"winter oil" haha

2000sunfire · Dec 10, 2004

Yesterday at Candian tire i spied some Quaker State Winter oil synthetic blend of the 10W30 flavor......
Anybody have experience with this? My gut feeling and my engi-senses (engineering) tell me that this gibberish couldn't possibly out perform Mobil 1 5W30 in the cold. (Ya I would have gone with a 0W30 but wanted to try Mobil to see what the fuss is about and they didn't have any 0W30 in stock

JHZR2 · Dec 10, 2004

probably a marginally better result, still within the 10w- range, or a lower pour point to sell more oil...

It wont meet or beat M1, although it could potentially have some adds to help prevent wear at cold startup.

heyjay · Dec 10, 2004

Oh boy, here we go again with that insane Canadian Tire advertising BS. The guy with whiskers suggests to his neighbor to run QS "Winter Blend" to assist with cold starts.

Bah, humbug!

If you have a Canadian Tire store, you probably have an Esso dealer within convenient driving distance.

Check out the Esso XD-3 0W-30: it's a "real" PAO synthetic HDEO, and is almost a buck a litre cheaper than that garbage at Canadian Tire.

Mystic · Dec 10, 2004

From what I have been able to find out about the Quaker State Winterstart, it is formulated to flow well in extreme cold. It costs somewhat less then Mobil 1 and it is hard to say how long the Quaker State would be effective. If the addtives wore out quickly, maybe it would not be effective too long.

Regardless if a person uses conventional or synthetic oil in the warmer months of the year, it just seems to me that we already have proven cold weather oils. It would be hard to beat 5W-30 or 0W-30 Mobil 1 in the wintertime. And you would not have to worry about pour point depressants being used up.

427Z06 · Dec 10, 2004

quote:

Originally posted by heyjay:
Oh boy, here we go again with that insane Canadian Tire advertising BS. The guy with whiskers suggests to his neighbor to run QS "Winter Blend" to assist with cold starts.

Bah, humbug!

Chill, Dude. No one is suggesting it is worth while or cost effective to use. After reading the specs, you can't deny that it has unusual and thus interesting properties for a syn blend.

Blue99 · Dec 11, 2004

MSDS info for Quaker State Winter Synthetic Blend:

code:

HYDROTREATED HEAVY PARAFFINIC PETROLEUM DISTILLATES 64742-54-7 < 90 %

SOLVENT-DEWAXED HEAVY PARAFFINIC DISTILLATE 64742-65-0 < 90 %

So we are looking at a Grp I & Grp III blend.

The cold crank spec is impressive, as compared to the Chevron/Havoline Grp III synthetic and M1 0W-30:

QS 5W-30 Winter Blend - 3750 cP @ -35C

M1 0W-30 PAO Synthetic - 3800 cP @ -35C

Chev/Havo 5W-30 Synthetic - 3700 cP @ -30C

Depending on how long the pour point depressants hold up, the QS Winter Blend should certainly provide good cold start performance.

Kestas · Dec 11, 2004

It's probably following the trend of manufacturers coming out with their boutique of designer oils - a marketing tactic for them to differentiate their product from the rest of the 'ordinary' oils... as if 5W- or 0W- doesn't do the trick of getting our attention!

427Z06 · Dec 11, 2004

Actually, it has some interesting specs: Product Data Sheet

The 5w30 meets the cold performance requirements of a 0w30. And the 10w30 looks to meet the cold performance requiremnts of a 5w30. I'm guessing a real light base oils and lots of VII.

Unless the VIIs are of very high quality, I would think it would shear out relatively quickly.

Johnny · Dec 12, 2004

I had to laugh at this post and the one that preceeded it. I just got back from a week long meeting with Shell in Houston and our Canadian sales staff was there. I told them about this site, and this post referring to Canadian Tire as Crappy Tire. They laughed and told me everyone in Canada calls it Crappy Tire. Oh, and they said that Crappy Tire cries all the way to the bank.

As for as the QS Winter Oil, it does exactly what it claims. It will flow better than Mobil 1 in extremely cold weather. It's not really rocket sicence. It has more pour point depresents in it than you have brandy in Canada. It will easily go 5,000 miles, and it won't turn into junk if the weather warms up.

