what brands of oil are good?

[cryptokid]

"best" can mean alot of things to different people. i personally would never consider redline or amsoil to be "best" no matter how good they look, as the price of them is just not worth it to me. not to mention amsoil isnt sold locally, you have to pay for shipping on it too. schaffers would also not get my vote, as you have to mail order it and in good quantity ($200 of it) to get free shipping. that doesnt seem to great to me.
so for me atleast, mobil 1 gets my vote. its fairly cheap, $3.70 a quart to the public, its available anywhere, and you dont have to pay for shipping.
i chose mobil not because its nessassairly better or worse at protecting my engine, but because it suits my needs best. and coupled with the fact that i can get it for $3 a quart because my sister works at a saab dealer

kinda of seals the deal for me.

as for dino oil, i use this logic, if its name brand and under 90 cents a quart after mail in rebate, then its good enough for my other cars.
i wouldnt really want to use costal oil or warren or other generic brands, not because they are not good enough, (as long as they are API SL they are good enough for me) but because i believe the generic brands tend to skimp on the base oil and add pack, making an oil thats just barely good enough to meet API SL.

so as you can tell some people here define the "best" oil by the wear numbers and will go to any length to get the "best". i define the best by which oil suits me.

 

[Mike242GT]

Harley:

A lot depends too on what you want the oil to do for you, what your application is. The "best" oil for your motorcycle (or is Harley your real name?) might not necessarily be the best oil for your wife's minivan or your daughter's turbo sports coupe.

Probably the best bang for the buck in terms of conventional oil is Chevron Supreme which has delivered solid UOAs and is usually right around $1.10/qt or so at Mal-Wart. As Cryptokid points out, however, any name brand SL-rated oil on sale at under $1/qt is a good value. However if you're looking to run extended drains, or have a turbo engine (and in the Texas heat, no less), you might want to look at one of the synthetics, or at least a synthetic blend. As to which synth or synth blend gives you the best bang for the buck, well, I think the answer to that question is a bit harder to put your finger on!

And we haven't even mentioned filters yet!

 

[ekpolk]

Crypto: Where on earth are you getting M-1 for 3.70 per quart? If that's not a typo, my current Amsoil experiment just came to a screeching halt!

 

[mikemc]

quote:

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Originally posted by Harley:
with so many different brands of oil out there, how do i know what is crap? the api service ratings don't mean much to me. i've heard talk of delo and rotella, what about penzoil, valvoline, coastal, or schaffers?

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Hi Harley. What make and model of vehicles do you drive? What are the rcommended viscosities per the manufacturer? What is your preferred oil change interval? Now we can have some fun!

 

[GSV]

ekpolk,

Buying a case (6qts.)of M1 at Costco costs about 3.70 a quart.

At this price it kicks ***.

 

[Audi Junkie]

quote:

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M1 at Costco costs about 3.70 a quart

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0w-40?

 

[Harley]

with so many different brands of oil out there, how do i know what is crap? the api service ratings don't mean much to me. i've heard talk of delo and rotella, what about penzoil, valvoline, coastal, or schaffers?

 

[Chris B.]

to the site!

Well sit back and get ready for a ton of reading!!!!! That is the best way to understand all of the info here.

Top Conventional oils....Chevron/Halvoline(same thing), Pennzoil, Caltrol GTX.

Top Synthetic.... Mobil 1, German Castrol, Redline, Amsoil, and a few others. Now go read up and enjoy!

 

[Patman]

quote:

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Originally posted by Audi Junkie:

quote:

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M1 at Costco costs about 3.70 a quart

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0w-40?

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You won't likely find 0w40 at Costco. A friend of mine in NJ says his local Costco only carries 10w30 M1 and nothing else, not even 5w30.

 

[andyfish]

quote:

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Originally posted by Harley:
with so many different brands of oil out there, how do i know what is crap? the api service ratings don't mean much to me. i've heard talk of delo and rotella, what about penzoil, valvoline, coastal, or schaffers?

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If you change your oil on an easy interval of 3-4k miles any proper grade and rated oil will do fine whether $.84 Walmart SuperTech or Pennzoil. Oil related engine failures are extremely rare except on some engines with inherent design flaws. When you stretch them further a bit it may have a slight - moderate effect on engine wear. It really depends on what you own and how you drive (ie stop n go, short drives or highway miles). Personally this site swayed me towards Havoline (cheap but good oil) when I change myself and Pennzoil when I have Walmart do it and using SuperTech filters.

 

[Harley]

wow, thanks for all the input people. first off, this is my real name, i get conflicting stories about its origin though. secondly, i have 3 cars:
1. 74 chevy nova, rebuilt 350, 0.030 over with a little extra kick to it. i've been running straight 40 weight recently. just doesn't get cold here.

2. 88 volvo 760, with the PRV V6. i run 15-40 in it, lucas high TBN long drain truck oil to be exact.

3. 83 volvo 245 glt, turbo 4 cylinder. i run 20-50 in this engine. the turbo is real hard on oil, even with the oil cooler.

i've always bought mid priced oil, coastal and what not. never the big name stuff, but now i starting to think there's something to it, and i'm not saving that much.