There is no "Holy Grail".

buster · Apr 13, 2005

I just looked over the UOA section as I do every day and then read the GC threads.

Here we have a UOA with RL having a TBN of 0 with mediocre wear, Amsoil thickenning into a upper 40wt oil, Mobil 1 showing good TBN, Pb but high Fe and GC changing it's Holy formula. Too funny.....they all have their +/-'s.

Closest oil to every reaching the BITOG Holy Grail status would be GC. Every aspect of the oil was good, TBN retention, Wear, and very stable viscosity.

[ April 13, 2005, 03:58 PM: Message edited by: Dan4510 ]

Pablo · Apr 13, 2005

BUSTER - Of course you are correct - I'll just add one bit of ironicism. All that said: Castrol either is pretending or truly doesn't know what to do with GC!

pitzel · Apr 13, 2005

buster, I would submit, based on the UOA's we've seen of Esso XD-3 0W30 thus far, that it is even more of a 'holy grail' than GC.

After all, its cheaper (costs half as much), doesn't thicken on the extended drains, has excellent TBN retention, and very low wear in anything its been UOA'ed in thus far.

For all the hype over GC, we've yet to see much in terms of extended drain UOA's in the UOA section. Lots of people draining this stuff at 5k or 7k miles -- maybe if there was more hard data about its longevity, it would be more interesting to the extended drain crowd.

buster · Apr 13, 2005

quote:

All that said: Castrol either is pretending or truly doesn't know what to do with GC!

Thats true.

pitzel, your correct and I completely forgot about the Esso line. We don't have that here in the US but that is some serious oil.

Palut · Apr 13, 2005

quote:

Originally posted by buster:
pitzel, your correct and I completely forgot about the Esso line. We don't have that here in the US but that is some serious oil.

So that's XD-3 Extra's drawback. It's nearly a perfect oil, but isn't available in the states. Dang!

medic · Apr 13, 2005

I will be draining and UOAing my GC in about 2 hours. No, it hasn't seen overly extended use in terms of mileage, but it has seen multiple short trips and extreme ambient temps of -20F. This oil has seen extended use in terms of time. It has been in use for 1 year and 1 day for about 6500 miles. This is over double the recommended mileage and 4 times the recommended time listed in my owners manual. I think this should produce an interesting UOA report.

I do expect this oil to look used, but it'll be interesting to see if it looks abused.

Cutehumor · Apr 13, 2005

I'm starting to think anything less than 7500 miles or one year for syn is a waste. Buster is right. no one great oil, there are faults with each and every one of them.

haley10 · Apr 13, 2005

Hand pick your engine and you can make most oils look good in a uoa. Conversely, some engines can beat the tar out of most any oil. Different Holy Grail's for different engine designs?

haley10 · Apr 13, 2005

quote:

Originally posted by pitzel:

quote:

Originally posted by haley10:
some engines can beat the tar out of most any oil.

Click to expand...

GOOD PUN!

Yep, common expression here in the South. Seriously, finding the right oil for "your" engine is the fun part. There isn't a one size fits all, I don't think.

If we weed out all the uoa's with potential problems and the extremely short ones about all I can see here is certain engines do have some preferences and some don't, mainly with respect to viscosity.

The preference of the LS1/LT1 for a thicker 30 wt. has perhaps got the board a bit over the top on GC, although I do use it.

Jay · Apr 14, 2005

There is a holy grail, but it's so inexpensive that it's overlooked. It's Havoline.

NewGuy · Apr 14, 2005

Jay is correct......I can't remember a single bad UOA from Havoline. It is an inexpensive, effective oil available to almost everyone.

It doesn't do anything for the extended drain issue, but it is hard to beat at 4-5K OCIs.

fuel tanker man · Apr 14, 2005

Words of wisdom, Jay, words of wisdom!

Havoline rocks. It's just not esoteric enough for the buffs.

Dan

pitzel · Apr 14, 2005

quote:

Originally posted by haley10:
some engines can beat the tar out of most any oil.

GOOD PUN!

Gary Allan · Apr 14, 2005

quote:

So that's XD-3 Extra's drawback. It's nearly a perfect oil, but isn't available in the states. Dang!

