Shell Rotella T6 5W40 outperforms all 5W30 oils...

[edyvw]

Originally Posted by BlueOvalFitter

Originally Posted by turnbowm

Several years ago, Shell Technical indicated that, with the exception of Rotella T6 Multi-Vehicle, T6 should not be used in gas cars/trucks with catalytic converters. Don't know if anything has changed since then. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shell_Rotella_T

Well, I think this answers my Q? about using it in my trucks engine. Q?: Does Euro oils (Castrol 0W40) ruin American vehicle catalytic converters?

Let's say everything is OK with you engine. Euro oils are more sophisticated with higher restrictions. If oil is (and castrol 0W40 is) approved for MB 229.5, NOACK is max 10%. That means less catalytic pollution. Even Shell Rotella, old version, had NOACK higher (12.6%). For example, Castrol 0W40 is 9.1%, Mobil1 0W40 FS is 9%. So, your truck engine (gas I suspect) will do perfectly fine. This comparison is pretty ridiculous. It only talks about wear. But, as someone asked: is difference between 203 and 256 really something to worry? What about other stuff? Deposits, catalytic pollution (Castrol 0W30 will be best in that) etc.?

 

[4WD]

Yep … $12/gallon Delvac has a higher HTHS and lower Noack than T6 …

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted by Garak

I've been running HDEOs in gassers for years.

I think you're onto something.

 

[Mr Nice]

Waaay too many variables in that non scientific study of Subaru engines and brand of oils. That's like saying athletes wearing Nike are better than athletes wearing other brand shoes....

 

[Navi]

Keep in mind an oil could meet or exceed the specs without a certification. Certifications can be expensive thus they dont run it. Shell Rotella is really for diesel engines. They not expecting someone to throw it in their Subaru, Ford or Mercedes thus it isnt tested for those vehicles.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

NO NO NO NO NO....Absolutely not !! The point of the graph was to prove that there's no meaningful difference between oil brands. Sheesh. FYI.. An engine with 50+ ppm of say Iron could be fine whereas one showing 10 ppm IRON could be on the verge of failure. Why? The UOA doesn't pick up metals over a certain size.

 

[Snagglefoot]

Thanks for the post. Basically the data says the Subaru 2.5 liter Turbo has a very low wear rate and it doesn't matter what oil you use. All the oils were at 2.0 to 2.6 ppm. There is no meaningful difference between them. From a statistical viewpoint, there is not enough data on sampling size plus the way the vehicles were driven would dominate the results. However, having said that, it's interesting how the results were so similar.

 

[bluesubie]

Another point is that who knows how the uoa's were obtained? I see comments like the following pretty regularly: "I stored my oil in a Chinese take-out container" ( the uoa came back with high Na. that was here on bitog) "I forgot to take the sample while it was draining and took the sample from the container that I drained the oil into". "I gave it to my dealer tech and asked them to do it". As to HDEO's in gasoline engines, I like this post reply from Doug Hillary:

Originally Posted by Doug Hillary

Hi, Dennis - I first experimented with HDEos in petrol engines in Europe in the early 1960s when working in Copenhagen for Caltex-Chevron in a Technical position This was prompted by various experiences, excessive engine deposits in certain engine families, "poor" petrol engine lubricant standards and motivated by the results coming out of MB and Porsche. Porsche FF in the 1950s-1960s was a Shell HDEO I've used HDEOs in petrol engine ever since - for nearly 50 years! This was confirmed by extensive lubricants field testing for a number of Oil Companies over several decades Modern appropriately classified lubricants as recommended by the engine's Manufacturer have almost effectively negated their use in petrol engines today IMO My dealings and comparisons of HDEOs started in the early 1960s. I was always motivated by the MB and CAT lubricant specifications at a time when very few existed. I've always found that Shell and Delvac products produced the cleanest engines as the end result

Delvac 1 ESP used in a Subaru EJ255 petrol motor

 

[ChrisD46]

Even within the 5W30 synthetic oils M1 did not perform so well ...Castrol and Pennzoil Platinum did better .

