I took a look inside the engine with a borescope before using this oil. I found a lot of varnish but very little sludge. There was only a small amount in the lifter valley.
The engine had/has an oil consumption issue where it would be down 0.75-1 quart at 3k miles when she'd roll it into Jiffy Lube or Walmart Lube Center. During the oil change with the flush oil, it was consuming about the same rate for the first 1,500 miles and then slowed down. It was 1 quart down at 5k miles when I changed it. Given these results with the high amount of crud in the filter, I'm thinking there was a good bit of oil coked around the rings (likely from inferior, volatile base oils) that was causing the consumption and was cleaned up a bit by the flush oil. I have a feeling this engine still needs more cleaning.
She's always gone with the cheapest option which is likely conventional though she said she did get synthetic "a couple times when there was a special."
Her work commute is short at just 3 miles each way. She drives out to our house once a week about 40 miles each way.
But remember, we've been told Supertech is just as good as Mobil 1....
The API approvals, particularly historically, haven't set the bar very high. When you get into the Euro stuff, that's where the playing field gets levelled because the limits are so much more strict, the tests that much more difficult and subsequently the bar astronomically higher. That's evident even in just the basic specs like Noack.
I've seen inside the valve covers of our 5.7L HEMI's at work on NAPA bulk 5w-20 (Valvoline). They look nothing like my Mobil 1 engines, which are on much longer OCI's. Yes, anecdotal, but you see enough of the same or similar engines run on different lubes it's pretty easy to discern that there's a difference between the tiers of what's on the shelf.