Your best engine oil?

[djones]

I was just wondering what people consider the best oil for a road car. For arguments sake lets say a high bhp/litre engine that get's driven hard.

I'm always a big fan of Mobil 1 0w40 but at the moment I'm using Silkolene ProS 5W40.

It came highly recommended. It's Ester based which apparently means in terms of oils it's very high quality (pure). A few posts I've read on other forums say it has very good high temperature stability and fantastic wear protection.

I can't back it up with any evidence but from what people say (some had oil analysis before/after using it) it's very good. It seems fine in my car but I'm not sure if its any better than Mobil 1 to be honest.

Price wise it's about 25% more expensive that Mobil.

It would be interesting to hear people thoughts/opinions.

[m3_lover]

isnt the 10w40 and 5w40 ratings for using certain oils in certain seasonal conditions. I forget which is used mostly winter applications and the other one is for summer, I could be wrong on this though? Synthetic oils are better because they asborb more heat then regular oil.

[vis]

The first number is the viscosity when cold (lower figure, easier start in winter),
second number when oil is hot (higher figure -> higher viscosity, protection, fuel consumption)

[West]

I switched from Shell "regular" oil to Royal Purple synthetic, and I felt a huge difference. The engine felt much more responsive. Then again, I did make a 1000 mile round trip to Vegas and back right before. I then tried Elf synthetic right after that and haven't really felt any change.

I'm due for an oil change again; I will probably go to Royal Purple again to see if there is any change. I kinda want to try Motul though.


Here is an awesome resource; too bad I don't have the time to go through a lot of it.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/

[nae]

you lot of perfectionist might not get my approach but it has been employed for years
oil is oil and thus i use cheap generic semi synthetic 10w40 in all of my engines, from lawnmowers to my motorbike, i just change it regularly

most of yer expensive oils are just marketing hype
take magnatex for example, it may well have little
magnetic bits that help it 'cling' but that doesnt
really help as the oil has to be under pressure to
service the bearings and magnetic or not it will be forced
out by the pressure of the bearing surfaces until its under
enough pressure to get back in there

simple things like regular oil and filter changes and not
thrashing the engine till its warm have way more effect on
component wear than x, y or z wonder oil

having said that, do what ever you feel like as most that do
develop a reason for there particular method, wither it works or not
(my method clearly works for me, so to speak)

oh and of course any given oil or car manufacturer will say there
product is the best but that's just marketing as well

[NumberTwo]

I agree with nae--to a point. Crude oil as it comes from the ground is crude oil period. However, depending on the location of where the oil was pumped from, you can have varying makeups, depending on what was in the the ground and atmosphere when whatever organic material formed that deposit. For example, Pennsylania pumped crude--Pennsoil--will have higher ash content than a that from a West Texas--Texaco--well. And the quality control of the refining plays a part on how well contaminants are filtered. This has a big effect on your engine in forms of carbon deposits on pistons and valves even if you change oil regularly at 3000 miles. The extra contaminants will build up.

Anyway, I use Mobil 1 in my and my wife's daily drivers and have it changed every 7500 miles at the local quicky stop. In my old Porsche 930, I change oil myself every 3000 miles and use Kendall GT and Fram filters.

[Belatti]

=D> =D> =D> nae

I do the same, but use 15W40 (here in winter temps lower than 5°C are not frequent)
Just change air and oil filters together with oil at 6000-7000 km and make sure carter breathes properly.

You maybe need some additives if you have got a 300.000km engine you want to preserve or if you use an alternative fuel like natural compressed gas.

If you are more perfectionist as nae says, you can take carter and valve cover off from time to time and see if there is any sludge. If there is, clean what you can and just ask for an oil with detergets additives, run engine for 2.000km and if oil its already black change it (incl. filters)

Its important to follow nae´s advice (not thrashing the engine till its warm) because piston rings wont seal properly and fuel and carbon will destroy the oil properties quicker.

Right now my cars oil has covered 5.000km since last change and has still a dark brown color, viscosity is ok, still will run another 2.000km easily

[G-Rock]

I agree with Nae as well.
Most engines nowadays, outlast their chassis anyway. Things like rust, accidents, emmision controls, transmission wear all contribute more to a cars demise vs lump wear. Even with sloppy oil change intervals and generic oil, an engines internals will last at least 300000 kms. The main cause for engine wear is cold starting and frequent short trips. If I were a perfectionist, I would put my money into transmission oil changes (even permanently sealed units) suspension maintenance and body undercoating.
Also, after all that money spent on oil changes, the resale value won't reflect the extra protection. Most people trade in their car every 3 to 7 years so you don't really gain anything from it.
If I was racing a car, it would be another story. A horsepower or two gained from using a premium oil is a cheap hp gain and cheap insurance to make those bits last a little longer.

[ginsu]

Well, if you take a look at friction modifiers that they put in oil you will see that one of the most important modifiers for reducing friction is called Molybdenum DiSulfide. Moly binds to metal surfaces and acts as a lubricant even under cold starting conditions. That means that having Moly in your oil will reduce startup wear significantly because it is bonded to the metallic surfaces even if there is no fluid present.

I highly recommend the stuff, although I've only run it for about six months it has certainly made my engine run significantly smoother, especially at 6000+ rpm. I can leave it in second and rev to 7200rpm and it actually sounds incredibly smooth. The engine also smells better (bad venting in my car) running at high rpm, which must mean that it's running cooler and burning less oil.

I run the Lubro-Moly additive with Super-Syn Extended Performance Mobil 1 with a synthetic Mobil 1 oil filter. Synthetic is proven to be better simply because the oil is more consistent and burns at a higher temperature. I don't think anybody can argue the benefits of synthetic anymore. As far as lubrication goes, it really seems like it can't get any better than this, but who knows?