 

[Kamele0N]

Originally Posted by donnyj08

The wear results in this test seem to follow HTHS We know T6 will be the highest @ greater than 3.5 Amsoil OE/XL HTHS is 3.3 Amsoil SS Is/was (SN) 3.2 The rest will be in the 2.9-3.1 HTHS range. It looks like a higher HTHS = less wear in the specific application.

And yet you are still "oily water" lovers (xW20...)

 

[Bryanccfshr]

Originally Posted by BMWTurboDzl

NO NO NO NO NO....Absolutely not !! The point of the graph was to prove that there's no meaningful difference between oil brands. Sheesh. FYI.. An engine with 50+ ppm of say Iron could be fine whereas one showing 10 ppm IRON could be on the verge of failure. Why? The UOA doesn't pick up metals over a certain size.

Agreed, To many falsely equate UOA data to equal wear protection. Uoa can detect intake filtration issues. Coolant contamination And tell the overall serviceability of the oil. A tear down and micro meter can tell you how an engine is wearing.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted by Navi

Keep in mind an oil could meet or exceed the specs without a certification. Certifications can be expensive thus they dont run it. Shell Rotella is really for diesel engines. They not expecting someone to throw it in their Subaru, Ford or Mercedes thus it isnt tested for those vehicles.

There's two ways to look at that. Shell Rotella T6 Multi-Vehicle 5w-30 is formally approved to MB 228.51. That's not a gas engine, but there is testing, and they are expecting people to throw it into gas engines where they are suitable. My T6 is SN+. Even if it wasn't, I'd still have no concern using it. Castrol's competing E6 lube has no SN, which is strange, but their business decision. Mobil's and Chevron's versions do. I think we sometimes have to watch the difference between a business and marketing decision versus an engineering decision. Subaru doesn't have a proprietary engine test. Ford's and Chrysler's aren't anything beyond API specifications. Doug Hillary's quote above is worth reading, along with just about everything else he's posted here. Note that the last time I communicated with him, he was using Delvac 1 LE 5w-30 in his gassers.

 

[dave1251]

Originally Posted by Navi

Im just amazed at Rotella T6s cult like following. There are guys literally throwing it in any engine from a Prius to an F150 to a diesel engine. Is it really that good? Can I just throw it willy nilly in any engine without further thought? Its got me laughing a bit imagining a guy in his garage having Rotella stacked up in the background hoarding it.

It's a well formulation modern motor oil why wouldn't it not be a good oil to use in a variety of applications?

 

[Bailes1992]

Originally Posted by Kamele0N

Originally Posted by donnyj08

The wear results in this test seem to follow HTHS We know T6 will be the highest @ greater than 3.5 Amsoil OE/XL HTHS is 3.3 Amsoil SS Is/was (SN) 3.2 The rest will be in the 2.9-3.1 HTHS range. It looks like a higher HTHS = less wear in the specific application.

And yet you are still "oily water" lovers (xW20...)

It's generally considered that a higher base oil will yeild 'less wear' as well as a higher HTHS. I must admit I'm a 'thickie'. However, if an engine will do 200k+ on 0/5w20 why does it matter? The engine has lasted a decent length of time and you've saved a little fuel. I'm using the correct RBS0-2AE in my Volvo for warranty reasons, once it's out of warranty I'll probably move to a *w30 'C3' oil. It's a shame there isn't any mid-SAPS 15w20's or 10w20 synthetics about. I'd pick one over the 0w20 for my Volvo.

 

[Virtus_Probi]

Originally Posted by Bailes1992

It's generally considered that a higher base oil will yeild 'less wear' as well as a higher HTHS. I must admit I'm a 'thickie'. However, if an engine will do 200k+ on 0/5w20 why does it matter? The engine has lasted a decent length of time and you've saved a little fuel. I'm using the correct RBS0-2AE in my Volvo for warranty reasons, once it's out of warranty I'll probably move to a *w30 'C3' oil. It's a shame there isn't any mid-SAPS 15w20's or 10w20 synthetics about. I'd pick one over the 0w20 for my Volvo.

If you look closely at the SN+ list (ordering the oils by grade helps), there are two 10W20 oils on there from Taiwan...company is something like DKR? I am sure there are some BITOGers who would use them if they were available in N America.