Which of these two oils is better?

[neunElf]

Which of these two oils would you choose?
I live in an area that rarely gets below freezing in the winter and my manufacturer reccomends 0W-40 yearound, but if the temp stays above -25C then they say 5w-40 is ok. I'm considering the following 2 oils and have listed below the specs where they differ;
OIL - 1 Oil - 2
Kinematic Vis @100C 13.9 14
" " 40C 84 78.3
Viscosity Index 171 186
Pour Point -42C -54
Flash point 240C 230C

Both oils are on manufacturers reccomended list.
I will appreciate any guidance.
thanks

 

[hate2work]

Very little difference in those two oils for your application. Flip a coin or buy the one in the prettier bottle

BTW, were you here last winter? We had many below freezing days, although not low enough to effect either oil you've mentioned. When I mention it got "cold" here last night, the Canadians just laugh at me

 

[d00df00d]

If I had to guess, I'd say this is for a Porsche 911, and one of the oils is Mobil 1 0w-40. Am I right?

Those specs alone won't tell you much, unfortunately. If Mobil 1 0w-40 is indeed one of the recommendations, it will definitely work for you, as the manufacturer says. It is a great oil. The 5w-40 might be better but we'd have to know more about it to make a better guess.

 

[neunElf]

yes I have been here for many winters and yes last one was cold for us but still pretty good compared to most!

Yes you are right it is a 997, but I get sick of this constant drumbeat about Mobil 1. There are many good oils and I just prefer using something else. The one I am thinking of using is PENTOSYNTH HC.

I would feel confident using any oil on their list, but was just curious to see how it measured up.

Thanks for your comments!

 

[d00df00d]

The Pentosynth HC is probably a decent alternative. It certainly has a good list of manufacturer approvals. As you said, anything on Porsche's list will be something you can use with confidence -- otherwise it wouldn't be on the list.

Now, will it be better than the Mobil 1? I wouldn't be surprised, but I certainly wouldn't bet on it. I see how you might feel like a lemming if you used Mobil 1, but the 0w-40 in particular is a really, really good oil.

IMO, do as the mood strikes you!

 

[neunElf]

Yes, Mobil 1 is good, but in the Porsche community as it were, a lot of people develop this slavish adherence to Porsche's highly visible recommendation of Mobil 1, while ignoring their understated approval of many other oils. Pentosin is a relatively small company, in comparison to ExxonMobil anyway, and I like to support smaller business whenever I can. I'm sure that all companies must pay a significant fee to Porsche in order to get their approval, they do it for tires as well, but ExxonMobil has deep pockets and am sure they pay significantly more to get their sticker/reminder in every Porsche's engine bay. Nothing wrong with that at all, but I just like being a little less compliant than my brethren.

 

[virginoil]

Oil 2.