I've noticed all over the net that Valvoline Maxlife is everywhere, I've also noticed that most people think high mileage oils are BS. Is Maxlife better or equal to a premium dino oil such as castrol or chevron supreme?
Why is Maxlife so popular?
- Thread starter MustangGT
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Basically it all comes down to marketing. Valvoline started the fad and guess what--it worked--people started thinking "Maybe this is just what I need." Then Pennzoil, Castrol, and Quaker State jumped aboard and started doing the same thing with slick marketing and new bottle colors to catch consumers' eyes. I along with others on this fine board rank Valvoline near the bottom of conventional oils--HM or regular--so I think the other premium dinos are alot better than the Valvoline. The Maxlife is I believe a Group 2+ so its probably got a decent base--its the addtives or the lack thereof that hold it back from the upper echelon of the Penn/QS/Mobil/chev/castrol/havoline/motorcraft/conoco/phillips and so on. Hope this helps as I have learned all this from the guys on this board.
I love the product. I switched from M1 to it and adore it currently. I won't say much more other than I feel Valvoline products are extremely good products, I have good faith in almost everything they make, and currently its all I run throughout my Camaro. ![[Burnout]](/forums/graemlins/burnout.gif)
its that old miracle cure in a bottle thing! pour it in and it fixes everything, like a whole bottle of vodka makes your date look like a centerfold,and makes you a sexmachine. ![[Big Grin]](images/icons/grin.gif)
Patman
Staff member
Valvoline Maxlife used to good when it first came out, when it had moly in it, and a better additive package, but now it's riding on it's past reputation (much like Fram) and it's nothing special at all. I was glad I did oil analysis and confirmed that it's not as good as it used to be. Otherwise I may have continued using it, thinking it was still good. Oil analysis definitely pinpoints the good oils and the bad oils.
I'm with Patman. The stuff was good when it first came out. A solid base oil fortified with molybdenum and some Group V ester.
But now I'm not so sure. Later batches do not have the molybdenum which quiets the piston slap many cars have once they reach the 75K-100K mile stage.
So, you are left with a more or less ordinary base oil with a bit of ester added to it which may or may not help with aged seals. Gee ... why pay over $2 per quart for THAT? ![[I dont know]](/forums/graemlins/dunno.gif)
--- Bror Jace
--- Bror JaceWell obviously Maxlife now isn't that great anymore but what about the GTX high mileage and Penzoil's high mileage oil? I think regular GTX has some moly in it but does the high mileage stuff have it as well and is it better or the best of the high mileage oils?
Jason
Patman
Staff member
Both the GTX HM and Pennzoil HM contain moly, so they'd be decent choices.
My expperience with Maxlife:
My car is a 1990 toyota 4 cyl. I began using Maxlife at 184k miles. Currently it is at 196k.
The car had been blowing smoke upon cold startup from about 130k. Within 2 weeks with the Maxlife this stopped and has never returned. Also oil consumption went from 1 qt/3000mi to 1/2qt/3000.
As far as I can see this is a very good product that does what it intends to do and I'm very pleased with it.
quote:I would be interested in seeing if those two oils had a better additive package than the Valvoline Maxlife but not interested enough to send some in for analysis Does Quaker State have one of these type oils as well ?
Originally posted by Patman: Both the GTX HM and Pennzoil HM contain moly, so they'd be decent choices.
Patman
Staff member
Yes, I believe QS has a high mileage oil too.
Patman
Staff member
By the way, one of the main reasons Maxlife slows down oil consumption is because it's thicker than most oils of the same viscosity. For example, most 10w30 oils are in the 10 to 10.5 cst at 100c range. My last two oil analysis results with Maxlife 10w30 showed it at 11.4 to 11.5 cst at 100c. That alone plays a big factor in reducing oil consumption.
quote:For my 3.8L I think this is a good thing - it does reduce oil consumption dramatically and seems to help with high rpm driving. IMO its more of a performance oil than high mileage oil, but thats just my opinion
Originally posted by Patman: By the way, one of the main reasons Maxlife slows down oil consumption is because it's thicker than most oils of the same viscosity. For example, most 10w30 oils are in the 10 to 10.5 cst at 100c range. My last two oil analysis results with Maxlife 10w30 showed it at 11.4 to 11.5 cst at 100c. That alone plays a big factor in reducing oil consumption.
![[Smile]](images/icons/smile.gif){kind=icon}
There is an OK article on Valvoline corp. in Lubesn'Greases last month.
Marketing hype is the basic answer.
beagle, I have a buddy like you. I mentioned to him years ago that Valvoline had an oil out that was specifically formulated for higher mileage engines using a "fortified" base oil and he tried it ... and loved it.
Unfortunately, they changed the formula. ![[Frown]](images/icons/frown.gif)
--- Bror Jace
--- Bror JaceQuote:Was that regular or full synthetic Maxlife? Because I have the regular down for 10.66 cSt @100C.
By the way, one of the main reasons Maxlife slows down oil consumption is because it's thicker than most oils of the same viscosity. For example, most 10w30 oils are in the 10 to 10.5 cst at 100c range. My last two oil analysis results with Maxlife 10w30 showed it at 11.4 to 11.5 cst at 100c. That alone plays a big factor in reducing oil consumption.
Merkava, you do realize the oil's formulation MIGHT change a bit in the 5.5 years since this thread was first posted...right?
Quote:
Quote:Was that regular or full synthetic Maxlife? Because I have the regular down for 10.66 cSt @100C.
By the way, one of the main reasons Maxlife slows down oil consumption is because it's thicker than most oils of the same viscosity. For example, most 10w30 oils are in the 10 to 10.5 cst at 100c range. My last two oil analysis results with Maxlife 10w30 showed it at 11.4 to 11.5 cst at 100c. That alone plays a big factor in reducing oil consumption.
Quote:Let's find out.
Merkava, you do realize the oil's formulation MIGHT change a bit in the 5.5 years since this thread was first posted...right?
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