Both Modern Engine and Advanced Synthetic are Dexos 1G2 certified and SN+. Basic UOA's show Advanced Synthetic as having a traditionally more "robust" add-pack (Ti, Mo, Bo), where as Modern Engine does not have Ti, and is thinner in the 5w-30 examples i saw.
There has to be more going on here in base oils and stuff we can't see with a typical UOA?
The marketing on this is very strange. We are in this Stupid dead zone while we wait for GF-6. Is Modern Engine an extended drain oil? It seems thinner, but maybe base oils are much improved so it shears less? What about fuel dilution? "Modern Engine" means GDI and TGDI, so fuel dilution is a huge issue.
Technically, both AS and ME meet spec for most non-european TGDI and GDI engines, so what gives?