conventional valvoline vs castrol gtx

[cos]

simple,

My .02 says Havoline or Motorcraft. 5W30 in winter and 10W30 in summer. I personally wouldn't pay more than a $1.00/qt for dino oil. For my dino oil needs I use FormulaShell - buy it by the case with a mail-in rebate for around .72/qt.

 

[KW]

GTX, because it has worked for me for more than 20 years before I switched to synthetic. Now it's like a big bore bike "I can't go back".

 

[simple]

Which would be more preferred? These are the only two choices also. From what I've been reading on this site, it seems like valvoline is not that preffered. However, looking at the product data sheets for both products it seems like the edge goes to valvoline when looking at certain areas.

 

[The Critic]

Why not Chevron or Havoline Dino? I can get that stuff here in Sacramento for $0.59/quart +tax after mail-in rebates from Kragen's. It seems to offer performance similar to Castrol GTX for less than half the price.

Just my $0.02

Michael

 

[DSteven]

I would recommend the Castrol GTX, based on my many miles of personal experience with both oils. In general, the GTX gave better starting, less engine 'clatter' and substantially less oil consumption. Regarding the 5W versus 10W: I have a good friend that is a die hard 10W user, regardless of how frigidly cold. He has been fine, so if you are a die hard 10W user, use it. The 5W will certainly aid in cold starting and faster oil flow, hence it's designed nature, so if you ever find the need, just try it. The current 5W oils are really quite fine, again, only if you someday find the need. Good luck with your educated choice!

 

[simple]

quote:

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Originally posted by blupupher:

quote:

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Originally posted by simple:
.......

Everyone knows that 5W30 usually will sheer to a 20 weight. I feel better running the 10W.

......

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Really? Making a general comment like this on an oil forum where there is plenty of proof otherwise is not too smart. You say you have read here, but apparently not much.
You seem to be very close minded when it comes to your oil choices. You have several people here giving you some good advice and suggestions, but don't even want to listen.

You want a simple answer, here you go. Use Valvoline 10W-30 and a Fram filter and change them every 3000 miles and your engine will never have an oil related problem as long as you own it.

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Sorry if it appears that I don't want to listen. All I'm saying is what my mechanics have told me and what has worked for me.

In regards to your fram filter thing, are you being for real? At any rate let me tell you that I had a Chevy Cavalier with 225,000 miles on it. I ran nothing but 10w30 and fram filters for the life of the car.

 

[blupupher]

quote:

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Originally posted by simple:

quote:

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Originally posted by blupupher:

quote:

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Originally posted by simple:
.......

Everyone knows that 5W30 usually will sheer to a 20 weight. I feel better running the 10W.

......

---

Really? Making a general comment like this on an oil forum where there is plenty of proof otherwise is not too smart. You say you have read here, but apparently not much.
You seem to be very close minded when it comes to your oil choices. You have several people here giving you some good advice and suggestions, but don't even want to listen.

You want a simple answer, here you go. Use Valvoline 10W-30 and a Fram filter and change them every 3000 miles and your engine will never have an oil related problem as long as you own it.

---

Sorry if it appears that I don't want to listen. All I'm saying is what my mechanics have told me and what has worked for me.

In regards to your fram filter thing, are you being for real? At any rate let me tell you that I had a Chevy Cavalier with 225,000 miles on it. I ran nothing but 10w30 and fram filters for the life of the car.

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Sarcasm.

I understand your deal with mechanics and trusting them. I have a good friend who is a mechanic and he was the reason I started using Valvoline exclusively years ago. Then I found this site and learned that there is more to oil than what my friend said. Of the 2 oils you have decided to use, there are several better oils out there for the same price or even less those. Same for the oil weight. I used to be a 10W-30 year round guy because I may have 2-3 days a year below freezing, but one of my vehicles currently runs GC 0W-30 because of how well the oil itself performs, not because of a name on the bottle or the 0W rating. I hate Castrol and their "synthetic" oils. Never even liked their standard oils before the Group III/IV argument. Not sure why, but Just didn't care for them. Yet I am using it now, because of the information I gathered here. Just try to listen to what is being told, it really is some good info.

