SpitfireS

I'm currently using Shell Helix Ultra X 0W-30.
I'm not sure that is available in the States.
It is in Europe, but not at Shell service stations, I've ordered it form Shell via a local distributor.
12 liters of it.
It's OEM oil for Volkswagen IIRC.
Before that I was using 0W-40, same brand.
UOA after 10812 km is the making.
If I had money like AE Haas I would put a full syn 5W-20 or 0W-20 in my F20C2 but I don't have proper oil pressure and temp gauges installed so I can't see what's going on with the oil at different temps.

90crvtec

Any data on this? Is it similar to the US based Shell formulations that are all Group III based? I'm curious because there was a discussion on BITOG about the Helix Ultra (standard Ferrari fill) being a mineral based oil. Does the 'X' in the Helix Ultra X designate a PAO base stock?

s2kshift9k

read the oil journals up top

SpitfireS

MSDS of the 0W-40 states:
Mixture of polyalphaolefin, highly refined mineral oil and additives.
The highly refined mineral oil is only present as a dilutant for the additives.

MSDS of the 0W-30 states:
Mixture of polyalphaolefin, syntetic esters and additives.
Highly refined mineral oil is only present as a dilutant for the additives.

No percentages given.
IMO they are both full syn oils (for a full syn price)

RACER

Why would 90crvtec want to sift through 12 million threads when he can get the answer right here in this thread

AssassinJN

Two small points I'd like to add.

First part of the reason for a lot of members going with Mobile 1 full-syn is that it can be gotten at Cosco, Sam's Club and the like (bulk distributors for those who don't know). And the prices are usually very good for a full-syn motor oil. So while it may or may not be the best, it is often the best for your buck.

Another reason that some mechanics will suggest not to use full-syn is in older cars. The seals and what not may have developed very small holes (more correctly referred to as pores due to their size) that are essentially plugged by the larger molecules of regular oil. The smaller molecules in fully-synthetic oils (one of the reasons they work so well as a lubricant) can actually leak through these holes there-by creating oil leaks (usually showing up as more consumed oil) that were not previously there. For our cars this should not be an issue, although the early models could begin suffering from this if they had been running on conventional oil and were to just switch over to synthetic at this point (though still very unlikely).

90crvtec

Spitfire,
Do you have any UOA's from your previous fills with 0w40? Maybe a possible UAO for the 0w30 fill? After reading AEHaas's Motor Oil theory I'm going to switch to a 0w30 at my next change (a big jump from the 5w40 I'm running now). The only 0w30s available in my area are the German Castrol (hard to find), USA Castrol (need more info on this oil) and some M1 0w30.

Off topic but just as interesting, BITOG has a UOA from an S2000 that ran about 1500 miles on dino 5w20. UOA looked great, kinda makes you wonder doesn't it?

b00stn

Does anyone know what is in the S2000 from the factory? Using Mobil 1 also, I think along the same lines as JackS on this. If GM decides it is good enough to use in the vette, it is fine for my car. I would feel the same way on anything Honda used in the car from the factory also. Whether it is the absolute best oil there is, I have no clue. But it works fine for me.

90crvtec

I know that the Honda brand oil sold in dealerships is from Exxon/Mobil. A lot of people have speculated that this is essentially the same as Mobil's Drive Clean 5000 oil. I would assume Honda uses this as a factory fill as well but there's no way to verify this. All we know is it's a mineral base oil and lots of moly from all that assembly lube that they used when screwing your engine together.

90crvtec

I understand the theory you're trying to convey but there's still a valuable bit of information missing here. What most people fail to consider that Mobil is a HUGE oil company. In many respects they're like the Microsoft of oil companies. They literally give away oil if they get to put their name or a sticker on a car.

Now, put yourself in the shoes of an automaker. You've labored and toiled for thousands of man hours to design a sports car. Then some company comes along and literally wants to give you synthetic oil if they can just put a sticker in the engine bay of your sports car saying it came with a Mobil 1 factory fill. You wonder why Mobil has their name on so many race cars? I bet its not because the racing team went to Mobil and begged to use Mobil oil in their cars. Mobil essentially gave what you'd consider a "grant" to the team. They provide free or nearly free lubricants while the team gets their car plastered with Mobil stickers.

Shell, Havoline, Castrol are no different. However, blindly saying that because GM puts a Mobil sticker on a Corvette then the oil must be "good enough" doesn't cut it for me. And, finally, someone has to pay for all that marketing on Mobil's part. That wouldn't be us, the consumers, would it?

I'm not saying Mobil is a bad oil. To the contrary, I think it's a good oil. But for the price they're charging for certain formulations (mainly the Extended Performance) I don't see any real benefit. M1 EP hasn't been shown to perform any better than many synthetic oils that are considered "lesser" products simply because they aren't endorsed by a major car company.