Folks,
I've seen all too many YouTube videos where people test the lubricity of a motor oil on a lubricity tester, test its cold flow performance, and test how much is lost when it is kept at a high temperature for a few hours.
I think the lubricity test is somewhat bogus - nowhere in an engine is the oil film strength challenged anywhere nearly as much. Cold flow matters a bit, but it's not clear to me that the differences in cold flow are significant in an engine.
The volatility might be significant, depending on the engine.
Yet Mobil 1 focuses on engine wear after running an engine 120,000 miles (straight, with zero cold starts, and only temperature cycles when the oil and filter are changed). Pennzoil focuses on piston cleanliness.
It seems to me that there are only a few things that matter for a motor oil:
1) Engine wear.
2) Ability to protect an engine during a cold start.
3) Engine cleanliness - Cause no sludge and remove existing sludge.
What do you say? What REALLY matters for a motor oil? We all say how great 'our' motor oil is, but it's not clear to me what should REALLY matter to the informed consumer (namely, bitog members).
Fire when ready!
I've seen all too many YouTube videos where people test the lubricity of a motor oil on a lubricity tester, test its cold flow performance, and test how much is lost when it is kept at a high temperature for a few hours.
I think the lubricity test is somewhat bogus - nowhere in an engine is the oil film strength challenged anywhere nearly as much. Cold flow matters a bit, but it's not clear to me that the differences in cold flow are significant in an engine.
The volatility might be significant, depending on the engine.
Yet Mobil 1 focuses on engine wear after running an engine 120,000 miles (straight, with zero cold starts, and only temperature cycles when the oil and filter are changed). Pennzoil focuses on piston cleanliness.
It seems to me that there are only a few things that matter for a motor oil:
1) Engine wear.
2) Ability to protect an engine during a cold start.
3) Engine cleanliness - Cause no sludge and remove existing sludge.
What do you say? What REALLY matters for a motor oil? We all say how great 'our' motor oil is, but it's not clear to me what should REALLY matter to the informed consumer (namely, bitog members).
Fire when ready!