For the Valvoline/Fram comment, read around here and you will understand. For most using this combination and a 3000 mile oil change interval there will never be any type of problem. I have had a few 100,000 mile + vehicles on the same combo too.
Many of us are here because we either like to tinker, want better than "just good enough" and even a few OCD anal retentive types.

 

[TallPaul]

Valvoline All Climate I would not take over 3000 miles--actually I won't take it at all. Maxlife and Durablend I believe are good for 5000 miles and plan to start testing that in my pickup soon as the AutoRx rinse is over. Did 4400 on Maxlife in my motorhome and it came out looking great.

 

[haley10]

Of course, past history isn't relevant here. I used to use a lot of GTX, but the new stuff is different.

I'm not sure we know what GTX and Valvoline will be in the GF-4 formulations.

Does anyone really know? I'm kinda leary of the new GTX with the zddp dropping.

GF-4/SM changes everything.

 

[Blue99]

quote:

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I couldn't agree more. Every GF-4/SM oil appears to be a major reformulation compared to it's SL predecessor. Anything we think we know based on the SL versions really does not apply to this new set of reformulated oils.

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My sentiments also. And the changes to the 5W-30 formulations are probably the most dramatic.

All indications are that some GF-4/SM formulations, Penzoil for example, have been on the shelves for several months, but we don't have UOA's & VOA's actually identified as GF-4/SM.

So, it's hard to nail down the changes in the add packs & learn what's new.

 

[simple]

[/qb][/QUOTE]blupher

Sarcasm.

I understand your deal with mechanics and trusting them. I have a good friend who is a mechanic and he was the reason I started using Valvoline exclusively years ago. Then I found this site and learned that there is more to oil than what my friend said. Of the 2 oils you have decided to use, there are several better oils out there for the same price or even less those. Same for the oil weight. I used to be a 10W-30 year round guy because I may have 2-3 days a year below freezing, but one of my vehicles currently runs GC 0W-30 because of how well the oil itself performs, not because of a name on the bottle or the 0W rating. I hate Castrol and their "synthetic" oils. Never even liked their standard oils before the Group III/IV argument. Not sure why, but Just didn't care for them. Yet I am using it now, because of the information I gathered here. Just try to listen to what is being told, it really is some good info.

For the Valvoline/Fram comment, read around here and you will understand. For most using this combination and a 3000 mile oil change interval there will never be any type of problem. I have had a few 100,000 mile + vehicles on the same combo too.
Many of us are here because we either like to tinker, want better than "just good enough" and even a few OCD anal retentive types. [/QB][/QUOTE]

Thanks for your input. I do appreciate it.

So, does GTX have better additives? Has moly?
That's why it's better than valvoline?

[ January 03, 2005, 01:48 PM: Message edited by: simple ]

 

[haley10]

Simple..., GTX did have better base oil and a better additive package, but now with the new SM/GF-4 spec. things may have changed. Both oils have been re-formulated. The argument is only valid if you have a lot of old stock.

It's gonna take time to see how well the GF-4 oils work out and how they compare to each other.

The new spec. makes us start with a clean slate again.

Valvoline may have a boat load of moly now to make up for the reduced zddp requirements and possibly some boron.

GF-4 changed everything.

 

[Drew99GT]

I think Castrol GTX is the best pure dino off the shelf oil you can buy. If you look at every single GTX 5w-30 analysis, it BY FAR stays in grade better than any other OTC dino oil you can buy. Chevron, Havoline and Pennzoil thin the most. Look for yourself. And when it is on sale just about every weekend for $1.39 at Pep Boys in my area, it's hard to beat.

 

[jthorner]

quote:

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GF-4/SM changes everything

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I couldn't agree more. Every GF-4/SM oil appears to be a major reformulation compared to it's SL predecessor. Anything we think we know based on the SL versions really does not apply to this new set of reformulated oils.

John

 

[TheFuror]

quote:

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Originally posted by simple:
Which would be more preferred? These are the only two choices also.

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Since one of these two dino's is your only choice, I would go with GTX.

Before I discovered synthetics, I used GTX in just about every vehicle I owned. If you change the oil on the nose at 3K miles you will have good results with it.

Best of luck.

Bob W.

