Why is royal purple... purple??

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hey guys, i currently have a 97 bmw e39 540i 6spd. its a 97 so its a non vanos engine(m62). im currently running rp 10w30 in the engine and synchromax in the trans. i've used the synchro before in my e36 m3, good results in both cars. switched from redline d4atf to the synchromax in the m3 and noticed a improvement in smoothness of shifting. real question here is what is in rp that gives the products its purple tint? those of you who have used it know what im talking about. its very evident in the synchromax that it is purple in color and even the oil has a purpleish tint to it. ive always been rather curious about this, marketing ploy prehaps?
also, out of all the synth oils available, where does rp sit on the list in terms of quality and esters etc? what would you guys say is the absolute best synthetic oil available? meaning the highest group? redline? thanks..
 
Hello, nightkrawler. I think Redline is the one using most esters. However, Royal Purple is using synerlec(makes the oil film several times stronger), and is the only one using this. Oils can perform different in different engines, so it is very difficult(impossible?) to say that one oil is better than another. However, if you test out Royal Purple, Redline, Amsoil and Mobil1(testing on a dyno, temperature and UOA) you should be close finding the best oil. Good luck.
 
Does anyone besides me remember when Union 76's best oil was also purple. It was often called "grape juice". I think the product name was "Triton Royal Purple".
 
quote:

Why is royal purple... purple??

A beautiful maiden squashes the plums with her feet and then the nectar is drawn off and mixed with the base oil.
biggthumbcoffe.gif


Seriously, go back to your basic color addition theory.

What happens when you mix red and blue food dye for cupcakes or Easter Eggs?
 
From Royal Purple website FAQs

quote:

Does Royal Purple® maintain its purple color after it's put into service?

No. The dye that's used to color the oil dissapates shortly after being put into service. The color will turn brown at some point.

That pretty much authoritatively answers the question.

RP
 
I have answered this before (in a more serious manner).

Their dye is a special thermochroic dye that initially has a color but fades to clear as heat activates it.
 
From HERE

quote:

...Mr. Williams' new lubricant easily solved the oil product company’s equipment problems. When the company’s plant manager tried the oil, he said that it was so superior to anything he had tried before that it shouldn’t even look like other lubricants.

Mr. Williams offered to make it red, green or blue, but the customer had seen those before. The customer said he had never seen purple oil, so Mr. Williams elected to make the lubricant purple...

 
They're very lucky the color came out purple.

It would be very expensive to change the name of the company if the oil was a different color.
 
Dye is what causes the color.

As a side note, I've live fairly close to the Royal Purple headquarters and even have a distributor pricing account set up with them (although I'm not REALLY a distributor, it just gives me the distributor pricing). Anyhow, they have a plaque on the wall in their headquarters which shows they have a patent on the purple oil bottle.

I thought that was kinda interesting.
 
I remember my dad putting purple Union 76 oil in the '59 Chevy. Yes, nascarnation, before the "76" brand was sold off to Tosco, then Phillips and now Conoco, it was a California company.
 
well, thanks for all the answers, lol. so far i've tried m1, castrol tws 10w60, amsoil, and rp. i've heard a lot of good things about rp so i figured i'd give it a shot. havent tried redline yet mainly due to the price of it around here. ok, serious question.. if you had to list your favorites or oils you feel are the best available, what would be your top 4 synths?
 
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