It seems the only thing I've consistantly heard over the years is stay away from Pennzoil. Valvoline being bad, is news to me. I never cared for Castrol too much. It always seemed like their 10-30 was the equivelant to everyone elses 5-30 and so on. Plus all their oil is outsourced, they don't make any of it.

A co-worker mentioned he stumbled across a comparison of oil filters. Fram was the worst in material used across the board. I guess Wicks are the best bang for the buck.

Phil

 

Valvoline and Castrol are both good quality oils. I however only use Mobil 1 15w50 in all things. I used it for the first time in the race car years ago. An SCCA race at Char Motor speedway(Lowes now) The guy on the pole spun going into the road course and 20 or so of us hit him(and each other) broke my w pump, decided what the heck would run as long as possible since half the feild was gone. Ran with no pump. Had 5psi oil pressure and way high oil temp. Ended up finishing the whole race(17 laps) and in 7th car was down on power, blown head but still running. Shut it off taking the checker and upon inspection resized the rods and ground the crank rebuilt the engine (new pistons and head) but the short block was the same, and ran it next season. No lie. I could not believe it. It never siezed or popped. The guys I ran with we stood around and looked at that motor in disbelief and all use Mobil 1 now. I think it was the very big oil cooler I had was what saved it coupled with the superior synthetic oil. I am sold on syn oils ,Royal Purple,Castrol Syntec, I like Mobil one cause the price, availibility and my personal exp. This is absolutley not good advice to run the way I did, just an example of my experience and why I use it. Have seen shear pin tests and other data and am sold. Have used it in all the race cars from formulas to Trans-Am I have done and had zero engine failures. Why mess with a good thing?
Prowrench

 

As mentioned before, you really can't go wrong with Valvoline or Castrol. I prefer to use Mobil 1 Synthetic 15/50. 150k miles on stock turbos. No problems at all.

 

I agree, Synthetics are the only way to go. I'm using Mobil 1 for the same reasons, availability, etc. My guy who builds race motors told me Red Line was nothing special. He had it analyzed and found it was basically an inexpensive oil with some additives which loose their qualities quickly.

Do you guys break in motors on synthetics?

 

I do, I run what I am going to have in them. I have heard folks over the years say you shouldn't and that there could be problems with leaking seals??(never firgured that out) , rings that would not seat etc. all myths. I have not had any trouble ever. All of our race engines come from Porsche Motorsport now dynoed with Mobil 1 in them from the start. I would say if its good enough for them, its good enough for me...but I was using it first. Maybe thats what they say about me. Yeah thats the ticket!!! LOL!!
Prowrench

 

Frequent changes (3K) is the key for a street car, driven somewhat "normally". I would say the brand of oil is less important than how often it's changed.

From my point of view, eastern field oils, such as Quaker State, and Penzoil, are parifin (wax) based, and tend to leave waxy deposits in the engine. Especially in the rocker covers where the oil contacts the cooler surface. This same waxy build up helps to eliminate dry starts. So there are pro and cons to be considered.

The western field oils, such as Texaco, Exxon, and Valvoline are tar based. Just the opposite of eastern oils, they tend to leave less deposits in the engine, although they provide less protection from friction at start up.

So to eliminate my conflict of the eastern vs. western field oils, I have choosen to use Valvoline 20-50 synthetic. It's made in a test tube, not pumped out of the ground.

I've stopped using Fram oil filters after hearing all their bad press, and, began using the K&N. They're a little pricey, but, now my oil is staying clear and pretty between service intervals.

 

Mobil1 for the last 15 years. No complaints.

I came to use Mobil 1 when I had an '83 ZXT. Replacing turbos because of a worn turbo bearing gets expensive. I think I was using Valvoline Turbo oil before switching to Mobil 1. I used Mobil 1 in everything I own now. Even though it is expensive compared to everything else at the auto parts store, I consider it cheap insurance and I've never experienced any problems in my vehicles due to lubrication related problems since.

On our diesel loco's they send the oil out for analysis to see if it is time for an oil change and to monitor wear. I suppose that is a good thing for your car too, although I don't do it.

 

I got to talking about this thread witha co-worker, and he sent me this very good link on filter designs. I can't beleive it's almost been a year already since this thread came out!

http://minimopar.knizefamily.net/oilfilterstudy.html

 

Royal Purple is the slickest stuff I have ever had on my hands. For track use it is hard to beat. I just tried some "designer" oil from a lab in Houston. It did not do as well as the Royal Purple did with heat. By a good bit too. This was something from the Gibbs Racing stable that they have made up. Not too impressed.

For dual purpose Mobil 1 is the ticket. Just make sure not to switch to a synthetic on a high mileage engine as it tends to pass by the seals. Not good for your clutch.

Alan

 

I have two new Toyotas, both recommend 5-30 which only comes in synthetics.
I've been using Mobil 1 for twenty years. I used Amsoil in a Honda generator which ran 24/7 at 3600rpm for six months before it started losing power. That's the equivalent of driving a car 75 mph non stop for 320,000 miles! I shut it down every Saturday for 15 minutes to change the oil. They make a "0" weight that some cup cars are using today. Beside the superior lubrication, it stays there in an emergency and can be the savior of your engine.

 

lol, I did the same thing but my honda generator only ran about 8 hours a day for 22 months. Besides changing the oil, the only other thing I had to do was to replace the brushes on the generator side, twice.