Mobil 1 vs Amsoil Case Study

[thatguy]

NOTE - i am in no way involved with this case study, I just stumbled upon it while surfing the net... Follow the links

Article

http://neptune.spacebears.com/cars/stories/oil-life.html

details for Mobil 1

http://neptune.spacebears.com/cars/stories/mobil1.html

details for Amsoil

http://neptune.spacebears.com/cars/stories/amsoil.html

just wanted to share

Brian

 

[WilliamBos]

Interesting, Thank you.

 

[ray66v]

Thanks for the heads up.

I always thought, 12 or 15k on motor oil, was a little nutty

But, it is just one study.

 

[dogtired]

Thanks for the heads up.

I always thought, 12 or 15k on motor oil, was a little nutty

But, it is just one study.

And I always thought that 3,000 mile changes were goofy.
I do mine at between 5,000 and 7,500

 

[thatguy]

Thanks for the heads up.

I always thought, 12 or 15k on motor oil, was a little nutty

But, it is just one study.

Id be curious how the Mobil 1 does when they redo it...

IF you wanted a full synthetic oil, i think either one would work pretty well..

NOTE - the charts in the article not correct, they are the same chart for both - the data below them is correct though

BTW - has anyone ever ran a 0wXX to get better gas mileage? Did it work?

Brian

 

[ponytug]

Honda civics run a 0W? (5?) for better fuel economy, but they were designed for it. I don't think I would drop this in an engine not designed for it. Bearing surfaces need to be flatter, clearance at seals smaller, or enlarged return lines, etc.

All the best,

Peter

 

[RalphVa]

I just switched every engine to 0w30 Mobil 1. No data yet. Doubt it will help that much on gas mileage, as I was already using 5w30. Think it gave about a 3% mileage increase vs. dino oils.

The main thing that the 0w30 does is to give your engine better protection at startup when most wear occurs.

Mobil 1 was giving a $5 rebate on the first 5 quarts of it purchased. I sent in for mine.

For those of you skeptical, even a 0w30 oil will be heavier at startup than 30w. So, you're not putting your engine in jeopardy even if it wasn't designed for it. They're all designed for it.

Ralph

 

[RalphVa]

Just looked at the data. Interesting that metals kind of level off at around 12k. TBN (total basic nitrogen) keeps going down. It's a measurement of corrosivity of the oil, less means the oil can be more corrosive, but the data show that the metals aren't going up after about 12k miles.

In the 31 years I worked in lube oil production design/startup/etc (until 1998). I NEVER heard of Amsoil. Be interesting to know whether they buy their base stock (like Castrol do) or make their own and whether it's from PAO or hydrotreated. Mobil 1 is a true synthetic made from Poly Alpha Olefins destined normally as feedstock for automotive plastics.

Refiners could make PAO from natural gas fields if someone puts in a plant to do so. Normally, they'd probably make it into something like diesel boiling range material to ship it out of the gas fields. However, it would be quite cheap to further refine it to lube oil boiling range and make a lube oil that would be much cheaper than that now made from PAO that is made from dino sources.

Ralph

 

[ray66v]

And I always thought that 3,000 mile changes were goofy.
I do mine at between 5,000 and 7,500

Amen, 3k changes with today's oil? It's all pretty good.

It's got to be a waste of money.

 

[nmu98]

I was suprised to see the Amsoil 5w30 turn into 15w40 after 10K. If I wasted to run a 15w40 oil, I would run a good diesel synthetic.... I have never used Amsoil, and that article will keep me with mobil 1...