Various Mobil 1 formulas tested in HPL’s lab! Motor Oil Geek LSJr video
- Thread starter Glenda W.
- Start date
wemay
Site Donor 2023
Excellent video.
No, it’s the old ESP. It’s a mid saps oil.
The ESP X3 he tested is also the Porsche oil, just the non-GT car one. Regular ESP is the Supercar (renamed) and shears about the same as FS. I think FS is excellent still and not too concerned about the shear since you’re still going to end up at least equal to most other euro 30s.Fantastic content by LSJR. Smash the like and subscribe to "line his pockets"
Interesting on the truck/SUV formula.
Also Interesting that the BITOG fave 0W40 isn't so great and shears out of grade (what I saw when I used it...its not always fuel) vs. the ESP and Porsche flavors. I know that's what I'd try if I went away from HPL based on this video. Would have loved to see the HPL Euro 5W40 in there for reference with the tests he does.
Keep in mind it also needs to pass OE approval stay in grade tests, so it wouldn’t carry LL01, A40, etc if it was especially poor. In one of his previous videos it sheared less than Castrol Edge 5W-40. I think this ESP X3 / GT oil is an outlier among off the shelf oils. If you look at the UOAs of it floating around, it appears to have exceptional viscosity retention for a 0 or 5W-40, as good or better than most boutique oils.
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Most likely. X4 replaces X3 and has API SP. It’s a new base formula that is more like the FS and is probably with AN and ester free since it has low oxidation and increased PAO. I think this is why they released the GT oil. The GT is really similar to ESP X3 and that was an “old” formula with the ester. I assume Porsche found the X4 was not suitable for GT engines for some reason.
I believe most understand M1 0W40 SP rated only stays a 40 weight for a short period of time (also verified by LS Jr. in his videos) in use making it more of a robust 0W30 oil.Fantastic content by LSJR. Smash the like and subscribe to "line his pockets"
Interesting on the truck/SUV formula.
Also Interesting that the BITOG fave 0W40 isn't so great and shears out of grade (what I saw when I used it...its not always fuel) vs. the ESP and Porsche flavors. I know that's what I'd try if I went away from HPL based on this video. Would have loved to see the HPL Euro 5W40 in there for reference with the tests he does.
His voice is irritating, but what bothers me is this: Once I saw that growth on his lower lip I can't unsee it.
Has anyone posted a voa or uoa of x4 ESP? I did a search and only saw x3 results.
One thing that stands out on the spec sheets, it had the lowest pour point of the Mobil 1 0w-40 lineup, lower than Amsoil Signature Series 0w-40 too.
-54 C ESP x4
-51 C Supercar
-48 C ESP x3, C40 GT
-42 C Euro FS
dnewton3
Staff member
Folks, let's stick to the general topic of the thread (the content of the video).
It's perfectly fine to have an opinion about LSJr's content and presentation; anyone who creates YT content for public consumption needs to have a thick skin. But please don't make derogatory personal comments; that's beneath us as a group.
Also, perhaps we could stay on point and not venture so far off the reservation? Off-topic stuff belongs elsewhere ... such as General and Off Topic ...
It's perfectly fine to have an opinion about LSJr's content and presentation; anyone who creates YT content for public consumption needs to have a thick skin. But please don't make derogatory personal comments; that's beneath us as a group.
Also, perhaps we could stay on point and not venture so far off the reservation? Off-topic stuff belongs elsewhere ... such as General and Off Topic ...
Here is a VOA from the Russian oil club. It may have more PAO than the others, not sure. I will have a UOA in 6 months. This would be the first SP oil I can recall with this much Ca and virtually no Mg.
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beyond the talking style.. these tests are awesome, to actually show that the marketing wasn't just marketing from Mobil. There really are differences in the many offerings on the shelf of Mobil1. I enjoyed seeing the oxidation levels and how quickly the race-track GT oil protected greatly for a little while but then gave up. Where the street version would slower, since it makes sense, daily driven would need a longer oil change interval. Very cool stuff.. 
Cool beans. That shows an oxidation value of 38.5 which is right in line with the results LSJr showed for ESP x3 and C40 GT. It’s got ester and possibly more PAO, makes me curious what special sauce C40 GT has that’s missing in ESP x4
The Mobil website explicitly states:
Mobil 1™ ESP X4 0W-40 is recommended for high-performance engines requiring GPFs (gasoline particulate filters).
Mobil 1™ ESP X4 0W-40 cannot be used in Porsche GT engines. There is a separate Mobil 1 product for GT engines, MOBIL 1™ C40 GT 0W-40.
Oxidated oil increases in viscosity, if the oil when new had an oxidation value of 30-ish and now 100, the viscosity should have been significantly higher. But 16 minutes before the onset of oxidation in the PDSC test does show it can't be run for very long (anymore?).
There is speculation on various Porsche forums that the X3 and C40 GT are compatible with the DLC coating used in those engines while the X4 may not be, perhaps an additive change. I didn't notice the oxidation was still > 20 on this oil, I swear I saw another VOA where it was low like FS, but you're right.
DISREGARD LOL! Saw you posted the oilclub voa right after i posted this
Espx4 still uses ester. The oxidation is about the same As espx3. Theres a VOA with noack and oxidation on oilclub.ru. The noack is 10.2
LSJ brings up good very points with testing the various oils, his videos are a good asset to this forum if you follow his information, he is well worth watching, as we all can learn from these informational videos & from this point of view is greatly appreciated to many.
Unless you need BMW approval, have a Porsche GT car, or want to run very long intervals there’s no apparent reason to use anything other than ESP X3/X4.Quite interesting. The summary for the 5w20 was good, the summary for the 0w40s was not as good, left scrathing my head.
Buying a new used car, so need to figure out which 0w40 is best.
While I can't swear to the validity of this 50 year old memory, I do recall seeing a gas chromatograph of the original Mobil 1 back in the 70s when first released that showed two POE peaks. One of our R&D guys interpreted it to contain TMP C7 and PE C7 at about 10% each. If true it would not account for an oxidation value over 100.
That said, hermetically sealed steel cans do not breathe and there should not be much head space in the can. The US Navy once opened a sealed steel can of jet engine oil that was some decades old and it still met all specifications, which are rather severe. Perhaps that old can of Mobil 1 was exposed to some extended high temperatures.
The idea that a somewhat oxidized, but otherwise very high end motor oil is 'bad' is probably worthy of some study. Certainly oxidized cooking oil is unhealthy, but do our engines really care?
On many aircraft, we don't ever change turbine engine oils, and they too tend to oxidize through time, heat and use. In this case, oil changes simply don't help, and the engines are ultra reliable.
While that ancient M1 may not be the worlds best oil by today's standards, I would expect it to perform quite well if used in a suitable engine.