 

[vtmecheng]

I have been using Castrol products for about 6 years now and my neighbor, a chief engineer in the Merchant Marines, has been using it for over 30 years. Now you want someone that has analized engines for a living, talk to him. As for the 5w vs. 10w here ya go...While you will probably not do major damage by running 10w30 I would argue a 5w30 will do a better job in the winter months. Just make sure to change it every 3,000 miles because it does shear faster. On the other hand it will do a better job of protecting your engine on those cold mornings. Once the temp gets to 40degF and above in the mornings switch back to 10w30 for the longer shear life.
BTW, I have been using Castrol Syntec Blend 5w30 for 4 years in my truck with no problems to speak of. Had the intake manifold off this last weekend to change the gasket and the cam looked great with 138,000 miles on it.

 

[Silver]

just a general tip for some folks, and I'm not a regular on this forum but honestly some of you are really wasting your breath:

please stop citing your buddies, uncles, grandpas, drunk bums that hang out under the local shade tree and jerry springer guest wannabe's opinions. absolutely nobody with a decent amount of intellect will take you seriously. these days and many decades leading up to today, a person's title means virtually nada, zip, the big zero. the truth is that you may know your buddy's experience level and you may be a great judge of character, etc but we don't know him/her/it from jack and most people on this forum have just seen too much BS to not be very critical of people's opinions. that's all, nothing personal.

i apologize for any rudeness i may be conveying, but it's just sortof irritating to read a bunch of garbage to find the few facts that are usually given in any post.

thanks,
just another anal retentive

 

[kingrob]

Not to repeat what's already been said, I worked in a shop for a while and I would try to steer people away from certain oils that I thought were pretty cruddy just based on what I'd seen by pulling off valve covers most of my life. However, the same oil I'd trash another mechanic would swear by and vice versa. Just because someone says they're a mechanic makes them no more qualified to make a claim than someone who works at Waffle House, **** we had one guy who would top off everything (brake fluid, pwr steering, transmission) with 30w Amsoil! And this guy'd been around for over thirty years! BTW, I'm not trashing every mechanic out there, but a lot of the guys out there I've run into are either drunks, coke/crack heads, liars, cheats or otherwise untrained shade tree mechanics. Yet a lot of people swore by them, like ***** espousing gospel. This makes it hard for the honest guys like us out there who try to HELP people based on things we learn firsthand, not from what Johnny the retired drunk down the street's dad always told him.

 

[FowVay]

I'll buck the trend here and recommend the Valvoline since these are the only two choices offered. Valvoline is one of those products that looks 'average' on paper but seems to perform well in the real world. I do agree that it isn't optimum for drain intervals exceeding 4,000 - 5,000 miles.

I have not been impressed with deposit control of Castrols GTX series.

I'll address the viscosity issue also. Here's factual data based on the Valvoline viscosity data:

@20ºF the 5/30 is 884.3 cSt's - the 10/30 is 1232.5 cSt's

@30ºF the 5/30 is 583 cSt's - the 10/30 is 782.7 cSt's

@40ºF the 5/30 is 397.3 cSt's - the 10/30 is 515.9 cSt's.

So you can see that there is a definite advantage to using the 5W-30 over the 10W-30 in the temperature range that you've offered.

 

[Islander]

I live in eastern Canada where we have below freezing temperatures for about 3 months each year with the lows frequently ranging between
-10C(14F) and -24C(-11F). For about 15 years or so I have been using 5W30 oil year round. However, my brother has an autoparts store in this area and he tells me that by far the biggest majority of his customers use 10W30 dino year round. Many of these customers have high mileage vehicles that have survived 5 or 10 of our winters running 10W30 dino with no major engine problems.

Nevertheless, I prefer to follow the vehicle manufacturer's recommendations and attempt to get a reputable, conveniently available, product for my needs which include a product having a reasonably good pour point or borderline pumping spec. Over the past 15 years I have, depending on the vehicle, used dino Pennzoil, Valvoline, Quaker State, Castrol GTX, plus Mobil 1 and Petro Canada Syn Blend with no problems. During this period, the most I have put on any vehicle was nearly 100,000 miles and I haven't had a major repair during that time.

[ August 08, 2005, 10:08 PM: Message edited by: Islander ]