Supertech vs. Havoline for 2004 Acura TL

[The Critic]

A TL owner from the Acurazine forum asked me to post these questions for him.

The car is a 2004 Acura TL used primarily for commuting in the San Francisco Bay area, where stop-n-go driving probably makes up at least 25% of the miles. The vehicle is equipped with an onboard computer that determines oil change intervals, and for this car and the particular driving style, notifies the owner for an oil/filter change every 6500-7000 miles, which tells me that the car sees very little city driving besides the stop-n-go highway commute.

The owner is trying to save some money on oils, and has narrowed his choices down to either the Havoline or the Supertech. (BTW, is Supertech avaliable in 5w-20?) If the Supertech oil combined with a Supertech Oil Filter is used at 4K drains, the total cost over a 60K period is about $103. If the Havoline oil combined with the Supertech oil filter is used at 5K drains over a 60K period, the cost is about $109.

Disregarding cost for a second here, what is the maximum interval that you should run Supertech motor oil/Supertech oil filter given those driving conditions, if the owner does NOT plan to do an oil analysis? Same for the Havoline motor oil/Supertech filter combo, what is the maximum interval that you should run the oil/filter given those driving conditions if the owner does NOT plan on performing an oil analysis?

Thanks in advance for any and all comments.

Michael

 

[C4Dave]

Supertech GF4 is a group II oil. Havoline is a group II+. Both should be safe for 4000 miles. I would be hesitant about 5000 miles for either brand without an oil analysis. I suspect 5000 would be OK, but you don't really know without an UOA.

Tell your friend to pony up some money and do it right. He's driving a new Acura and living in the Bay area for goodness sakes. He must have a few bucks somewhere. Butler Cat can do the analysis for less than the cost of a tank of gas.

 

[JHZR2]

this guy shouldnt have bought that car, he obviously cant afford it and is trying too hard to show off.

Havoline with its good dose of moly would be the best bet for an engine like this.

Ive had excellent results with GTX in my GF's integra.

UOA is necessary to support any oil choice.

JMH

 

[Al]

You're kidding right???

Tell the guy to trade the car in for a 1980 Datsun B210. He'll take a beating on the trade but he'll make up the difference in 10 years.

I'd be tempted to send him the 6 bucks.

He should just go with a brand name oil (check the GF-4) on the back. Havoline seems like a good bet..but we haven't seen any oil analysis for it yed (UOA). I think its still available for $1.06/quart at Advance Auto.

 

[sgtgeek]

I understand where your buddy is coming from.....
Under the conditions you described.....
Havoline no doubt.....and a SuperTech Filter....
I would recommend a 4K OCI......and keep watch on the air filter man!!!! Your not dealing with additive packages here that can "forgive" a lot of grit in the engine...so keep on top of the air filter during the OCI intervals and he will be OK.

 

[jthorner]

Based on the stated constraints, I would use the Havoline and a Purolator Premium Plus filter. I don't understand why so many people keep recommending the SuperTech filter when there is so little field experience with the completely new reduced cost E-core design they are using. BITOG groupthink I guess

.

John

 

[AstroVic]

quote:

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Originally posted by jthorner:
I don't understand why so many people keep recommending the SuperTech filter when there is so little field experience with the completely new reduced cost E-core design they are using. BITOG groupthink I guess

.

John

---

John, I don't know about the SuperTech application for this guy's car, but the SuperTech ST2 filters (used on all Ford modular V8 engines) are still the old/better/non-Ecore design.

But, yeah, if the guy is driving a new Acura, by all means he should at LEAST be using a Wix/Purolator/etc. filter!

Oh, and definitely go with the Havoline in this case (if those are the only two choices).

 

[Triple_Se7en]

The owner is trying to save some money on oils

The difference between Super Tech and Mobil-1 is about a dime per day. The guy buys a ritzy Acura but can't afford to spend an additional 10 cents per day to maintain it better?

Is this the same Acura guy I've been seeing in Sunoco stations pumping 86 octane every week.. lol

 

[ediamiam]

I think I saw him at Pepboys getting the Futura tires at 4 for $100.

 

[haley10]

Isn't Exxon Super-flow the Honda oem oil?? It's pretty dirt cheap here.

