TGMO SN 0w20 vs Motul Ecolite SN 0w20

[kr_bitog]

Just to share some observations:
TGMO looks less viscious
During start and stop, oil temperature rise faster with TGMO even though so far never exceed 104 centigrade where Ecolite normally holds on 102 centigrade
Noise level is about the same when oil is new
Pricewise TGMO 40 percent cheaper

still undecided for long run but probably get TGMO for 5k km.OCI.
Anyone else can share their feedback on these 2 oils?

 

[CT8]

A million dollars and 10 years worth of testing would't prove which oil actually improves the engines life. Pick which ever oil makes you feel better.

 

[littlehulkster]

Honestly, I've never seen anything from Motul that would justify it's absurdly high price. That's not to say it's bad, but it's also not some magical unicorn snot that will protect your engine from a nuclear strike. It's just oil, you can get oil that does the same thing more or less as well for much less money.

TGMO, on the other hand, seems to be quite well priced on Amazon, although it's not magical either.

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted by littlehulkster
Honestly, I've never seen anything from Motul that would justify it's absurdly high price. That's not to say it's bad, but it's also not some magical unicorn snot that will protect your engine from a nuclear strike. It's just oil, you can get oil that does the same thing more or less as well for much less money.

TGMO, on the other hand, seems to be quite well priced on Amazon, although it's not magical either.

Has anyone considered where the OP is posting from? Their supplier is likely to be different in Asia than in North America. Also likely to be changed as soon as Toyota gets a better price from a different supplier. However, I do remember when American Honda clearly labeled their Honda motor oil as made by Mobil, but that was only for a few years starting around 2001. And at this point I can't think of any dealer that would actually use something like that for dealer servicing.

The only Motul products I've ever used are their DOT 5.1 brake fluid and Gear 300. I could justify those since it's once every few years, but if I'm changing motor oil according to the manufacturer recommendations (or an oil life monitor) seems absurdly expensive as you stated. Their DOT 5.1 brake fluid was competitively priced compared to other DOT 5.1 fluid, and gear oils are well known for affect shift feel.

 

[littlehulkster]

Originally Posted by y_p_w
Originally Posted by littlehulkster
Honestly, I've never seen anything from Motul that would justify it's absurdly high price. That's not to say it's bad, but it's also not some magical unicorn snot that will protect your engine from a nuclear strike. It's just oil, you can get oil that does the same thing more or less as well for much less money.

TGMO, on the other hand, seems to be quite well priced on Amazon, although it's not magical either.

Has anyone considered where the OP is posting from? Their supplier is likely to be different in Asia than in North America. Also likely to be changed as soon as Toyota gets a better price from a different supplier. However, I do remember when American Honda clearly labeled their Honda motor oil as made by Mobil, but that was only for a few years starting around 2001. And at this point I can't think of any dealer that would actually use something like that for dealer servicing.

The only Motul products I've ever used are their DOT 5.1 brake fluid and Gear 300. I could justify those since it's once every few years, but if I'm changing motor oil according to the manufacturer recommendations (or an oil life monitor) seems absurdly expensive as you stated. Their DOT 5.1 brake fluid was competitively priced compared to other DOT 5.1 fluid, and gear oils are well known for affect shift feel.


In any sense, I very much doubt Toyota would put their names on an oil that isn't perfectly adequate for their engines, and unless Motul is WAY cheaper where OP lives, it's probably not worth the premium. TGMO, whatver it is there, will be fine. May even be Japanese OEM oil.

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted by littlehulkster
In any sense, I very much doubt Toyota would put their names on an oil that isn't perfectly adequate for their engines, and unless Motul is WAY cheaper where OP lives, it's probably not worth the premium. TGMO, whatver it is there, will be fine. May even be Japanese OEM oil.

When a manufacturer states that a common specification (like API SN) is fine, but then recommends its own branded motor oil, it seems a bit of a dubious recommendation. I get that they claim that there some sort of secret sauce in the additive package.

As far as I've heard, the NA version of TGMO is made for them by ExxonMobil.

 

[littlehulkster]

Originally Posted by y_p_w
Originally Posted by littlehulkster
In any sense, I very much doubt Toyota would put their names on an oil that isn't perfectly adequate for their engines, and unless Motul is WAY cheaper where OP lives, it's probably not worth the premium. TGMO, whatver it is there, will be fine. May even be Japanese OEM oil.

When a manufacturer states that a common specification (like API SN) is fine, but then recommends its own branded motor oil, it seems a bit of a dubious recommendation. I get that they claim that there some sort of secret sauce in the additive package.

As far as I've heard, the NA version of TGMO is made for them by ExxonMobil.


Well, Toyota, like any other car company, would very much like for you to take the car to the dealership and use their parts for all your services. More money for them that way. They're far from the only ones to do that.

That said, TGMO does seem quite good for what it is. The "secret sauce" is Moly, and a lot of it, and it's fairly priced compared to other high Moly oils (Idemitsu, Mazda Moly, Redline) so if that's what you're after it's actually a pretty good choice.

