying more to their suppliers, most are knuckling under. I have even seen that went up and now are back down to the pre pandemic prices. Even toilet paper has come down in price. No longer do I change my own oil. My oil changes are at the dealer for $50 which includes tire rotation and fluid top offs.

No one is sending Walmart down the toilet as you have alluded to. Simply stating that to some Walmart brand carries a certain stigma. Just like some will not use Dexcool Antifreeze or Fram Filters. See my previous post people are fickle.

 

[dbias]

What would happen if you didn't use those oils ?


Was the engine replacement covered under warranty ?

What would happen if I didn't use 504 or 508? The world will never know

 

[Blagoje]

Engine is an FA20DIT in a WRX. I take LSPI very seriously and I also know TGDI engines like to shear oil hence the frequent changes.

Not willing to risk it with today's TGDI engines. Subaru recommends every 6,000 miles.

Based on what I know about that specific engine and the fact that I have seen an abundance of UOA reports for that engine with several different oils, I would say that if you are going to use a Super Tech brand oil that you should keep it at the recommended severe service interval of 3000 miles. That engine is particularly hard on motor oil not to mention the fact that most WRX drivers tend to run their cars a bit harder than the average car driver.

Otherwise I would strongly recommend Shell Rotella T6 Multi Vehicle 5w30 as that has a solid track record of producing excellent results in that specific engine. I would also consider using a Euro 0w40 or PCMO 5w40 if you don't want to spend the money on RT6MV. I recently purchased and used Pennzoil Platinum Euro 0w40, which happens to be API SP rated, in my Hyundai GDI and so far it has been running well. Any 0w/5w-40 PCMO from Valvoline, Mobil 1, and Castrol would be suitable as well and those are fairly easy to find and acquire.

 

[SevenBizzos]

Not trying to start a forum war, but I've been wondering, if you're someone who changes oil frequently, does it make sense to use anything other than SuperTech synthetic? I've never used it before, what I've used previously is Mobil1 AFE, Valvoline SynPower, or Castrol Edge Titanium. My goal is to maximize engine reliability.

Is there really any difference using something like Castrol Edge vs SuperTech (both 5w30)? If both are D1G2, SN+, and GF-6 certified, and you do changes every 4,000 miles or so, what's the downside? I don't mind paying more if I'm getting my money's worth, but lately everything has been around double SuperTech's price. So if there's truly no benefit, I'd rather not throw away money.

Engine is an FA20DIT in a WRX. I take LSPI very seriously and I also know TGDI engines like to shear oil hence the frequent changes.

LOL. Yeah, the irony gets me too. You'll see posts where car nerds talk about oil and go into depth about which ones and immediately follow that up with a "Throw in SuperTech and forget about it" post. It's amusing to me.

 

[OppositeLocK]

Based on what I know about that specific engine and the fact that I have seen an abundance of UOA reports for that engine with several different oils, I would say that if you are going to use a Super Tech brand oil that you should keep it at the recommended severe service interval of 3000 miles. That engine is particularly hard on motor oil not to mention the fact that most WRX drivers tend to run their cars a bit harder than the average car driver.

Otherwise I would strongly recommend Shell Rotella T6 Multi Vehicle 5w30 as that has a solid track record of producing excellent results in that specific engine. I would also consider using a Euro 0w40 or PCMO 5w40 if you don't want to spend the money on RT6MV. I recently purchased and used Pennzoil Platinum Euro 0w40, which happens to be API SP rated, in my Hyundai GDI and so far it has been running well. Any 0w/5w-40 PCMO from Valvoline, Mobil 1, and Castrol would be suitable as well and those are fairly easy to find and acquire.

I considered using the others like 5w40 but was worried about the lack of D1G2 and LSPI being a bigger issue so I opted for a more frequent interval to combat it. In fact, I may go down to a 3,000 mile interval just to be extra safe.

 

[Hall]

I considered using the others like 5w40 but was worried about the lack of D1G2

Your car is a Subaru. Dexos is irrelevant to it. Yes, it's a competent standard and nothing wrong with Dexos-certified oil.

and LSPI being a bigger issue

If I'm not mistaken, this is (somewhat) addressed in API SP oils so Dexos alone isn't needed. Plenty of oils are SP and not Dexos. Remember too that Dexos will never certify an oil in a viscosity that GM doesn't use.

