Would you put WalMart motor oil in your brand new imported BMW 5 series?

[tnitsuj]

Originally posted by: Citrix
if he isnt using AMSOIL he is a looser.

one of those eh?

 

[erikistired]

wow. i think i'm going to switch to amsoil. been using castrol gtx, but been pondering a synthetic (prices have kept me away tho).

 

[TechnoKid]

Valvoline oils have been shown to have a rather weak additive package compared to other oils. I am not sure if this holds true of their synthetic oils, but conventional valvoline is one oil i'd stay away from. Chevron supreme or castrol gtx for me, as far as dino oils.

For syn, mobil 1, amsoil, redline, german castrol 0w30...

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: TechnoKid
Valvoline oils have been shown to have a rather weak additive package compared to other oils. I am not sure if this holds true of their synthetic oils, but conventional valvoline is one oil i'd stay away from. Chevron supreme or castrol gtx for me, as far as dino oils.



For syn, mobil 1, amsoil, redline, german castrol 0w30...

Yeah, Valvoline's conventional oil suck teh d0nk3y.

But you're right, their synthetics are second to none - much to my surprise, even better than Mobil1. :Q

Stay away from Castrol GTX. I am not sure why some consider it to be good, maybe because Porsche lendorses them, but it isnt really very good.

You also have to take into account that you absolutely cannot even compare oils of a different grade by the same company, let alone oils of the same grade by different companies.

All the specs I have listed are for 10W-30.

Castrol GTX:

VI = 143
PP = -22ºF
FP = 415ºF
HT/HS = 3.10
NOACK = 13%
TBN = 5.0

Something that I haven't been listing, and probably should, is the Cold Cranking Viscosity. The lower the better, obviously.

Castrol GTX's CCV is 3200 @ -20ºF, which is pretty decent, actually.

However... it is still down on the bottom of the list. Citgo SuperGuard, Castrol High Milage, Conoco Hydroclear Super, and even Quaker State High Milage.. Shell Formula Shell, Valvoline VR-1 Racing, Exxon Superflo, Pennzoil Multigrade, Motorcraft Super Premium.. those are all conventional oils that are better than GTX, from worst to best.

The best 10W-30 conventional oil money can buy is Citgo Citgard 600. That must be some spendy sh!t! It has some incredible specs for conventional oil, though.

VI = 140
PP = -27ºF
FP = 486ºF
HT/HS = 3.60
NOACK = 14% <-- the only bad thing
TBN = 11.0
CCV = 7000 @ -25ºF <-- ouch, too.

Very impressive flash point. There are other super-refined conventional oils, too. Precision 102P has a spectacular FP of 504ºF. :Q

It seems that only the ultra-premium synthetic oil manufacturers bother to get boil off(NOACK) percentages down to below the "standard" of 13%, which is kinda disappointing. Boil off is one of the main reasons you need to change your oil, as it thickens considerably.

 

[TechnoKid]

Eli, I frequent BITOG, which i am sure you have heard of. I was just going by what I have observed and what others on the board there have observed about the relatively good UOAs that people have with GTX.

My first choice for readily availible off the shelf dino oil would either be Chevron supreme or Havoline, which are actually both one and the same (ChevronTexaco make both oils), except for some very minor differences in VOAs between the two (slightly higher moly or boron in one of em).

If climate permitted (as well as car warranties etc), I would use a 10w30 over a 5w30 any day. The reason being is that 10w30 oils have less of a visocity spread than a 5w30, and are more shear stable.

I am currently using "german castrol" 0w30 (red label and say "made in germany" on the back of the bottle, can find it at autozone) in my fathers audi. This oil is better than the 10w30 mobil 1 I had in earlier; the GC is a lot quieter and has less consumption (audis consume a little bit because of low tension rings); which is partly becuase mobil 1 has a cSt of 10.2 at 100C, where as GC has a cSt of 12.1 at 100C.

You will notice too that Mobil 1 0w40 is API starburst energy conservation, where as GC isn't; Mobil 1 0w40 shears down a lot to where it's cSt becomes close to that of their xw30s. Mobil's 0w40 cSt is 14.1, but quickly goes down from there; it's a great great oil, but just not as shear stable as I would like.

