What do you guys think about Royal Purple oil?

[Patman]

A lot of the Camaro and Firebird guys swear by this oil, what do you guys think about it though? I know their street oils are not fully synthetic, but their race oils are. Apparently their race oils have a TBN of 11, and RP's tech reps claim it's safe for use in a daily driver. I'd be more inclined to use their race oil, especially when the specs on their street oil aren't that impressive (most notibly, the low 400F flash point of their 10w30, lower than most conventional oils) What exactly is this Synerlec additive in RP? Do they perhaps use moly? Or have they just loaded up the oil with a ton of zinc and phosphorus? Their websites.... http://www.royalpurple.com/ and http://www.synerlec.com/ ....both make their oil sound impressive, however talk is cheap when it comes to an oil maker on their own website. Every oil maker wants you to believe theirs is the best.

 

[Bror Jace]

I wish I had some specifics about Royal Purple oil, but I don't. Still, looking at their website and reading their promotional material sets off all my snake oil alarms. www.synerlec.com My best guess is they are merely another player who buys PAO (possibly from Mobil Oil) adds a "secret ingredient" (moly, more ZDDP or PTFE) and then hypes the hell out of it, touting it better than any other oil available. This strikes me as ludicrous. If someone has any specifics, please post. Despite being a cranky jerk at times, I do try to maintain an open mind.

 

[Patman]

By the way, someone I know from the LS1Tech.com message board emailed me to ask who does oil analysis, and I referred him to Terry. This guy is running Royal Purple 10w30, and wants to have it analyzed. He's only got about 1500 miles on it, but they are hard miles, with about 20 quarter mile runs too. So hopefully it won't be too long before we see the results of his analysis.

 

[Terry]

I performed field trials last year on the street 5w-30 and 10w-30 RP products. They are a good value for a higher end product. We tested RP in Honda 4 cyl engines with good results, one drain interval was 9000 + Miles. I have quite a few analysis customers using the products with good results. Synerlec is proprietary, good luck figuring it out. The base is PAO , adds are in hydrocracked carrier oil. Uses Moly as boundary layer lube add. Founder of company is a genius.

 

[Patman]

How much moly is in Royal Purple? I did not realize it contained this? What kind of flash points did you see on this stuff though? It seems kind of low in their technical data.

 

[Terry]

Street oils, they are as synthetic as any on the market. TBN is in the 10 range. for those 2 oils. higher is not from mettalic adds but others.

 

[Terry]

Moly 100 ppm range. Didn't test for flash. volatility in and oil consumption was nil in actual engine tests.

 

[kalbri]

Hey Terry, I've got a few quick questions for you. I noticed that in the past you posted on the Noria boards that you thought that Royal Purple was an average performing synthetic oil. In reading your posts above it seems that you now think more highly of the oil. Am I interpreting your response right? Do you think more highly of RP after your experiences with it in field trials last year? Also, you said that RP has about 100 ppm of Moly. Is this more or less than what Schaffers has, or Redline? I also thought that in the past it was posted here or on Noria that RP had a mineral base oil, not PAO. Does RP have a PAO base oil? We are talking about the passenger car RP, right? Not the race version?

 

[kalbri]

You mentioned that the founder of the company is a genius? What can you tell us about him?

 

[Terry]

Kalbri,Street RP is what I tested. RP has less MoS2 than both Schaeffers and Redline. Redline has 7 times the amount of the other 2. Mostly PAO base for RP.Schaffers is usually 120-150 ppm MoS2. Did as well and mostly better than say a Amsoil lubricant in Honda 4cyl engines on extended drains and cheaper. RP is as much Synthetic as any other primarily group 4 base. Call RP and ask about the founder. Alot of the components of the product are proprietary and as such can't be disclosed on a public forum. Hope this info helps clarify as much as possible

 

[kalbri]

Thank you for the response Terry. Am I correct in thinking that you think more highly of RP after your experiences with it last year? You have mentioned that Schaffers tends to show better wear numbers on the same engine, same mileage as compared to Mobil 1. In you opinion, how does Royal Purple do regarding wear?

