Which is the best?

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It seems to me that most people at this site consider Chevron Supreme, Pennzoil, and Castrol to be the best conventional motor oils (based on VOAs and UOAs of oils that have been tested). So which of these three motor oils stands above the rest in terms of quality for conventional motor oils?

I assume that Castrol maybe would lose points because its pour point apparently is not as good. If that is the case, then which motor oil stands as the best-Pennzoil or Chevron?

Or is the difference between conventional motor oils so slight (with maybe a few exceptions of very poor qualioty motor oils) that it really does not matter which a person used?
 
Since chevron and pennzoil apparently use the same base oils, and pennzoil has lower pour and pumpability specs, and seems to have a more robust additive package..........I would probably have to say pennzoil. But if you factor price into it, then the playing field is pretty even.
 
Of course, another problem is that not all oils have been tested in VOAs and UOAs at this site. There could be a jewel of an oil somewhere that has not been tested.I don't think I have seen any UOAs, for example, on Shell oil. And Quaker State has not been tested much. And others could be named as well. And, there are also oils like Schaeffer's MicronMoly, a conventional oil that displayed great anti-wear abilities in BOBISTHEOILGUY testing. I suppose it could be argued that Schaeffer's MicronMoly would have to be considered the best conventional motor oil, based on that testing.
 
Good point, Mystic. But the schaeffers isn't really an OTC oil though. There are alot of oils that haven't really been tested around here. I would really like to see some UOA's on quaker state. I would really be surprised if shell turned out to be a really good oil, but who knows.
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I am interested in Quaker State, also. I have owned Saturn cars for the last several years and as far as I know Quaker State is the oil they put in the cars and SUVs at the factory. I have been to four Saturn dealerships and they all use Quaker State as far as I can determine.

So the question becomes-why? Do they know something about Quaker State? Did somebody somewhere along the line just make a decision to use Quaker State (maybe they could get it for a low price?)?

There used to be a guy who went by the name 'Johnny' at this web site who worked for Pennzoil-Quaker State. He said that he preferred the Pennzoil formulation, but apparently he thought that Quaker State was good, also. Pennzoil, Quaker State, and Shell are now all one company. So maybe in the future they will basically all be the same oil.

There are a lot of other motor oils that have not been tested by anybody at this site. And with all the mergers, some brands may be basically the same. Chevron and Havoline may be the same, for example.

I used to hear that Kendall motor oil back east was great, but the Kendall in the western part of the country was not as good.
 
Chris,
The UOA of various Motorcraft oils have been really decent. My wife has a 2002 Explorer and just goes to the dealer for servicing every 5,000 miles and they use Mororcraft 5W-30. I had an UOA(posted 7/27/03) done last time and it came out really good considering it is a dino 5W-30 oil. You can check it out in the UOA posts. I'd link it but I don't know how. Computers and me
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Whimsey
 
quote:

Originally posted by Mystic:
Of course, another problem is that not all oils have been tested in VOAs and UOAs at this site. There could be a jewel of an oil somewhere that has not been tested.I don't think I have seen any UOAs, for example, on Shell oil. And Quaker State has not been tested much. And others could be named as well. And, there are also oils like Schaeffer's MicronMoly, a conventional oil that displayed great anti-wear abilities in BOBISTHEOILGUY testing. I suppose it could be argued that Schaeffer's MicronMoly would have to be considered the best conventional motor oil, based on that testing.

There are some shell UOA ,you will find them easily.
 
Motorcraft oil is apparently actually Conoco motor oil that has been hydrocracked. We know that it meets the requirements of Ford Motor Company, and probably other auto makers as well. I remember seeing some information somewhere that the 5W-20 Motorcraft (which Ford requires in most of its new vehicles) was tested twice the length of time as compared to other 5W-20s. The 5W-20 Motorcraft may also be a synthetic (maybe Group III).
 
Not a big fan of Castrol because they tell you nothing about their oils (Well, they do have specs on the site for their HDEO lubes)!

It's between Chevron and Pennzoil for me, and it's a toss up...
 
Mystic,
I believe Motorcraft 5W-20 is made up of Group II+ and Group III. I'm not sure what the Motorcraft 5W-30 is based on. And yes it seems that Conoco does make the Motorcraft oils. While they don't use Moly they still seem to afford protection according to the UOA's. Of course I would never take any of dino oils past 5000 mile OCI. Dino oils were never meant to go more under average driving situations. Yes, I know about GM and other car manufactures that spec 7,500 to 10,000 miles OCI for dino oil. But it's a real leap of faith to do so. At least according to the UOA of my wife's 2002 Explorer with the Motorcraft 5W-30 oil it served just fine for a 5000 oil under somewhat harsh driving conditions. Though I won't want to push it further, or any dino oil for that matter. Unless of course it's a lease car and you don't care what happens after you turn it in.

Whimsey
 
quote:

Originally posted by Mystic:
The 5W-20 Motorcraft may also be a synthetic (maybe Group III).

Last time my father had his Explorer serviced the invoiced stated "Motorcraft 5W-20 Synthetic Blend"

I have only used Pennzoil and I felt confident doing so based on the information posted here. You can argue opinions, ect. But numbers tell the real story. I would love to try some Chevron, but I can't find any here.
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If I decide to go back to dino I may give Havoline a try and see how well I like it.

[ October 06, 2003, 11:56 AM: Message edited by: goldfinger ]
 
goldfinger, I have always been able to find Chevron Supreme at Checker Auto Parts Stores. Accordingto what I have heard, Havoline is now the same oil as Chevron Supreme, or very close to it. People say just make sure that it says Chevron/Texaco on the bottle.
 
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