Specs are ok, imo, to compare oils, but VOAs and UOAs are what I rely on more so than manufacturer specs to judge an oil. GTX has shown to be good oil in UOAs of drain intervals of around 3k-5k, but chevron supreme has shown to be better. Exxon/mobil dino oil hasn't had very inspiring UOAs either, compared to chevron/havoline.

***sorry***gotta go gril a tri-tip. i will add more later.

 

[Eli]

Yeah, I should start visiting there more. Real world analysis is always preferrable. But then again, it also adds many variables, such as driving environment, driving habbits, etc. So just because one oil does OK at a 5k drain interval in one certain individuals automobile, it may not fare so well in another.. ya know.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: Eli
Stay away from Castrol GTX. I am not sure why some consider it to be good, maybe because Porsche lendorses them, but it isnt really very good.

I've been thinking about this and I think it might stem from the air-cooled nature of Porsche's past. Porsche was recommending 20W50 in all its cars for a long, long time. Heck, the "preferred" oil for my 914 is straight 30 weight or straight 40 weight. How do Castrol's heavier weight oils compare?

ZV

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: Eli
Stay away from Castrol GTX. I am not sure why some consider it to be good, maybe because Porsche lendorses them, but it isnt really very good.

I've been thinking about this and I think it might stem from the air-cooled nature of Porsche's past. Porsche was recommending 20W50 in all its cars for a long, long time. Heck, the "preferred" oil for my 914 is straight 30 weight or straight 40 weight. How do Castrol's heavier weight oils compare?

ZV

Ooh. Yeah. That might have something to do with it.

Hmm. I don't even see Castrol GTX in 30weight, but their Heavy Duty doesen't fare very well at all.

These things are so complicated, I suppose it isn't fair to just look at the specs and judge them, but.. IMO, it still gives you at least a general idea, especially when you can see that there are oils with much better specs.

If Castrol really knows their sh!t when it comes to the additive package, they could very well have a leg up, though.

It is true that most any modern oil will lubricate satisfactory, especially coupled with the 3000 mile oil change interval. For most people, it probably won't make a difference, as most people don't own brand new cars for more than a few years anyway. It's just always nice to be well informed... especially for us gear heads.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: Eli
Hmm. I don't even see Castrol GTX in 30weight, but their Heavy Duty doesen't fare very well at all.

Probably discontinued since 1976 when the last 914 was sold new. Everyone now-a-days runs 20W50 in their 'teeners. (20W50 was listed as an acceptabe substitute.) My guess is that as multigrades got more popular, the companies just stopped making the single grades. So straight 30 weight Castrol may not exist anymore where once it did.

ZV

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: Eli
Hmm. I don't even see Castrol GTX in 30weight, but their Heavy Duty doesen't fare very well at all.

Probably discontinued since 1976 when the last 914 was sold new. Everyone now-a-days runs 20W50 in their 'teeners. (20W50 was listed as an acceptabe substitute.) My guess is that as multigrades got more popular, the companies just stopped making the single grades. So straight 30 weight Castrol may not exist anymore where once it did.

ZV

Castrol GTX 20W-50 is about in the same place as the other grades, at the top of the lower 1/3rd.

When looking at the oil spec pdf, you have to make sure you look at the right update. For some reason, he left older revisions on there. Sometimes, newer revisions bump the oil up.. sometimes they actually bump it down, lol..

 

[BDawg]

Originally posted by: Munchies

Originally posted by: BDawg

Originally posted by: TallBill

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH

Originally posted by: BDawg I wouldn't go to a Wal-Mart.

Fixed

Fixed

That's not true...I went to Wal-Mart about a month ago. I got some bulk pack of Remmington target rounds there. Now, I've found an on-line supplier who has better and cheaper rounds, so I have no need to go back to Wally World. Parking my SAAB there was bad enough.

Where? Looking for cheap 2 3/4 loads for my browning a5's (man do I love my semi auto 12 gauges!)

I'm buying my stuff from Natchez Shooter's Supply.

 

[abracadabra1]

i'd research first...who knows...maybe walmart's the brand for beamers