Lexusfreak

Just courious if anybody knows if there are any tests that are available to compare the different brands of Synthetic oil out there? Not "dino" oil but specifically Synthetics (all major brands), Mobil 1, Amsoil, Red Line, Royal Purple, Castrol Syntec, Valvoline, Quaker State & the like. I wonder if anybody has info on test results Not opinions but actual proven facts with data & if so please post the link(s). Thought it would be intresting to see which brands come out on top. Or do tests for that not exist? Any help is greatly appreciated. No "biased" test results if at all possible but independent testing from a lab or reputable firm would give the most honest results.

MGS4

Motor oil bible

http://motor-oil-bible.com/mob-2-2-04.pdf

saber

What do you mean by comparison? Comparisons of the theoretical advantanges & disadvantages among the different brands of synthetic? Or real world testing of both dinos and synthetics - to see which ones reduced engine wear the best? If the latter, only Consumer Reports has done that. In the early 1990's CR testers placed freshly rebuilt engines in 75 New York taxis and then ran them for nearly two years, with each cab racking up 60,000 miles, placing different brands and weights in different cars and changing the oil at 3,000 miles in half the cars and 6,000 in the other half. Testing included Mobil 1 synthetic and Pennzoil synthetic. At the conclusion of the test period, the engines were torn down, measured and inspected.

Consumer Reports conclusion: "Regardless of brand of oil or weight, no measurable differences could be observed in engine wear. Furthermore, there was no difference among cars which had oil changed at the shorter or longer interval."

How did the synthetic industry react to Consumer Reports? They objected, of course, but only on THEORETICAL grounds. In other words, they just spouted off the same old sales propaganda
like "flows better cold" "keeps engines cleaner" "helps reduce wear" instead of countering Consumer Reports by providing the public with the results of its own in house, real world testing. This begs the question: Why won't the synthetic oil industry disclose it's own in house testing data to the public? Logical answer: it doesn't want the public to know the truth; i.e. that the actual real world engine wear benefits of synthetics are likely only marginally or slightly better than dinosaur oils.

Toysrme

Guess I'll do the honors!

Bob is the oil guy

04GS300

Has anyone here ever used Red Line oil?

roguenode

Although, I haven't used Red Line Oil in my Leuxs. I've used Red Line fluids extensively in my motorcycles and feel they make great products. If I could get their stuff locally I'd try it out without question in my lex. Judging from their results in the motor oil bible comparisions, my trust is well placed. But, their products don't come cheap. I might start looking for a good amsoil source on the net. I've always heard good things about amsoil, many of their oils did very well in the Oil Bible comparisions, and the Bible mentions they can generally be had cheaper than redline.
.

HarrierAWD

Although I am a big fan of CR, but I do not believe the NYC taxi test reflects the driving pattern of the common people. Most people have two cold starts (to and from work) when the engines experience most of its wear. NYC taxis are kept running all day and night so the engines are almost always warm and well lubed. Each cab is usually shared by two drivers. Therefore taxi cabs almost never experience cold starts.

I'd like to see CR do another motor oil test that reflects how most people drive their cars.

saber

I'd like to see CR do another motor oil test that reflects how most people drive their cars. [/B][/QUOTE]

How much thinner is a 5W-30 synthetic oil vs. a 5W-30 dinosaur oil
at -20 below zero F, 0 degrees F or 40 degrees F??

If you put jars of each oil in your refrigerator and freezer you
can see for yourself.

At 40 degrees both oils have virtually the same thickness.

At 0 degrees the synthetic is slightly thinner - about the same
thickness as a dino oil at 15 degrees F.

At -20 degrees the synthetic is about the same thickness as
the dino oil at 0 degrees.

So while the synthetic has a start up wear advantage, it's only a small one
at temperatures between 0 to 40 degrees above zero, then becomes
a bit more substantial at below zero temperatures.

The synthetic oil companies mislead the public in two ways:

1. They make statements like "flows at -45 below zero, without
admitting that even a 5W-30 synthetic is very thick - almost
as thick as grease - and "flows" like thick honey at that temperature.

2. They fail to inform the public than even a dinosaur 5W-30 oil
will "flow" (by their definition of flow) at -20 degrees below zero.

My final point is that both Mobil and Amsoil have had 30 years to
conduct real world testing of cars like Consumer Reports did in order
to prove whether or not synthetic oils dramatically reduce engine wear
under ordinary driving conditions. Yet in all that time they have
failed to do so. What are they afraid of? Perhaps they are afraid
that if the public saw the actual data and knew the truth, synthetic
oil sales would plummet.

Lexusfreak

Good responses so far everyone! I personally use Mobil 1 5W30 synthetic & have for several years now. I know that Amsoil has done a study comparing the different synthetics, however naturally they will be biased & their product finished first compared to the other major brands....... was hoping to find an "independent" study withour bias to see how they stacked up. I'd like to see the CR folks do another study on the matter in a different form of testing as I agree since the cab's do rund pretty much non stop so the engine is always warm & well lubed. Some of the other synthetic I find are extreme;ly expensive or a bit difficult to find such as the Amsoil & Red Line brands....but perhaps that cause I live in Canada lol.

<VENOM>

If anyone needs an Amsoil dealer I know of a few their is always 1 on every board

Lexusfreak

Anybody ever heard of a synthetic oil called Liqui-Moly? It's a German Synthetic oil that my mechanic (who is German himself) swears by this stuff & he imports it to his shop that workd on mostly high end European & Japanese cars. He tells me it's better than Mobil 1, Amsoil & Red Line!
Click the link below to have a look. click on "products" once your into the site.


http://www.liqui-moly.de/web/lmhomee...es/index_flash

HarrierAWD

My personal take on the dino vs. synthetic issue is like brushing teeth: Do I want to use cheap Colgate to brush 3 times a day, or use expensive Rembrandt to brush just once a day?

I choose to brush 3 times a day with Colgate. And I use dino 5W30 and change my oil every 5,000 miles. This is according to my owner's manual written by Toyota engineers who designed and built the engine, not some hollow advice by Grease Monkey high school dropouts or Amsoil "network marketing" salespeople.

Those who choose to brush once a day, use synthetic and extend their oil change interval.... they are free to choose. It may be an expensive lesson down the road for them, but it's not my position nor my business to judge them. It's a free country. It's their cars. Oh, their root canals.

HarrierAWD

Lexusfreak

Lol Harrier

Lexusfreak

I just switched to the German brand Lex had mentioned (on another thread in this forum) called Liqui-Moly. 5W 40 weight 100% synthetic (it's distributed in North America by a company called Altrom www.altrom.com if anybody is intrested). Thought I'd try a bit thicker oil since I'm going on a very long trip all the way to the Florida Key's from Toronto. This stuff is quite expensive, but is suppose to be better than Mobil 1, Amsoil, Red Line & the like we shall see. I'm also gonna try "Liqui-Moly Pro Line synthetic fuel system cleaner" 500ml container and it's suppose to be as good as the fuel system cleaners they hook your car up to at a professional auto shop. I will post any findings good or bad when I return the last week of May. Has anybody else ever used these products?


Or check out the site I mentioned earlier:
http://www.liqui-moly.de/web/lmhomee...es/index_flash for more info