PeteL

Valdez, do you disagree with anything I said? If so be specific and I'll try and explain.

Pete

[Or better yet, why not e-mail to get this personal problem off the boards]




[Modified by PeteL, 10:35 AM 3/15/2002]

BobMachus

Wow, Valdez, the only thing you added here was a some less than flattering appraisals of Forum members. I was kind of enjoying this post.

Valdez

Most everything you say is pretty negative all other brands of oil besides Mobil-1 or the GM ZF fluid! I do agree that Mobil-1 is a good oil but not necessary the best oil. There are a lot of good brands. Do your research, Ester base oils are the premium synthetic oils, and Mobil-1 is NOT an Ester base oil.

PeteL

What makes you think I like Mobil 1? Did you read the post?

My negativity stems from the product marketing. I really have to work to determine what any oil "is". In the case of this topic, Royal Purple, you really have to work to find out that the street oil is a blend with mineral oil. I simply posted that. I never said the oil was "bad" or anything else.

I have no blind faith in any product, nor do I believe any oil is a miracle. I look for the right product for an application.

At least I contributed to the thread. The majority of your posts of late have been consumed with personal attacks against myself and Rick (whom I have never met), while offering no contribution to the subject.

And, BTW, we agree on something. Folks should use what makes them happy or works best for their application.

Again if there is anything I have posted here with which you disagree, bring it up and I'll try and explain my opinion.

Best Regards,

Pete

Eric 96

I think the reason we post questions here on a forum, is to hear from the people who have used the products. If there is someome who has used Royal Purple and a part failed in their engine as a result...I want to know about it. Just the same, when I hear that some people have used it, and their engine makes less noise, or that the C5s don't burn oil when using Royal Purple...it makes me want to use that product.
If you have never used the product, and do not have any knowledge (positive or negative) of the product being discussed, you only cloud the conversation.

CowboyNVette

After reading this thread I am confused ( which is not unfamilar when it comes to motor oils). Like what PeteL says alot of oils do not really tell you if they are pure synthetic or blends, I have to agree with him on this point but I do have an open mind when it comes to picking an oil for my Vette. I know GM says use Mobil 1 but if there is a better synthetic oil to use I would love to know. Which motor oils are pure synthetics? Does the Corvette need a pure synthetic oil? Can anyone answer these questions?

Eric 96

I posted some links above for both Amsoil and for Royal Purple. Royal Purple does make pure synthetic oil, as does Amsoil. I use Royal Purple because it is easier for me to get (my mechanic is a distributor). There have also been quite a few C5 users with good things to say about Royal Purple here in the Forum. I don't think you could go wrong using any synthetic oil, but in my opinion, these two are the best. Read the posts, read the sites, do your homework, and do whats best for you.

Bluevette85

Eric,
Do you use the Royal Purple racing oil which is 100 % synthetic or their oem blended oil?

bac22

All I know is there someone who can actually post an engine failure because of oil???? (excluding the person who drove 20,000 miles on dino oil). Change your oil or a regular basis and the engine will be fine.

Eric 96

I am using full Synthetic Oil in my 2000 Mustang GT and have been since it was new. Filter change at 5,000 miles, and full oil and filter change at 10,000 miles.
I used conventional in my '70 Vette on its 156,000 mile unrebuilt motor.
I just purchased this '96 Collector's Edition, and the previous owner had just changed the oil with Mobile 1. I probably use Royal Purple in it as well when the time comes for a change.

VetteBabe1

What are the price differences between all of these? Does anyone know? I was just wondering how much it would cost to use the Royal Purple in my ZR1 next time. I had been using Mobil on my previous Vettes but maybe not now!

PeteL

GM may say to use Mobil 1 or at least recommend it for the LT1, LT4 and LS1, but they have actually gone to the trouble of establishing a standard of testing to determine if the oil in question meets GM specifications.

This specification is GM4718M. If it says that the product meets GM4718M on the bottle you are good to go. Most synthetics meet this specification.

Now if you are not under warranty, who cares?

My thoughts on this are that if GM went to the trouble to establish a standard for oil for their engines, it might be worth following that recommendation.

I have no idea how you can tell the quality of an oil, excepting regular oil analysis. Oil analysis is useful, but is a very long term study of your engine and it's interaction with the oil. A single analysis is meaningless.

The ONLY benchmark I can go by is API testing and testing to GM standards. Everything else I have seen is marketing hype and useless for comparison in any meaningful way.

Those of us who buy synthetic oil for our cars do so in hopes of superior performance, longer engine life, or perhaps better gas mileage or reduced breakdowns. How can you tell if one oil is better than another? I don't know.

I certainly would not use "testomony" as a basis of oil purchase. "I put in FoxHead baby oil and now I can chirp 2nd!" Please. Takes years. I could post a bunch of links to "testomony" for Motor-UP and STP and Slick 50 and ProLong. Thankfully most folk have read enough not to put this snake oil in their cars (talking about the additives before anybody gets their panties in a bunch).

Sorry, long again.