But I have a simple suggestion to ease your pain. If you don't like Crappy Tire and that QS ad, stay out of the store and do your business somewhere else.

427Z06 · Dec 12, 2004

quote:

Originally posted by Johnny:
I had to laugh at this post and the one that preceeded it.

Do you mind telling us what you find so amusing?

Johnny · Dec 12, 2004

Sure, two things I find amusing.

1. That they refer to it as Crappy Tire, then I find out everyone in Canada calls it this.

2. That someone dislikes a store so much and dispises an ad so much that they just keep going back for more.

I find it amusing. Sick since of humor I guess.

427Z06 · Dec 12, 2004

Oh, I thought you were laughing at Blue99 and myself, when we were trying to discuss the topic objectively with what little information we had available.

If I understand you correctly, you say it's a quality blend with a lot of pour point depressants. Looking at the VI, I would guess it has a lot of VIIs. Not that that's bad if they are of high quality. Anything else you can tell us about this oil?

Yuk · Dec 12, 2004

quote:

2. That someone dislikes a store so much and dispises an ad so much that they just keep going back for more.

It's kind of hard not to. When CT and Wal-Mart are the only options to the high priced parts stores you have to take what you can get. If I had another option I'd never shop at CT or Wal-Mart again.

Hirev · Dec 12, 2004

quote:

Originally posted by Blue99:

Depending on how long the pour point depressants hold up, the QS Winter Blend should certainly provide good cold start performance.

Depending on how long would be, the big question in my head.

T-Keith · Dec 12, 2004

What I find Ironic. Is that many people on this board search for an oil with certain characteristics for a specific application, but when an oil company makes the oil with the certain characteristics and markets it, it's criticized as a ripoff and gimic.

-T

2000sunfire · Dec 12, 2004

On the topic of Candian Tire (oops sorry "Crappy Tire") I think they spray something in the air in there to make you buy things you don't need. It's more addictive than any drug i ever heard of. Once my brother went in for a hockey stick and came out with a home hair cutting kit!

Anybody comment on crappy tire's auto service department? I think it's the ****s! My brother got a starter put on his topaz there this summer and had to go back THREE times because they kept messing up the electrical connections. Shouldn't a "mechanic" (I realize this was probably not one, rather a technician) have any easy time putting a starter on one of the top selling cars in Canada? Also I overheard the service manager tell a customer that his chev half tonne had a loose ball joint and they "tried to put some grease in it and tighten it but it wouldn't tighten" Last time i checked grease can't replace worn Steel! haha.

Also another day I heard them tell like 3 people in a row who were getting oil changes that they couldn't leave until they got new park brake cables. Give me a break! They obviously had park brake cables on sale that week or something.

I preffer to work on my car myself or if it needs something I do not know how to do I take it to a private mechanic who does his jobs in half the time crappy tire does (and charges proportionately less.... oh and knows how to install a starter

)

I think crappy tire actually charges sixty dollars labor to change 6 spark plugs..... pretty big profit margin for these guys I guess.

heyjay · Dec 13, 2004

quote:

Originally posted by Yuk:

quote:

2. That someone dislikes a store so much and dispises an ad so much that they just keep going back for more.

Click to expand...

It's kind of hard not to. When CT and Wal-Mart are the only options to the high priced parts stores you have to take what you can get. If I had another option I'd never shop at CT or Wal-Mart again.

Amen!

What I find curious about the QS "Winter Blend" specs, asides from some weird typos and conversion errors, is their stated MRV (-40) = 15,000 cP.

Is their Pour Point -35 F or is it -45 C? Or is it "first one, then the other??"

If the Pour Point is -35 F, how can the oil have that rated MRV at -40?? If the Pour Point is -45 C, that makes more sense.

Esso XD-3 0W-30 has an MRV (-40) of 22,600 cP. The maximum recommended MRV is 60,000 cP, so even at -40 you've plenty of margin. At around a buck a litre cheaper too.

Problem is, Esso has closed quite a few bulk dealers over the past four years, so it can be hard to find one that is convenient. So we end up grimly marching into Crappy Tire or Wally World.

There was a good consumer affairs writeup on Crappy Tire Service Centers. They "service" you all right, avoid them like the Clap.

"winter oil" haha

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