% Synthetic Blend

[JBRIII]

Does anyone know what % Synthetic Mobil Drive Clean Blend is? I'm using it in my wifes 96 Outback. Subaru orgiinally said to not use synthetics, but has recently modified their position. It has 105k and am hesitant to go the full synthetic route.

I thought this could be a good alernative. Does anyone have any thoughts on this oil? I put in 5W30 this Winter/Fall and will use 10W30 in the Spring/Summer.

John

 

[Al]

Its a ripoff, no matter what the percentage is (probably 20%) You are much better off buy mixing a quart of the pure synthetic in with the Dino Oil. It would be interesting to take an oil sample also.

 

[dragboat]

JBRIII ,

It is my opinion the oil is not a ripoff at all. Oils that are called blends but are in reality blends of mineral groups are the waste of money IMO and actually cost more than the Mobil Blend.

Anyway the Mobil Blend had 9-12 percent PAO the best I remember. Enough to show a noticable difference in cold weather pumping and cranking specs vs the Drive Clean Dino and should protect better in summer heat compared to simalar priced dinos. They put that Zinc right up there for an SL oil with a Phosphorous cap of 1k ppm unlike some other OTC oils. This oil last I saw was less than 2 bucks a quart and some of the other name brand dinos were right around 1.79 or so.
The only other PAO blends I know of that are supposed to come in over 20 percent consistently are Phillips 10/30 Trop Artic Blend,Their 15/40 Race Blend "suitable for street" Cam 2 and Mystik/Citgo brands.

The Mobil Blend is a higher VI than the plain Drive Clean that I think you 105K Subaru might like. A little higher than most GF3 EC oils.

A well known member here has posted the Schaeffers blend to be 16-23 percent if memory serves correct,,I only post to show how a little Pao with the correct additive package can work very well for just a bit more coins. I have seen a UOA of the Drive Clean Blend on another site,,it was quite good and seeing is beleiving as they say.
But since you are using the Mobil Blend,,how do you like the oil compared to what you used in the past?

 

[MNgopher]

I'll throw my two cents in here also. I'm a blend user, although it isn't really a blend since we all know Valvoline uses a Group III sythetic instead of PAO, etc... I use Valvoline Durablend. I am usually able to buy it for about $1.50 a quart or so, lower than many "dino" oils these days. I had pretty good results using it in my trucks, and I finally did an analysis that confirmed that it was doing a good job (see the UOA's for that).

My take is that regardless of percentages used, however low they may be, if it performs well for a pricepoint that is competitive with regular conventionals, go for it! The key here is that the price be competitive (say lower than $2 a quart) and analysis bears out decent performance. Increase the price enough though, and there is no reason to not go to a synthetic.

 

[Dominic]

I switched from Durablend to Maxlife (also a blend)

I love both, but feel the maxlife is doing a better job. Currently awaiting analysis.

 

[Ken2]

Al, more likely about 10% of synthetic in the blend. Agree, probably a waste of money.

I wouldn't mix oils. Even with the same brand, the different lines of oils have different additive packages. Mixing add packs may result in less engine protection than using all the same stuff.

If you want a blend, the only one that's so far been shown to be superior is Schaeffer's 7000 line with 20-25% PAO. Otherwise, stick with a single line of oil...Mobil Drive Clean, or Mobil 1, or whatever you choose.


Ken