 

[ka9mnx]

So how about some details on your oil? Was it Super Tech?

F150: First ten years the previous owner took it to a Quaker State quick lube place (180k miles). Next ten years was a mix of oils and viscosity's including M1. Next 3 years mix of oils (some SuperTech). Last 5 years SuperTech.
4Runner: Whatever Toyota used from previous owners. Last 5 years (me) SuperTech.

 

[OppositeLocK]

Your car is a Subaru. Dexos is irrelevant to it. Yes, it's a competent standard and nothing wrong with Dexos-certified oil.

If I'm not mistaken, this is (somewhat) addressed in API SP oils so Dexos alone isn't needed. Plenty of oils are SP and not Dexos. Remember too that Dexos will never certify an oil in a viscosity that GM doesn't use.

That's an interesting point and one I hadn't considered. But I thought D1G2 was a very stringent standard specifically made to protect against LSPI so I figured it'd be better to have it than not.

 

[ka9mnx]

That's an interesting point and one I hadn't considered. But I thought D1G2 was a very stringent standard specifically made to protect against LSPI so I figured it'd be better to have it than not.

It is. LSPI and timing chain wear.

 

[bullwinkle]

That's an interesting point and one I hadn't considered. But I thought D1G2 was a very stringent standard specifically made to protect against LSPI so I figured it'd be better to have it than not.

It is, but you'll never see a Dexos 10W30, 0W40, or any 10W or higher than a 30. Interestingly, Warren makes those other viscosity oils, and even In a magnesium detergent heavy formulation (usually SP/GF-6A) to reduce LSPI, but GM doesn't recommend them.

 

[bluesubie]

I considered using the others like 5w40 but was worried about the lack of D1G2 and LSPI being a bigger issue so I opted for a more frequent interval to combat it. In fact, I may go down to a 3,000 mile interval just to be extra safe.

Extra safe from what? There are no guarantees in life. Whether your interval is 3k, 4k, 5k, the DIT FA's are showing 2-5% fuel dilution. Used viscosity on 5W-30's in the FA24DIT is showing pretty much the same as used viscosity of 0W-20's. Maybe less wear with a shorter interval? Are you doing uoa's?

That's why many WRX owner's use ACEA C3 5W-30's like Motul or Mobil 1 (and the RT6 MV mentioned by @Ignatius ). So yes, the bigger brands have more choices of higher HTHS oils. Other people just want to use the brands they like, or the oil that has the coolest bottle.

 

[Rand]

Total nonsense.

Same driving conditions, same change interval, same filter, same fuel.....so, all things other than the oil itself being equal. How else do you compare something? By testing under different circumstances? Put 100,000 miles without changing one oil and compare it to another oil that's never been driven and say the 100,000 mile one is crap in comparison?

Maybe you should take your own advice instead of trying to sound smart.

Your whole premise of ST being "good enough" then saying you are doing 3k and 4k oci for better protection is a contradiction.
So now you are saying its not Good enough and we should go back to 3k OCI?

Also trying to draw a picture that affects everyone when vehicles and use differs so much means your over generalization is a turd that smells bad.

I have no issues using it in a port injected engine calling for conventional or a weak spec such as chrysler ms-6395

In an engine that requires certain specs such as VW, Mercedes, jeep ms-13340. I wouldnt use it. I certainly wouldnt use it and act like shortening the OCI to 3k is better than just running an oil that meets the certification required.


Let me remind you my "smart"response that triggered you was in reply to your title

"Not trolling, but all things being equal, why not just use SuperTech for everything?"

You arent talking about just using it in your subaru.. but everything... that would just be a terrible idea. Personally I think using it in your subaru and running 3k oci because its not good enough is also a terrible idea over using a better oil, but hey thats just my opinion. I also pay less for PP and RGT MUCH less than ST costs.. so why would I pay more and use ST in everything?

 

[JTK]

I do use it for every motor oil, gear oil and grease application I can use ST for.

I've got no way to sing it's praises other than it works for me, is readily available and a good value for what I get.