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Thank you for the comments and information. I think I will be going with Amsoil(need to research the different ones since I have heard not all are Group IV and some are Groups III. If I don't use Amsoil I will either try German Castrol OW 30(only weight I can find and seems like it would be okay to use in a GS430) or Motul Synthetic if I can get it for a reasonable price.
Amsoil Signature Series are all 100% synthetic last time I checked, being signature series, or flashship oils, I would expect they always will be.
The XL and OEM likely are not. I am pretty positive they are Group III's. Amsoil needed to compete in the Group III space where most companies were only Group III masquading as "synthetic". Yes a Group III might perform pretty well, it isn't truly synthetic. And to me that is a lie and paying customers should never be lied to. They tend to not come back.
As for German Castrol, getting it here is the issue. IF you even can. IIRC the German Castrol was green in color. I've never seen it personally. Some info on it here: http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums...&Number=718643
Amsoil's Series 2000 20W50 racing oil at one time was red like transmission fluid. I don't think they make it now, I think the Dominator 15W50 replaced it.
I run Amsoil 0W20 in my GS400 with no issues. It starts cold almost as good as it does hot out.
I bought all the bypass oil filter parts (someone gave me a BE100 filter), I just can't figure out WHERE to mount it.... I will put in a System 1 filter as a main filter and the Bypass to get the small stuff. Should be a good combo on oiling.
Originally Posted by UDel
Thank you for the comments and information. I think I will be going with Amsoil(need to research the different ones since I have heard not all are Group IV and some are Groups III. If I don't use Amsoil I will either try German Castrol OW 30(only weight I can find and seems like it would be okay to use in a GS430) or Motul Synthetic if I can get it for a reasonable price.
Amsoil Signature Series are all 100% synthetic last time I checked, being signature series, or flashship oils, I would expect they always will be.
The XL and OEM likely are not. I am pretty positive they are Group III's. Amsoil needed to compete in the Group III space where most companies were only Group III masquading as "synthetic". Yes a Group III might perform pretty well, it isn't truly synthetic. And to me that is a lie and paying customers should never be lied to. They tend to not come back.
As for German Castrol, getting it here is the issue. IF you even can. IIRC the German Castrol was green in color. I've never seen it personally. Some info on it here: http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums...&Number=718643
Amsoil's Series 2000 20W50 racing oil at one time was red like transmission fluid. I don't think they make it now, I think the Dominator 15W50 replaced it.
I run Amsoil 0W20 in my GS400 with no issues. It starts cold almost as good as it does hot out.
I bought all the bypass oil filter parts (someone gave me a BE100 filter), I just can't figure out WHERE to mount it.... I will put in a System 1 filter as a main filter and the Bypass to get the small stuff. Should be a good combo on oiling.
I am using mobile 1 synthetic high mileage or extended performance whatever its hyped up as. Is amsoil or castrol really better then mobile one? I heard that Mobile One is just good marketing and there is nothing special about the oil. Is there an oil that is truly superior to mobileone synthetic and worth switching to if I already have 150k miles on my 01 GS430?
Amsoil does do 4 ball wear tests. Being the test is consistent (or we hope, I would EXPECT it to be) across all oils tested, the Amsoil oil usually comes out on top. So statistically, based on that, yes, Amsoil is better than Mobil 1.
Based on this graph:
And IIRC how this test is, measures the oils resistance to oxidation:
For me those are the 2 more important for oil performance. I am sure others are important. I like a high TBN oil keeps oil from oxidizing. I like thin, gotta be thin for cold starts and getting oil everywhere in the engine FAST. I like it where it has a low voltality where it doesn't evap (and thicken) fast. NOACK gives some ideas there. Amsoil is around 30% better than Mobil 1 EP here. So by the time you go 10k miles, or 20k. How much oil did you add? At $9-11 a quart, that ads up.
They all hype the oils. Amsoil has generally been the only one to actually test their oil compared to the other oils out there. Most companies just do advertising hype to convince the customers that their oils is best. Amsoil tries to back it up. And the price is good on it compared to everyone else, in some cases cheaper.
I have 236k miles on my 98 GS4 and I have been running Amsoil 0W20 for the last 2+ years now. Oil analysis shows very good at 25k. I pushed one oil change to 29k and it was at the upper limit of life, just starting to oxidize. So keeping at 25k is safe in how I drive.
I look at it this way, Amsoil SSO oils are rated 25k. Mobil 1 EP is rated 15k. The cost is almost the same. More on Amsoil if you use the filter they back up for the 25k oil change. I drive a lot, 30-25k a year. So for me the longer oil changes keep me from changing oil in the winter.... I hate changing oil in Chicago winters! Mobil 1 and Castrol Edge when I ran it kept me changing oil in snow all too often. That gets old, real old.....
Originally Posted by DMPesso
I am using mobile 1 synthetic high mileage or extended performance whatever its hyped up as. Is amsoil or castrol really better then mobile one? I heard that Mobile One is just good marketing and there is nothing special about the oil. Is there an oil that is truly superior to mobileone synthetic and worth switching to if I already have 150k miles on my 01 GS430?
Just an FYI, I am not saying Mobil 1 or other synthetics are BAD. The question from the OP was what was best. This, based on what information I can find, shows it.
