Red Line Oil and MPG increase

[White Fang]

I had been running Pennzoil 5W-30 in my Mazda 626, did an Auto-Rx treatment and switched to Redline 10W-30 on March 3. My mileage immediately increased 7.1% from 21.2mpg to 22.7. Also the car seems to have a bit more pep. During this time I used the same gas (Mobil regular), checked the air pressure in the tires, and did the same type of city driving. (If anything I drove more aggressively with the Redline in.) Now after a few tanks of gas I am sure the mileage increase is not a fluke. The only thing I can think of other than the oil is a possible reformulation of the gasoline to summer blend. But,it seems early in the year for this to happen. If Redline really does increase mileage it makes it a very economical oil to use. Has anyone else noticed a MPG increase? Can you think of any other reason besides the oil that would cause this change?

 

[buster]

Redline has the lowest coefficient of friction availalbe among all oils. I say this all the time but this is a very important quality for HP, MPG and wear.

 

[Nosmo King]

The first thing one learns in the performance business is " one change at a time". Then and only then can one know for sure if the mod in question works or not. You did two. Your mileage increase came from the Auto-Rx that dissolved the varnish and junk around your piston/ring pack and this would have increased the compression ratio. Increased compression ratio will drastically increase efficiency. Redline is good , but I don't believe its that good.

 

[White Fang]

I did the Auto-RX because I read somewhere that Terry recommended it before switching to Redline. The other thing is the car only had 31,000 mi on it. They oil with the Auto-RX in it did not come out very dirty and neither did the rinse oil. I also cut open the filters and they were pretty clean. I could not tell that the Auto-RX did anything. I am not saying that Auto-RX doesn't work. It's just that I don't think there was much for it to clean. I doubt that it was a significant factor. I think that if the treatment did anything significant I would have seen a mileage increase near the end of the rinse phase and there was none. The increase started immediately upon the change to Redline.

 

[sprintman]

I used RL 5W30 in our Outback once and the mileage achieved has never been bettered. Nearly as quiet as running Delvac 1 5W40 as well.

 

[sbc350gearhead]

quote:

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Originally posted by buster: Redline has the lowest coefficient of friction availalbe among all oils. I say this all the time but this is a very important quality for HP, MPG and wear.

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Do you have a reference to that effect?

 

[buster]

quote:

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Do you have a reference to that effect?

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I know some of the experts on here have said this. I can't prove it but I'd say with 500ppm of Moly and a POE base stock it's quite likely. I shouldn't have said that they are the lowest, but I've been told they are, which could be the reason behind why his MPG increased...among other things. [ March 21, 2004, 07:59 PM: Message edited by: buster ]

 

[sbc350gearhead]

I remember a post that stated that redline had half the friction coeficient of mobil 1, but I wondered how they compared to royal purple, synergyn.....etc.

 

[buster]

quote:

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but I wondered how they compared to royal purple, synergyn.....etc.

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Thats a good point. I'd say RL has a lower Cf compared to Amsoil and M1, but some of these others that you mentioned could be as good or better.

 

[Bo0b Miller]

quote:

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Originally posted by White Fang: I had been running Pennzoil 5W-30 in my Mazda 626, did an Auto-Rx treatment and switched to Redline 10W-30 on March 3. My mileage immediately increased 7.1% from 21.2mpg to 22.7.

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My Mazda v6 does the same every March - fuel changes over from mentanol blend. Now running about 22 MPG vice winter MPG of 20.5

 

[White Fang]

If the refineries switched over just last week to the summer blend then the MPG increase I got in early March must have been the Redline oil. I will keep monitoring my mileage. If it does not increase again as the reformulated gas works its way thru the supply chain then I must have just gotten some early summer reformulated gas. The weather has been unusually warm here this March so maybe they switched over early.

 

[Kestas]

I think it was last week that refineries switched over from winter to summer gasoline formulation.

 

[AcuraSLX]

Some thoughts on RL and mileage -- If you are driving a car with a high friction engine it will make a difference example GM 454CI V8. If you are driving a car with a low friction engine the difference may be very small. example newer 2.4 L Volvo I4 or 3.5 L Isuzu V6 Excellent oil but the rolling resistance of my A/T tires is also a big factor. YMMV Mike I realize that my friction examples may be controversial.