 

[Terry]

Kalbri, Yes my opinion is a bit higher based on the tests we ran. Some of our customers that want a PAO have switched from other brands with good results. Cost benefit is very good compared to syns that are hard to find and cost 2 to $3 more per qt. You can find RP at NAPA for $5.50 or less,even in Reno. I am reluctant to talk brands because of many reasons: just because I mention a product publicly does not always mean it is what you specifically need. I reserve that for my analysis customers where I have time to hear them out and see their analysis results to tailor a plan specifically for them.

 

[kalbri]

quote:

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Originally posted by Terry: I am reluctant to talk brands because of many reasons: just because I mention a product publicly does not always mean it is what you specifically need. I reserve that for my analysis customers where I have time to hear them out and see their analysis results to tailor a plan specifically for them.

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I understand and respect that completely Terry. Thank you for your time and your responses. Kyle

 

[Terry]

RP has very low wear in our tests, sheared to 20w at one point but wear control did not suffer. I forget exactly why but fuel dilution may have been a issue.

 

[Terry]

Kyle, Your welcome.

 

[Patman]

I found out that you can get a case of 12 bottles of the RP street oils for $47.95 from this site: http://www.oiltown.com/cards_rp/multi_vis.html That works out to $3.99 a quart, although then you have to pay for shipping too (not sure on that cost) But if someone can't find this stuff in their area this is an alternative. If I can find this stuff up here I might just give it a go after all. I still am not comfortable with that low 400f flash point though.

 

[Bror Jace]

I’m somewhat surprised that it turns out that Royal Purple is indeed a fairly traditional PAO-based synthetic oil … albeit with a “secret” ingredient. Anyone wanna bet this proprietary ingredient turns out to be a solid or other anti-wear agent that a lot of other companies use (as I stated above)? I know at one time Royal Purple admitted that their street formula was not 100% synthetic but was actually blended with mineral stocks. This is no longer the case? Even if all my above questions are answered satisfactorily, their marketing is juvenile and snake-oil-salesman-ish. This totally turns me off. They have (had?) charts on their site that show no data but compare themselves favorably to “synthetic” oil. Are they saying they are not synthetic? Beyond synthetic? That’s just ridiculous. I really hate nonsensical hype and these goofy buggers are absolutely brimming with it. There are plenty of other PAO-based synthetics out there and Royal Purple continues to be the absolutely LAST one I would choose among them. Oh, and I had heard a rumor that the purple color disappears after a few hundred miles. Can anyone confirm or dispel this?

 

[Terry]

Its Dye. To correct my earlier statement on shearing of RP; We saw one of a series of tests go to 9.3 cSt whic is the lower limit of 30w, not 20w. Fuel was an issue. 1.6L honda 4 cyl Second Honda test engine(2.0L) series ran into vis going to 13.8 cSt whic is solidly 40w. No wear degredation on either engine.

 

[PRRPILL]

Hey Terry, Long time no hear. I have been following the new board and it takes me back to the early days of the other one. Just better. It seems that even if one came out with the greatest lubricant n earth, at the lowest price, someone would gripe about something. "It's purple and Barney the Dinosaur" "The marketing Practices". What color do you want? What Marketing? The reference to Barney shows the age of some. Terry tried it, and then decided. Why don't you?

 

[kalbri]

PRRPILL, good post....and I agree with what you said. Furthermore, if someone does not agree with the marketing practices of an oil company and does not want to use the product then fine, no problem. But when an oil has been shown to turn in respectable numbers and yet people feel the need to make comments like "...If I try every other oil on the market, and they all fail to perform to my satisfaction, I'll consider Royal Purple.", well......it certainly shows a lack of maturity and does not add anything constructive to the topic.