roy365

I dont see whats wrong with a member sharing his opinions on the subject of motor oil. Even though it gets beat to death and turns into a flame fest sometimes, it can be informative. I dont recall anyone stating ridiculous claims or falsehoods. He merely shared his thoughts. And like always people bring their opinions and try to compare when it really isnt one at all. If he went from a dino oil that hadnt been serviced in a while to a higher quality oil, then he most assuredly would have noticed a difference in sound and possibly one in the idle qualities.

Lighten up peeps and take things for what they are worth.

rob-2

Fair enough. But the things you mentioned are feelings. Reved smoother, as measured how? Idled smoother; As measured how? You might not be exactly in the category about what I'm referring to, but you see where this goes right.

I'm particularly sensitive to it because there becomes 'internet experts' - they cause me such headaches in my professional life.

I will have my mobil 1 test back in a few weeks. we should start a master thread with the results so people can compare.

I will have a second test of the oil in about 6-10 months to see it's trend.

PRB2000

when the sh!t turns black, change it

zeroptzero

either way that is a good move upwards from what the Honda dealer uses. Everything I've seen is that they use pretty much any cheap group 2 motor oil they can get their hands on. Every dealer is free to purchase bulk oil depending on what kind of a deal they can get, one day they will use Valvoline, next day they will have an agreement with Quaker State, etc.... . Even Honda labelled motor oil is nothing great, not even a group 3 oil, at best it would be blend which isn't worth it IMO.

Castrol Edge is worth a try, run it , analzye it, and go from there. See if it works for you. I think it is better than their Syntec line, I'm not overly impressed with Syntec, though their GC 0w-30 oil is exceptional. I'm hoping their Edge line might be roughly based on the GC formula/construction. Keep us posted if you can. thanks !

BTW, I'm so stoked about being able to run Amsoil motor oil for the first time in my life in the next few weeks, I already know that it runs absolutely perfect in all respects. This is the placebo effect even before I pour it into my engine. I'm brainwashing myself into thinking it is the ultimate performer just to justify the extra expense and being able to say that I use a "boutique" oil. I guess I can snub my nose at all of those OTC oils as I walk past them at my local retail store like a real oil snob, he, he, he

rob-2

[QUOTE=JFUSION,Oct 26 2009, 12:11 PM]either way that is a good move upwards from what the Honda dealer uses. Everything I've seen is that they use pretty much any cheap group 2 motor oil they can get their hands on.

zeroptzero

That's a great point. In this modern day I doubt any engine will wear out due to composition of the oil being used, as long as you are talking about a properly maintained vehicle. It does come down to advertising, old wife's tales from mechanics, fathers, grandfathers, etc...... . You can't go wrong with any retail oil, there will be better oils among them and it is an individual preference what everyone wants to spend on their baby.

starchland

so there is no truth then to oil analysis ? and can you place oil filters under that same category? are all oil filters created equal? I think not.

rob-2

Oil anaylist tells you what's happening with the oil in your car. It's more then 'You can drive 500 miles more and stay within the safe limits.' You get it done to see what's happening inside without pulling the motor apart. And you have to remember that the entire industry is set around regular replacements. It's safe to say 7500. Look at the BMW's and Merc's in Europe. They come with 20K service intervals.

The question is not 'Are there differences?' the question is 'Over the life time of a motor, do those differences make any noticeable difference?

Consider if you changed your oil every 1K. Do you think you'll get 50% more life out of your motor? Not likely. Motor oil is a very small part of the motor wearing. In it's design things wear as they get used.

On to your filters bit:
If 98% filtration gets you 300K on the motor, how much further will 99% get you? Say its 320K. How much will 99.5% get you? There is likely a point of little return.

Why doesn't filter quality matter as much as you'd think? Consider Honda says keep the same filter for two changes (15K). Most of us change the filter every oil change, which for me is 7500kish. Many are changing sooner 3-5K. So you're pulling a like new filter off the car and replacing it. It's like changing break pads early. Extra safe? Sure. Needed? No.

Unless the filter fails the chances are higher that it will pass more of the metal later in it's life. So early on, it's fairly safe to say you have the best protection.

Now in Canada you could experience colder climates. This will effect the cold start properities of your oil. A 5w30 or 0w30 might help. But then you have to start asking yourself the hard questions.

If this made such a difference why doesn't every car maker spec syn oil for Canada?
If this made such a difference why aren't oil companies presenting the research showing the motors last longer?

The reality is that the differences are almost moot. I was told of a dino oil that was made in the mid-90's that beat most syn oils in longevity and sher factor. The formula was 'too good' and was later pulled off the shelves. The long term impact of such a good dino oil was expected to reduce the sale of syn oil - an oil marketed as lasting longer and performing better then dino oil. (And my humble belief is that they make a lot more money on)

I think if you were to test a car used in Alberta Canada with their harsh winters and compared it to a car driven in California, you'd find weather to be a bigger factor then oil. Cold starts and harsh climates are really tough. The opperating range of -40c to 130c + is huge.

That said, friends of mine up there rack up similar mileage on their cars and use the cheapest of oils. So my limited experience with that is it doesn't make much of a difference.

If oil/filter present one aspect of motor life and the additional benefits of improved oil/filter present 1% motor improvement. I'd be looking elsewhere for ways to keep the motor running longer - if that's what you want.

Driving style and location likely represent a disproportionate portion of the motors life.

starchland

interesting things to ponder. I often ponder about using the cheapest oils and filters I could find and assumed that yes the car would still get by and the motor would have a good life still, since I assumed cheap oil would not be a contributing factor in a motor breaking down. your post strengthens my theory in which I refuse to test in my S . Alot of us buy products on an emotional basis and paying $$$ for the latest oil is a feel good mod which we dont mind paying for to "eliminate" some risk to our engine. I think also too the oil companies play off alot of the confusion in the industry and use their "claims" to sell product since they are very hard to prove against and also many people have their own stubborn oil theories (3k oil change, break in time, old engine with syn,etc)

rob-2

I tested this on my TL. I ran regular gas, and went 15K on oil changes. Be it with syn oil (mobil 1 extended life).

I purchased the car with 70kish and drove it for to 140K (miles). Ran 87, cheapest gas stations when it called for 91oc. Any car person I talked to would say I was ruining the car. Facts flew in the face of these opinions. I had better then EPA rated gas, by a long shot. 29mpg rated freeway, I would hit 34 and on a few cases 38. This was long, 1600 mile trips. Note - I researched this to death prior to doing this and discovered many facts not published in US media. Compared engine spec's from honda cars from around the world before subjecting my car to this.

When smogged, I would be very low. Car never started consuming oil. The car had 70K of dino oil that was changed between 7-10K prior to my purchase (according to service records). Anyone who got in the car could not believe the car was 8-9 years old. Motor was as smooth as ever.

All of this has me questioning the 'consumption' of products we bought into.

So I'm running mobil 1 extended performance in my S. I am driving 7500 miles on the first oil change. Will do a test to see what's left in the oil. IF there is a lot of TBN left and not much metal I will go 15K on the oil.

So I am willing to test this on my S. I also regularly get 25mpg mixed driving and 31mpg+ freeway.

I'm sure I'll get flame.

I don't recommend you do this with your car and will post my findings in a new thread once I have the results back. I am also not an engineer and do not represent myself as such. I simply do a tone of research.