Pete

Eric 96

Hey Jennifer,
I pay $50 to have the initial Royal Purple installed with a performance oil filter.
I drive 5,000 miles and go back in to have the filter changed, and the oil topped off (you lose some when the filter is changed. That cost about $18...so say $20.
Then after another 5,000 miles, I pay another $50 to have all new Royal Purple and another new filter installed.
So one cycle (10,000 miles) costs a total of $70 and I am using a product that is one of the best on the market.
I believe Amsoil has further intervals between changes, but I think it costs a little bit more than Royal Purple.
Who knows...it may be all overkill. But cars have actually shown an increase in Horse Power on the Dyno Machine after installing Royal Purple. That was not why I chose to use it...I just think it is a good product, and compared to changing Mobile 1 every 3,000 miles, its not that much more money.

PeteL

Eric you are going to think I am busting chops, but I am not. I could not let this just go by for the sake of the others that read this.

The Royal Purple sight used to have a huge disclaimer on it saying that it did not recommend using the racing oil on the street. Be careful with oils that provide "as much as 5% horsepower" gains. Oils like this can trade wear for HP. Have you done an analysis on the oil in the Stang after 10,000 miles? I would. Could be everything is fine, but could be that disclaimer should still be on the web-sight. If you can get over that it's me telling you this, call Royal Purple tech support and ask about using this oil in a street driven engine.

You may be better off with the street product in the long run. The street produce may very well go 10,000 miles as well. Only way to tell in your engine is to have analysis performed, and more than 1!

Pete

VetteBabe1

Does anyone know how much it is per quart say? Of course I need like a ton for the ZR1 so just preparing to save up. :)

Eric 96

Pete, The guy who owns the shop where I have all my work done drives the Royal Purple Alcohol Dragster. I trust he is using the right stuff in my cars. He's been servicing my cars for 10 years. I may even be wrong and he may be using the "street blend". The next time I go in to see him, I will verify which one he is using. But when I decided to use Royal Purple, I was under the impression that it was the pure Synthetic.
I don't think I have responded to you with anything but respect in this thread...we are just two guys expressing our opinions. But, I will tell you this, if he is using the blend, I will be making the swap to Amsoil.

Just a thought here Pete...could it be a different formula since your last visted the sight? And a disclaimer is no longer called for?



[Modified by Eric 96, 6:56 PM 3/15/2002]

Bluevette85

I'm going to try it next oil change.
Jegs has it for $4.99 a quart.

You can find a local retailer thru the Royal Purple site:
www.synerlec.com/findus.html

PeteL

VB1, if I had that beautiful car of yours I would consider Amsoil or Redline in the crankcase. If I had an extended warranty I would use Amsoil because of the API ratings (to insure no arguments).

BTW, sorry about the "guy named Ralph" crack, but it did get a picture posted! :blueangel: You are definately not a guy named Ralph.

Very nice car, glad everything worked out with the damage {IDIOTS :mad }.

This Royal Purple street grade oil may be fine and you should consider it as well, but I would not use the racing (pure synthetic) unless you are really comfortable with the wear vs. HP gain explaination you get from RP.

I play the cog in the wheel on this thread, to make folks think and not follow the marketing blindly. It's all about sales / marketing. I really dislike Amsoil and Redline marketing, but their products may be good in this catagory. I liked RP marketing until they decided to broaded their market and all the reasonable information went away, like the rest of the oil producers.

If you really love your LT5, choose an oil and have it tested a few times. Lots of places to test your oil sample, and their is much to be learned. One tip is don't use the oil manufacturer's labs for analysis, use and independent like Blackstone Labs or a bunch of others.

Pete

Eric 96

Oh yeah, Pete, I am in Aviation maintenance, and do have access to an NDI lab where I work, so I will be getting my oil tested. The only problem with doing that is there must be some type of baseline established to compare to. Each engine is different and has different wear characteristics. So if may take several samples to find out how the engine is wearing.
Wish I would have thought of this 10,000 miles ago...I would have some numbers for you now.
But regardless, I do believe that RP, Amsoil, Red Line all out perform and out protect Mobile 1. RP and Amsoil have been being used by the Diesel Truck industry for years be cause of their wear protection. The local Porche/Audi/Volkswagon dealership use RP to service all the diesel German cars that come in.

PeteL

A bunch of us went through this a couple of years ago on the Corvetteforum. Royal Purple used to have a really good tech section for the oils until their marketing tried to broaden the market, then the good juicy stuff was taken off. If you go to the FAQ section, you will find the question about the street product being a blend with mineral oil. This is the only remaining mention on the web sight. This is why I would call tech support, as I hope you will get the "rest of the story".

I personally don't believe the issue that it may be a blend is bad if the oil performs. However I would watch the price / value of any such product. Oil analysis will tell the story, but it takes a long time to find out!

All the oil companies have been playing games since Castroil won the "marketing" decision that their Syntec oil could be called synthetic. This changed the world. There is no longer any defination of "synthetic oil". It is a marketing decision only. There are no standards that say Royal Purple is synthetic and Castroil is not. So it's whatever "they" want to tell the public. Really sad state of affairs.

I agree that when all else fails, Amsoil may actually be the best: But I ask you, how can we know? Only testing by an independant lab, in use. And yes, I do actually believe that RedLine has a chance of producing a quality product, however their marketing is the worst of almost every oil product I read, so much that it scares me where the company is headed. RedLine needs to get thier product API certified or there will always be questions, exactly as it should be. I'm not talking about the RedLine products for the ZF transmission, as they don't offer one - regardless of what certain posters would lead us to believe.

Pete