Is there something that prohibits the shipping of petroleum products across the border? I mean as in trade agreement or "law"? What's to stop some nice Canadian from making a modest profit on giving some interested parties access to these otherwise unavailable products??

..and what of you members in the border states? Has anyone just gone into Canada and stopped at a Wally World (or whatever they have there) and seen/bought this stuff? I can't imagine that out of all our memebership on both sides of the border ..that no one has crossed one way or the other with this with them to figure out what the issue is

..but back on topic.. D1 is the Holy Grail ..if you can use a 40 weight. No one has shown that any engine (in otherwise good working order) has beat the tar out of this oil. Aside from those who complain about "sluggishness" or whatever when using a heavy weight ...this oil is supreme.

pitzel · Apr 15, 2005

Gary, the issue is that XOM has a very well recognized brand name (Mobil) in the United States, while the Mobil brand is far less known/recognized in Canada. Vice versa for the Esso brand in the United States.

They market their oils accordingly.

Best F100 · Apr 15, 2005

quote:

Originally posted by Gary Allan:

quote:

So that's XD-3 Extra's drawback. It's nearly a perfect oil, but isn't available in the states. Dang!

Click to expand...

Is there something that prohibits the shipping of petroleum products across the border? I mean as in trade agreement or "law"? What's to stop some nice Canadian from making a modest profit on giving some interested parties access to these otherwise unavailable products??

..and what of you members in the border states? Has anyone just gone into Canada and stopped at a Wally World (or whatever they have there) and seen/bought this stuff? I can't imagine that out of all our memebership on both sides of the border ..that no one has crossed one way or the other with this with them to figure out what the issue is

..but back on topic.. D1 is the Holy Grail ..if you can use a 40 weight. No one has shown that any engine (in otherwise good working order) has beat the tar out of this oil. Aside from those who complain about "sluggishness" or whatever when using a heavy weight ...this oil is supreme.

Best F100 · Apr 15, 2005

quote:

Originally posted by Best F100:

quote:

Originally posted by Gary Allan:

quote:

So that's XD-3 Extra's drawback. It's nearly a perfect oil, but isn't available in the states. Dang!

Click to expand...

Is there something that prohibits the shipping of petroleum products across the border? I mean as in trade agreement or "law"? What's to stop some nice Canadian from making a modest profit on giving some interested parties access to these otherwise unavailable products??

..and what of you members in the border states? Has anyone just gone into Canada and stopped at a Wally World (or whatever they have there) and seen/bought this stuff? I can't imagine that out of all our memebership on both sides of the border ..that no one has crossed one way or the other with this with them to figure out what the issue is

..but back on topic.. D1 is the Holy Grail ..if you can use a 40 weight. No one has shown that any engine (in otherwise good working order) has beat the tar out of this oil. Aside from those who complain about "sluggishness" or whatever when using a heavy weight ...this oil is supreme.

Click to expand...

I plan on making a run across the border here in the Detroit area to pick up two cases of XD- 3 0W 30 (for research purposes of course)! Have already ordered it. It is my understanding that there is a $200 duty free limit if visiting short term (Someone correct me if I am a bit off on that $200 figure). $3.90/liter. Price will be going up by months end.

I suggest anyone else doing the same if they are visiting other border cities like Buffalo and Seattle. Nothing like bring back "black market" oil.

TooSlick · Apr 15, 2005

Buster,

I don't think that GC is in the same league as Amsoil or this new Mobil 1,EP when it comes to extended drains....The reason is the TBN is only about 10.5, so it simply can't last nearly as long as a 12-13 TBN formulation. Aside from that, it's excellent stuff...

For what I consider short drain intervals < 10,000 miles, the GC does an excellent job.

Ted

Gary Allan · Apr 15, 2005

That's my opinion. GC seems to run out of steam @ about 10k in the TBN dept. At least that's what our UOA section appears to indicate.

Otherwise, as you said TS, great stuff.

MGBV8 · Apr 15, 2005

How far is the Holy Grail?

http://www.mr2.com/ARTICLE/Mobil1.html

There is no "Holy Grail".

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