It's called a "full synthetic" ... not 100% synthetic.
What group is Castrol Syntec 5w-20?
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Group lll
You don't know that.
It must be a combination of different basestocks.
Ranger, why do you care?
Will your engine know the difference?
Here is a history lesson (Lubricants World):
""Late in 1997, Castrol changed the formula of its Syntec "full synthetic motor oil", eliminating the polyalphaolefin (PAO) base stock (that's the "synthetic" part, which makes up about 70% by volume of what's in the bottle) and replacing it with a "hydroisomerized" petroleum base stock.
Mobil Oil Corporation, maker of Mobil 1, "Worlds Leading Synthetic Motor Oil," said no fair and took its complaint to the National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus. NAD often arbitrates between feuding advertisers on their conflicting claims.
The notion behind synthetic motor oils as we've known them is an elegant one.
Instead of relying on the cocktail of hydrocarbons contained in crude oil, why not go into the laboratory and build the perfect base stock from scratch, molecule by molecule, and builds it till it gets 10-carbon molecules, then combines three of those to form PAO.
The result is a fluid more stable than the usual base oils derived from crude. It keeps flowing at low temperatures. It's more resistant to boiling off, and more resistant to oxidation, which causes thickening with prolonged exposure to high temperatures.
Still, there's more than one road to the point B of improved stability.
Petroleum refiners in recent years have learned how to break apart certain undesirable molecules - wax, for example, which causes thickening of oil at low temperatures- and transform them by chemical reaction into helpful molecules.
These new hydroisomerized base oils, in the view of some industry participants provided properties similar to PAO's but only cost half as much," Lubricants World reported.
The argument before NAD tiptoed around the obvious- does the consumer get four bucks' worth of value from each quart of synthetic oil?- and plunged straight into deep semantics.
Mobil's experts said "synthetic" traditionally meant big molecules built up from small ones. Castrol's side held out for a looser description, defining "synthetic" as "the product of an intended chemical reaction."
What do unbiased sources say?
It turns out that the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and the American Petroleum Institute (API) both have technical standards covering motor oils, and both of these organizations in the '90's backed away from their old definitions of "synthetic," leaving lots of room for new interpretations.
In the end, NAD decided that the evidence constitutes a reasonable basis for the claim that Castrol Syntec, as currently formulated, is a synthetic motor oil, said Lubricants World.""
Actually, my reply was intended to be a trap for (vad) the Syntec fanatic. Looks like it worked.
That is a great explanation Vad...if you wanted to bait him Rod, thanks...I'm glad he posted what he did.
So basically if Mobil 1 is the only "true synth" (by their definition)in the mainstream oils does that mean the rest of them such as Syntec, Valvoline Syn Power, Havoline Synth, Pennzoil Platinum, Royal Purple etc are "hydrocracked oils" and should not be priced so close to M1?(based on M1's argument)
Does it mean M1 will protect better? Does the engine know as Vad pointed out?
Goose
So basically if Mobil 1 is the only "true synth" (by their definition)in the mainstream oils does that mean the rest of them such as Syntec, Valvoline Syn Power, Havoline Synth, Pennzoil Platinum, Royal Purple etc are "hydrocracked oils" and should not be priced so close to M1?(based on M1's argument)
Does it mean M1 will protect better? Does the engine know as Vad pointed out?
Goose
I'm leaning towards Syntec ... no good reason I just hear a little voice telling me to go with Syntec 5w-20 and MC filter and change every 180 days.
Triple_Se7en
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Blue_Goose
Show me some proof Pennzoil Platinum is Group III please?
Show me some proof Pennzoil Platinum is Group III please?
PP is EOP, similar performance to PAO as I understand. Still a "true" synthetic.
Some of the Valvoline Syns (20w-50?) are PAO based. RP is at least partial PAO, if not full. The Green Syntec 0w30 is Ester based.
Some of the Valvoline Syns (20w-50?) are PAO based. RP is at least partial PAO, if not full. The Green Syntec 0w30 is Ester based.
I switched to syntec 5w20 in my 05 focus and will will continue using it.
"I'm leaning towards Syntec ... no good reason I just hear a little voice telling me to go with Syntec 5w-20 and MC filter and change every 180 days."
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That little voice is vad's psychic telepathic Syntec brain waves homing in on you.
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That little voice is vad's psychic telepathic Syntec brain waves homing in on you.
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