 

[kr_bitog]

I think the motul hold well on high speed highway driving and seems come with pao and ester, instead of grp3 tgmo. Still waiting for 1k to get more observation for tgmo

 

[OilUzer]

From what I've read tgmo is a good oil and %40 cheaper makes it even better

how accurately can you track oil temp rise and controlling your test environment?
Not that it (temp rise/fall) matters in this case ... just curious!

 

[Patman]

Originally Posted by littlehulkster


That said, TGMO does seem quite good for what it is. The "secret sauce" is Moly, and a lot of it, and it's fairly priced compared to other high Moly oils (Idemitsu, Mazda Moly, Redline) so if that's what you're after it's actually a pretty good choice.


I thought that the latest formulation of TGMO 0w20 had a lot less moly in it than previous versions though?

 

[kr_bitog]

Originally Posted by OilUzer
From what I've read tgmo is a good oil and %40 cheaper makes it even better

how accurately can you track oil temp rise and controlling your test environment?
Not that it (temp rise/fall) matters in this case ... just curious!

The car comes with oil temp meter so for the same route and relative same ambient temperature, i would say the monitoring quite close

 

[kr_bitog]

Here is the picture, seems common in Eu and russia
tgmo

Not sure who make it.

 

[PimTac]

Originally Posted by kr_bitog
Here is the picture, seems common in Eu and russia
tgmo

Not sure who make it.




You might be getting the Idemitsu made oil there.

 

[kr_bitog]

Based on russian web site, this TGMO is made by exxon mobil with Molyvan 855 ester additive.it still retain very high VI

 

[OVERKILL]

The last MSDS we had for TGMO from XOM was that it was entirely Group III-based and thus would be quite reliant on VII to achieve its VI.

 

[OilUzer]

Originally Posted by Patman
Originally Posted by littlehulkster


That said, TGMO does seem quite good for what it is. The "secret sauce" is Moly, and a lot of it, and it's fairly priced compared to other high Moly oils (Idemitsu, Mazda Moly, Redline) so if that's what you're after it's actually a pretty good choice.


I thought that the latest formulation of TGMO 0w20 had a lot less moly in it than previous versions though?



That's correct based on what @Gokhan was showing recently. Seems like there maybe a few variations of tgmo based on what I've read here ... iirc new tgmo had less moly than pyb in one test he was showing. Can't remember the moly types but the numbers were lower.

 

[littlehulkster]

Originally Posted by Patman
Originally Posted by littlehulkster


That said, TGMO does seem quite good for what it is. The "secret sauce" is Moly, and a lot of it, and it's fairly priced compared to other high Moly oils (Idemitsu, Mazda Moly, Redline) so if that's what you're after it's actually a pretty good choice.


I thought that the latest formulation of TGMO 0w20 had a lot less moly in it than previous versions though?


That may be the case, I haven't seen a VOA of it for a while. Last I saw it was still running 500+ Moly, but that may well have changed.

Regardless, I still wouldn't have any issue running it, or really any OEM oil. They all seem fine.

 

[Gokhan]

The label of TGMO I have is exactly the same as the one on the PQIA site, which has the same high-moly VOA as on Oil-Club Russia. However, the actual oil in it turned out to be the old 90 - 100 ppm Infineum trinuclear low-moly version, not the GTL high-moly version (Vanderbilt Molyvan).

Therefore, it looks like different batches of TGMO have different versions. I don't know what the actual latest version is.

Its main drawback is that it has a weak TBN (at least in the older version), even though the TBN seems to hold well, despite the lack of magnesium in the older version. If you can get it at a good price or as a dealer oil change, it's a decent oil. Otherwise, there are a lot of fine 0W-20 choices out there. My next OCI will be M1 EP 0W-20, which is PAO-based and has SN PLUS and dexos1 Gen 2 (Ca + Mg).

 

[1JZ_E46]

Originally Posted by Gokhan
My next OCI will be M1 EP 0W-20, which is PAO-based and has SN PLUS and dexos1 Gen 2 (Ca + Mg).


Did you consider M1 AP? If so, why EP over AP? Cost? I would think think AP is a step above EP in terms of ingredient quality.

 

[kr_bitog]

Originally Posted by Gokhan
The label of TGMO I have is exactly the same as the one on the PQIA site, which has the same high-moly VOA as on Oil-Club Russia. However, the actual oil in it turned out to be the old 90 - 100 ppm Infineum trinuclear low-moly version, not the GTL high-moly version (Vanderbilt Molyvan).

Therefore, it looks like different batches of TGMO have different versions. I don't know what the actual latest version is.

Its main drawback is that it has a weak TBN (at least in the older version), even though the TBN seems to hold well, despite the lack of magnesium in the older version. If you can get it at a good price or as a dealer oil change, it's a decent oil. Otherwise, there are a lot of fine 0W-20 choices out there. My next OCI will be M1 EP 0W-20, which is PAO-based and has SN PLUS and dexos1 Gen 2 (Ca + Mg).

Interesting, my first 0w20 I used is M2 EP 0w20 SN, however my source depletes that is why looking for alternatives. Somehow I feel the oil is not as robust as Motul Ecolite and seems very sensitive on fuel additive dilution like si-1.