Based on what I find, this is why I use Amsoil now. Do I like the marketing for it? Not really. But costs overall are close to the same, sometimes cheaper. So yes, I will just bite that and use it. I will be crossing 300k in a couple years, and I want to see 400k on my GS4. I need to do what it takes...
Amsoil does do 4 ball wear tests. Being the test is consistent (or we hope, I would EXPECT it to be) across all oils tested, the Amsoil oil usually comes out on top. So statistically, based on that, yes, Amsoil is better than Mobil 1.
Based on this graph:
And IIRC how this test is, measures the oils resistance to oxidation:
For me those are the 2 more important for oil performance. I am sure others are important. I like a high TBN oil keeps oil from oxidizing. I like thin, gotta be thin for cold starts and getting oil everywhere in the engine FAST. I like it where it has a low voltality where it doesn't evap (and thicken) fast. NOACK gives some ideas there. Amsoil is around 30% better than Mobil 1 EP here. So by the time you go 10k miles, or 20k. How much oil did you add? At $9-11 a quart, that ads up.
They all hype the oils. Amsoil has generally been the only one to actually test their oil compared to the other oils out there. Most companies just do advertising hype to convince the customers that their oils is best. Amsoil tries to back it up. And the price is good on it compared to everyone else, in some cases cheaper.
I have 236k miles on my 98 GS4 and I have been running Amsoil 0W20 for the last 2+ years now. Oil analysis shows very good at 25k. I pushed one oil change to 29k and it was at the upper limit of life, just starting to oxidize. So keeping at 25k is safe in how I drive.
I look at it this way, Amsoil SSO oils are rated 25k. Mobil 1 EP is rated 15k. The cost is almost the same. More on Amsoil if you use the filter they back up for the 25k oil change. I drive a lot, 30-25k a year. So for me the longer oil changes keep me from changing oil in the winter.... I hate changing oil in Chicago winters! Mobil 1 and Castrol Edge when I ran it kept me changing oil in snow all too often. That gets old, real old.....
Whoa! Thanks for that! So do you think it's worth changing from the 5w30 mobile one to amsoil? Is it bad to change oils? I would love to see over 300k on my GS! Way to go!
Good info, may need to swap over as well (IF I can even find Amsoil). Speaking of which, which Amsoil synthetic were they using in the chart posted? Considering they noted which of the competitors oils they used, they just called theirs "Amsoil". Unless each and everyone of their products are exactly the same...?
AFAIK they always use the best, SSO, or Signature Series Oil. It used to be called Series 2000.
If you are looking for a HD 5W30, the diesel Series 3000 is great oil, but it is a little thicker than the non diesel SSO 5W30. But it is a pretty heavy duty oil, meant for diesels. It works fine in gas, but is meant for diesel CI-4 spec (not low emissions diesels)
If anything you can always go to Amsoil.com and buy it directly. They have warehouses around, just not sure if they are close to you. One by me (well, 45 min away) is in Chicago off 290 pretty close to OHare.
Originally Posted by NorthStyle
Good info, may need to swap over as well (IF I can even find Amsoil). Speaking of which, which Amsoil synthetic were they using in the chart posted? Considering they noted which of the competitors oils they used, they just called theirs "Amsoil". Unless each and everyone of their products are exactly the same...?
Mobil 1 isn't a full synthetic despite the name. Most oils aren't truly synthetic, they might have some synthetic properties, and some additives that are synthetic, but not 100% synthetic.
Do Group 5 ester based oils eat seals/gaskets to cause leaks? What makes them harsh compared to a Diester? I have less then 100K miles on my GS. I only read good things about Redline and Motul synthetics, both are ester based but I won't bother with them if they are not good choices for Lexus motors.
I know this has been asked before but I keep seeing different answers. How many quarts do you use for the GS430 when doing a oil change? I only did one oil change and I forgot how many quarts I used, I know I got the big jug of Mobile 1 5W 30 and an extra quart but I don't think I used much of the extra quart to fill it to where it should be.
I was looking at the prices of Amsoil and it was going to cost $75 for 6 quarts or $64 for 5 quarts of Synthetic once you included shipping, that is over twice as much as Mobil 1 5W 30 at Wal Mart. I started changing my own oil to avoid paying over $70 for a syn oil change. I can get German Castrol 0W 30 at Autozone for about $55 for 6 quarts or $46 for 5 or order it from Amazon for $52 for 6 quarts including shipping.
Do you think Amsoil synthetic is worth spending the extra $20 or so over German Castrol 0W 30 Full Synthetic?
If my GS430 takes 5.5 quarts or less it makes more sense to just order 11 quarts from Amsoil which should be free shipping over $100 dollars and then it would cost about $128 or $64 per oil change not including filter.
My 430 took right around 7 ltrs on it's last oil change using the larger Wix filter. I took RamAirRckt's advice and switched from Mobil1 to Amsoil (I'm using the European Car Formula due to constantly driving on the autobahn). The car seems to like it better although you're correct in that it's expensive compared to more easily available oils (pretty comparable in price to Motul/Eneos though).
04-08-15, 10:15 AM
for 6 quarts or $64 for 5 quarts of Synthetic once you included shipping, that is over twice as much as Mobil 1 5W 30 at Wal Mart. I started changing my own oil to avoid paying over $70 for a syn oil change. I can get German Castrol 0W 30 at Autozone for about $55 for 6 quarts or $46 for 5 or order it from Amazon for $52 for 6 quarts including shipping. 
