Redline 5w40 - King of the 5w40's?

[buster]

On paper at least, RL 5w40 appears to be the most robust 5w40 on the market now that other 5w40's have changed to comply more with the latest API specs. Very few UOA's of this grade. I would have thought it to be more popular among the VW crowd.

Pour Point - -49F
Flash Point - 480F
Noack - 6% (very low)
HT/HS - 4.6

 

[Pablo]

Has anyone independently verified those numbers?

No doubt a good oil. Just sometimes paper doesn't live up to reality. The "new" crowd doesn't always want or need a "kitchen sink" oil....(as Bruce once called another fully loaded 5W-40 oil in a telephone conversation)

 

[buster]

Originally Posted By: Pablo
Has anyone independently verified those numbers?

No doubt a good oil. Just sometimes paper doesn't live up to reality. The "new" crowd doesn't always want or need a "kitchen sink" oil....(as Bruce once called another fully loaded 5W-40 oil in a telephone conversation)


No, those numbers haven't been independently verified. True about paper vs reality. It's one of the few, or only 5w40 left that is built more like a racing oil than PCMO in terms of additive levels, lack of VII's and shear strength. Definitely more of an "out of warranty" oil.

I'm waiting for sprintman to chime in with those 2 UOA's in a VW/toyota to claim how superior it is and how I have an agenda. LOL

 

[TallPaul]

As I understand it, the 5w40 is the only Redline that includes VII. Why not use 10w40 Redline. I'm sure it will provide all the cold properties needed. If conditions are so cold to warrant an ester in a 5wXX then might as well go 5w30 as you likely won't need 40 weight in those conditions.

 

[buster]

True TP.

I would think it has less VII's than other 5w40's.

 

[Drivebelt]

Redline's technical info on their site only says they don't have to use large amounts of VII's in their oils. But they don't advertise any of their oils not using any VII's.

Quote:
Redline…
The synthetic base stocks have a natural multigrade property, which means that large amounts of unstable polymeric thickeners, like those used in petroleum oils, are not required to manufacture our multigrades.
Pretty well any motor oil with a VI over 140 will have at least some VII's (Amsoil ACD 10W-30 VI= 141 is one exception). All Redline multigrade motor oils have a VI of well over 150 except the …

5W-20 … 145
10W-30 … 142

So, while these two grades don't use a lot of VII's, they would very likely use some.

Redline straight grade racing oils (2,5,10,20,and 30 WT) all have a VI of less than 140 (in the 130 -139 range). This suggests to me that their base oils (PAO/Esters) they use in their multigrades have a VI of <140.

 

[buster]

You're probably right Drivebelt. Some have said RL told them only their 5w-40 uses VII's and very little at that.

 

[glennc]

There's just not enough data to answer these questions. Red Line oils of all grades have some excellent properties. Possibly the best base oils available anywhere in the auto market. Excellent traditional add packs. Excellent reputation. Red Line has in the past specified that the 5W-40 is the only street oil they sell that uses VIIs. I don't know where exactly I saw it, but I have. You might email them directly, they are pretty good at answering questions.

I doubt very much any of the reported laboratory results would not be accurate. If anything they appear to be conservative about how they rate and report on their oils' technical capabilities. Their reputation is definitely worth more to them than everything else put together, so IMO there's no chance they would fudge in their favor, especially on something that is third-party verifiable.

I am currently using Red Line oil in my car (and gear/diff oil for long long time) but there is just no way to conclude scientifically that it is better than any other oil.

 

[TallPaul]

Yes Buster, probably not a lot of VII and likely some of the best VII.

As for other Redline grades having VII, maybe, but remember ester has a very high viscosity index to begin with.

 

[sprintman]

I always remember Tyrolkids RL 5W40 UOA's from his high horsepower turbo car. They should be in UOA section. Outstanding imo.

 

[buster]

It's biggest strength seems to be shear stability.

 

[TallPaul]

Originally Posted By: buster
It's biggest strength seems to be shear stability.
Which perhaps is related to its excellent HTHS viscosity.

 

[buster]

Agree TP.

 

[TallPaul]

If I ever end up with a 4 banger, I know I will rev the wee out of it all the time and so might be a good candidate for Redline. I really like Redline rear end dope, ps fluid, and ATF. In those three situations, the cost is not that high relative to service interval, but with engine oil, unless one drives a lot of miles or runs the engine extremely hard, It's hard to justify the cost of Redline.

However, as the petroleum price keeps rising, we see less difference in cost between oils up through Group III and true synthetics (PAO, ester). The only happy result of all this oil price increase is it has not affected true synthetics appreciably.

 

[buster]

RL 5w20 worked well in my car.

I'm somewhat skeptical of other RL fluids after seeing the Amsoil White Paper on Gear oils.

 

[tdi-rick]

Originally Posted By: buster

I'm somewhat skeptical of other RL fluids after seeing the Amsoil White Paper on Gear oils.


I have some results done by a major lab here years ago on various race spec driveline fluids and RL didn't fare too well compared to the Euro synthetics. (Motul gear 300, ELF's HTX range, Castrol Syntrax, Agip, etc.)

 

[buster]

Not impressed with their gear oils. Amsoil/Mobil make the best gear oils IMO.

 

[BerndV]

I would also add that the heat-handling ability of Redline products probably exceeds anything else available. The flash points for all of their SAE grades is well above that of Amsoil, M1, etc. I have used RL 5W-30 in my 05 Sequoia since the 5k OC and now have over 70k on the vehicle. I tow and run the 4.7 to redline (no pun intended) continuously. 10k OCI's since 10k on the odo and I have been nothing but happy with the product.

 

[artificialist]

Because many Euro engines state to only use 5w40.

 

[simple_gifts]

Quote:

Not impressed with their gear oils. Amsoil/Mobil make the best gear oils IMO.


Quote:

I'm somewhat skeptical of other RL fluids after seeing the Amsoil White Paper on Gear oils.


Is it possible to hijack your own thread? Now we know what the thread is really about....