Oil test

[ChrisBennet]

I came across this today and thought is was interesting. It's an Amsoil ad but it has the ASTM motor oil tests results for several brands.
ASTM motor oil tests
-Chris

[Wil Ferch]

Chris:
It is indeed interesting reading. Some thoughts do come to mind, however.
--- notice that 10w-30 was the common theme. How do the other weights compare ( 20W-50)? Where is Shell's Rotella-T, or Mobil Devlac 1300?...industrial-strength mineral oils not often seen at Wally-Mart, but ARE available?
--- some graphs don't start at "0"..and give a false bar-graph impression of degree-of-difference.
--- unless we have some base-line data on what the "poorer" performance numbers mean ( in real life), the "extra-goodness" of the superior numbers are just "better"....but how much more-so?

Sorry...just being the analytical , doubtfull engineer crumudgeon ( by training, it seems!) ...

--Wil

[IROC]

Originally posted by Wil Ferch
--- unless we have some base-line data on what the "poorer" performance numbers mean ( in real life), the "extra-goodness" of the superior numbers are just "better"....but how much more-so?--Wil

I think this is what it all boils down to. Sure, there are oils out there that are "better" than other oils. What does that translate to in real-world performance, wear and longevity in your engine?

That's the part, to me, that has never been quantified to my satisfaction.

We had a lubrication expert (this guy had essentially dedicated his life to lubricants - it was scary) give a talk at the local PCA region tech session and his response to the age-old question of "which oil is the best" was simply, "Buy a good, name brand oil". That's it. He even said that synthetics offer no benefits unless you live in an extreme environment (such as Alaska where lower pumping points are important).

Mike