I just did Mobil One 5w-30 today (first change by me). I heard Amsoil's synthetic is great stuff, but I went with what I know and have used in all my rides.

 

royal purple in my 2000 charger, my GS 350 gets factory oil changes, my LS 430, just got its first round of restore and protect to see if it can clean up the internals a bit (128k miles onit) , I do have a case of redline 5w30 I am considering running in my LS when the R&P wraps up at 3k miles. My normal interval is 3-4k on all my rides.

 

Pennzoil Ultra Platinum 5W-30

They also have a 30$ Rebate if you buy 2 Jugs (5Qts each).
Roughly 15$ per bottle

 

For most of its life, whatever conventional 5w30 the place had. Much cheaper at Jiffy Lube, $40 with coupon vs $100+. 6 months/5k roughly, except during Covid where I went 12 months once.'
I too gradually moved to synthetics. But I am such a bad case driver on this car (4-5k miles a year now, mostly short trips, 25 miles is not too common) that I stil change it every 6 months. I started using R&P also. Great price at Walmart, $65 oil change with it, but they overfilled me and then overtightened drain plug on a different car and the next time they couldn't get it out Never again even for a battery change, even though it seems clean and nice. I found a quick change place, real mechanics ASE, that lets me bring my own oil, So $80-$90 installed for R&P, Lexus/Toyota OE filter from Walmart, R&P usually if I had a chance to pick it up, else I switched to mobil1 once that the place stocks whe I had no time topick up the R&P.

My oil conv oil probably would save me money, and I got to 160k miles on it just fine, but I learned the benefits, esp, in winter short start driving that I do these days, so here we are. Hopefully my 21 year old car willnat least have clean piston rings!

 

Pennzoil Ultra Platinum W/OE filter.

 

Mobil One 5W30 every 3500 miles. It's only driven about 1500-2000 miles a year.

 

I use Lexus SAE 5w-30 original oil (not synthetic). I purchase the oil in a 6 pack box from my local dealer along with the crush washer and the Lexus 90915-YZZD3 filter. I change every 5K or 6 months.

My 2001 LS430 with 204K miles keeps rolling. The extra quart can be used to keep the oil level in the range between oil changes.

 

I've learned a few things worth considering for anyone wanting to take care of their engines for a long time.

Mine is at 158k miles now.

Things to mind:
Type: A5/B5 (This is Toyota's own Fuel Economy oil), C3 (Toyota's own Premium Fuel Economy) and A3/B4 (many oils and the type I choose to run)
HTHS: This is film thickness/strength under stress and each of these above has a "minimum per grade". This film reduces wear by creating a film between rubbing surfaces. Toyota FE has an HTHS of around 3, possibly (because of the A5/B5 type), C3 has equal or more 3.5 (this is the C3 category) and A3/B4, like C3, also has an HTHS of equal or more 3.5
Weight: 5W30/ 5W40. Depends on your climate. The first number is important if your winter drops below -5 degrees Celsius. The second if your summers are 42 degrees Celsius and above, constantly. They each can affect the HTHS and VI (viscosity index)
VI / Viscosity Index: A guide that shows the oil maintains its viscosity in high heat and in cold. The higher the number, the better.
Kinematic Viscosity/ KV100: The 'thickness' of oil at running temperature. If it's high, like 13 or more, it is a thick oil. If its low, like 9-10, then it is a thinner oil. This is important because the VVT-i passages are not large in the 3UZ AND oil pressure changes can also be predicted with this number, more so than with just the weight of the oil (5W30 vs 5W40)
ZDDP: When high, these protect your engine by creating a sacrificial layer for the engine components to wear-out before wearing the actual metals of the engine itself. Unlike the HTHS film, this more or a physical barrier on contact, whereas HTHS is more of a layer to separate physical contact. high ZDDP = if your engine ever burns a bit of oil, that ZDDP goes on to cover your cats and eventually making them fail. Low ZDDP = You mostly depend on HTHS which, if high (3.6+) then you should be OK as long as you don't let the oil age past its prime.

All else: detergents and friction modifiers to improve fuel efficiency, to me, have been secondary because most top oils are really good at having a decent detergent package and fuel economy penalty from these oils is not that big of a deal.

You want the short answer:

If you prioritize protecting the engine above all else: Ravenol SSO has the most ZDDP content, its a relatively thin oil when in temperature at 11.75Cst in 0W30 form (VVT-i passage friendly and oil pressure is within 5W30 spec), good HTHS at 3.57 and good VI at 174. With a solid 5k interval, this oil will almost freeze time on your engine at the cost of your cats if your engine is burning some oil.

There is also Ravenol HCL which has a 12.2Cst a 3.57HTHS and a 168 VI but it costs a premium for now becoming a similar oil to others, like Motul 8100 X-Cess (thinner at 11.9Cst, better at 179 VI and stronger at 3.6 HTHS...with a lot of calcium included in the ZDDP)

If you want a balanced outcome: Shell Helix Ultra in A3/B4 which is good in kinematic viscosity at 12.2Cst, OK in HTHS at 3.5min, great in VI at 176, and a good cat-friendly additive package with adequate ZDDP: not low, not high.You could also go on the Motul 8100 X-cess end if you can't find the Shell or, the 5W40 version of the Shell Helix Ultra which gains little kinematic viscosity at 12.57, a stronger HTHS of 3.7, a good VI of 170 and the same additive package as the 5W30 version. There is also a 0W40 Shell Helix Ultra which ups some of these numbers more, but you would want to live in Florida or Texas because of its KV100 of 13.2, to take advantage of its very nice VI of 181.

For the boutique products we can also find Rowe Synt RS HC-B, which its claim to fame would be a full PAO/Ester blend like Ravenol, but with a stupidly low NOACK of 4.7% (meaning, that oil heated at 250 Celsius will lose this % of itself to evaporation) If you live in a hot climate, this one is for you because you may feel you are not topping off your oil as much because you are not losing as much to evaporation. But, if you are burning some oil, then you want to steer a bit clear of this to save your cats.

The other oil refineries are not bad, Mobil, Pennzoil, Castrol, etc. They all make good oils. But, if you wanted to know which numbers mean what and why they matter, then this is a good starting line for you. Some of these companies' SDS product data are not as thorough as others. Also, you depend on individuals actually spending the money in Virgin Oil Analysis and Used Oil Analysis (VOA and UOA) sheets to know where these companies's products stack up in real-life. So, at the lack of a lot of that info, and trusting that the 'compromises' found on oils pretty much balance each other out across companies, you could just buy whatever you want and still be OK with it. But if you wanted to have the certainty, this is what my research has landed upon.

Other elements like TBN/TAN which can also be seen on (VOA/UOA) which imply how well the oil is doing after X thousand miles of use and if their anti-acidic properties have not been lost. The reason why I don't list these here is because, at the 5k mile /8k km intervals I work with, they don't matter much. Most of today's oils survive this interval without breaking a sweat. These matter a lot more if you want the oil to go for 7k miles/10k km because some of these do tend to become tired after the 5k/7k timeline. So, if you are in team 5k/8k, these numbers don't add much to you. If you are in team 7k/10k, then you want to focus on TBN/TAN and go ahead and find that out for your use case because this is important for you.

And to make sure there is no doubt: 5W30 is only a number, but as noted above, it does not imply other deeper, more important bits you may want to mind if you are in the camp of people who want to take care of your car. Not all 5W30s work the same.

Hope this helps anyone else here.

 

Valvoline MaxLife Full Synthetic High Mileage 5W-30