I know, there must be six zillion oil tests out there. And I've never heard of 'StreetCommodores.com' (Austraillian). This test was interesting to me in that it did several of the oils that I've heard the name but never seen or know anyone that uses them.

Short roundup... Valvoline DuraBlend is half the price of mobil1 and twice the oil. Royal Purple kicked everyone's a$$.

http://www.animegame.com/cars/Oil%20Tests.pdf

I don't know why it's on 'animegaem.com'. The commodore site has some excellent articles in their tech section.

 

200k on M1
it is good oil

 

I wouldn't say it's crap but there will always be an argument for a better oil for the price, better oil for the oil, or better price for the price. Just like Corvette vs other sports cars. Who cares? Just find one you like and use it. It's more important to change your oil than to stress out over which oil you use. There are several good ones out there. The world will never agree on anything so don't try to make it so. Go to sleep with a smile and when you regain your conscience, smile again. F* the oil.

 

the only valid test is how it does in a real engine... driven as the car would normally be used.

if you can find this part in my LS1...



getting striked like this in normal useage - in that exact manner - then I'd look into these other oils.

This is nothing except a slideruler -type- simulation test that doesn't mimick the actual useage of the engine.

Real World Testing... is all that counts.

 

 

If I don't know the source of the article I take it with a grain of salt. If you don't like Mobile 1 use Royal Purple it is a great oil. Just don't get hung up on oils. I've used Mobile 1 for over 20 years and have had many high milage cars.

 

Yup, it's crap.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...t=high+mileage

1st & 16th post.

Does more need to be said?

 

The proof is in his puddin! Can't beat that for real world style.

 

I'd say streetcommodores is crap, not Mobil 1. Let's face it, the more popular the product, the greater the effort by some people to knock it down. This can easily apply to people as well.

Mobil 1 is widely available, has been proven to be an excellent oil in real-world use, and is reasonably-priced compared to many other top-tier synthetic oils.

 

If you want to read about engine oils (and other lubricants) until your eyes bleed, head over to www.bobistheoilguy.com.

Personally, I've run M1 10w-30 in the following cars:

'00 hardtop: 165,xxx miles, autocrossed regularly
'94 Z-28 (LT-1): 207,xxx miles (daily work car)
'96 Crown Vic (4.6l V8): 240.xxx miles before I sold the car for our
'03 CV: 105,xxx miles (family car)

Oil change intevals on all these cars is around 7500 miles, (~40% left on the OLM for our hardtop), and had engine oil analysis done; oil was always in good shape.

BTW, oil analysis saved the '96 CV engine when it found traces of coolant in the oil, as well as increasing trends in wear metals. Investigation found a failed intake plenum gasket that was leaking. No external symptoms other than the phantom coolant loss. www.blackstone-labs.com labs does good work for $20 per analysis.

HTH, and have a good one,
Mike

 

For sure. Mobile 1 is absolute garbage. Just look at how many C5's have shelled their motors using Mobil 1. Such a shame. Royal Purple truly is the oil of the gods.

 

I have to agree that the oil is not "crap." However, many folks, myself included, are irritated to the point of looking for alternative lubricants after Exxon-Mobil changed the base stock of their full synthetic oil without letting consumers know.
Without going in to all the details, all synthetic oils are not alike. At one time Mobil1 and Amsoil, among a very few others used a Polyalphaolefin (PAO) base oil. This is an expensive product and justified Mobil1's $5.00 - $7.00 per quart price. Roughly 2 years ago people who routinely perform oil analysis began to get reports back that their Mobil1 oil was now using a much less expensive Group III base stock. But Mobil1 continued to cost as much or more than when it was based on the PAO base stock. In short, a marketing decision had been made to increase profits by using cheaper Group III base stock, while charging the same price. Naturally, Exxon-Mobil did not advertise that they had lowered the quality of their product. Rather, they touted their "reformulation" without giving any details. This is all the more significant when one considers that Mobil spent decades telling the public how good their full synthetic oil was compared to the competition precisely BECAUSE it used the PAO base oil, with its acknowledged benefits over the less expensive Group III.
So is the current Mobile1 a bad oil? No. But for less money you can buy an equally good oil such as Pennzoil Platinum, Castrol Syntec, Quaker State, etc. If you don't mind spending $7.00 per quart, Amsoil is still a PAO based oil. I also think Royal Purple and/or Redline may be PAO based oils.
That advantage of the PAO base is its excellent cold weather properties and resistance to breakdown in high heat conditions. Our 'vettes run hot. The better the resistance to thermal breakdown the better the oil will protect our engines.
If you still wish more information, do check out bobistheoilguy.com.
Glen

 

I agree with Glen's comments above, but appreciate it that he wrote them vice me as many of you would doubt my intentions.

Glen,
FYI, Red Line advertises that they use a Group V Polyol Ester vice the Group IV PAO that AMSOIL uses in all of its synthetics expect its least expensive XL line. The polyol esters behave differently with regards to porous materials (like seals) and I felt more comfortable with AMSOIL when I made my shift from Mobil 1 to AMSOIL back in 2004.

I chose to stay away from Royal Purple for similar reasons to what you listed above for Exxon-Mobil. Royal Purple's website does not say what basestock they use, thus I assume it is predominantly Group III, probably with some PAO and Ester's blended in for improved performance over the typical Group III synthetic on the market today.

 

You can make a poorly formulated Grp IV oil that isn't as good as a well formulated Grp III and vice versa. Additives are every bit as important. Focusing on one aspect of an oil is a waste of time. Just go to www.bobistheoilguy.com and find out. btw, pennzoil platinum is Grp III/V and is as good as anything on the market that I've seen.

 

Glen is right. They Exxon Mobil tried to pull a fast one. Typical greedy corporation. My buddy has an LS1 TA with over 200k an he uses non-synthetic oil (whatever is on sale). An engine with Mobil 1 probably has NO advantage over an enigine with any other oil IMO.

 

Another part of their record breaking profits!!
Scumbags!!

 

FWIW, my buddy has a 1996 S10 pickup with 600K miles (Yes, not 60K but 600K). He drives Nashville/Memphis/Selmer almost every day.

What oil does he use? Plain ole' Valvoline dino. He changes it every 3-5K miles.

I know because of related engine heat, we have to use Synthetic. Anyway, my point is, if changed regularly, a Mobil 1 engine can go several 100K miles without issues.

 

Bad oil = worn parts, not broken parts.

 

My husband and I plan to convert to Royal Purple on our next oil change. 2 weekends ago we went on a mountain run and his father and mother, who run on royal purple, had oil temps 20 degress less than us!!

 

that could actually be a bad thing in some cases