 

[drive4show]

And in those 60k miles, assuming 20mpg (for round math), he'll use 3000 gallons of gas. At $2.50/gallon, that will be $7500 for gas.

And he's concerned about spending $100 or $150 in oil and filter?

 

[goldwing]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Michael Wan:
A TL owner from the Acurazine forum asked me to post these questions for him.

The car is a 2004 Acura TL used primarily for commuting in the San Francisco Bay area, where stop-n-go driving probably makes up at least 25% of the miles. The vehicle is equipped with an onboard computer that determines oil change intervals, and for this car and the particular driving style, notifies the owner for an oil/filter change every 6500-7000 miles, which tells me that the car sees very little city driving besides the stop-n-go highway commute.

The owner is trying to save some money on oils, and has narrowed his choices down to either the Havoline or the Supertech. (BTW, is Supertech avaliable in 5w-20?) If the Supertech oil combined with a Supertech Oil Filter is used at 4K drains, the total cost over a 60K period is about $103. If the Havoline oil combined with the Supertech oil filter is used at 5K drains over a 60K period, the cost is about $109.

Disregarding cost for a second here, what is the maximum interval that you should run Supertech motor oil/Supertech oil filter given those driving conditions, if the owner does NOT plan to do an oil analysis? Same for the Havoline motor oil/Supertech filter combo, what is the maximum interval that you should run the oil/filter given those driving conditions if the owner does NOT plan on performing an oil analysis?

Thanks in advance for any and all comments.

Michael

---

I KNOW " ITS APRIL FOOL's RIGHT. Your friend owns a $35,000 car and can't afford top grade oil. Tell him to trade it in for a Toyoto Echo.

 

[HerkyJim]

HaHa, these guys are all full of prunes. Your pal can use supertech 5-30 and supertech filters and do just fine. Whats so magical about Havoline over supertech? Havoline is just as good as Shell, Mobil, Pennzoil, etc. which is to say its good enough--and good enough is...good enough. My $0.02

 

[JHZR2]

Id be sure to reccomend to him to get a nippon or denso first time fit filter. Honda filters are essentially frams now, and are very small, typically.

For my GF's integra, the nippon and denso filters were nearly twice the size.

JMH

 

[mikemc]

Based on the VOA's and UOA's we have seen on Havoline, I'd use it in any vehicle I owned, regardless of price.

 

[aztec12]

if it was my car i would use mobil 7500 with a pure1 or wix, napa gold filter.with this oil you could probably do 6k miles at a time to be on the safe side. just my 2c...

 

[Flash]

NONE OF THE ABOVE....!

Ummm, at least in reference to the oil.......

Sure, go ahead and use the SuperTech, Puralator, Mobil filter, but spring for the extra .40 cents a quart and pick up the Motorcraft 5W-20 for the Acura. A buddy of mine (who is a mechanic) has his Type-S sitting in my driveway right now. He and I share the opinion that the Motorcraft is a great deal and certainly superior to the other brands mentioned. In the southeast, we can still pick it up at O'Riely's for just a smidge more than we were paying at Wal-Mart. Being a synthetic blend, he might actually legitimately be able to use the oil-change indicator in his car.

Cheers,
Ashley

 

[TooSlick]

Michael,

Tell him that buying a $35,000 car with a high performance engine and then trying to save $20.00/year on oil is at best idiotic.

Better yet, give me his phone # and I'll call him myself on my own nickel ....

TS

 

[jthorner]

quote:

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Motorcraft is a great deal and certainly superior to the other brands mentioned

---

Opinions are like ........

I think that many people have fallen for Connoco's marketing ploy where they make a big deal out of their conventional oils all being a "synthetic blend" now. It seems pretty clear that there are several paths to meeting the latest GF-4 oil specs. One path is do use high grade Group II/II+ base stocks and the needed additives. Another approach is to use a mix of Group I and Group III base stocks plus additives. Connoco (makers of Motorcraft, Phillips TropArtic and others) went the Group I/Group III blend route and now makes marketing hay out of being a "synthetic blend". Chevron/Texaco, Pennzoil and others appears to be going with the Group II+ method.

Connoco's use of a little high grade base stock to dilute the poor characteristics of it's mostly low grade base stock does not seem inherently better than starting with a better base to begin with.

Oh well, to each their own.

John