Originally Posted By: turtlevette
I can make a good argument that the wear bench tests tell the hot rodder crowd all they really need to know about the oil.
http://cdn2.hubspot.net/hub/68152/file-1...r_ball_0709.pdf
Quote:
Lucas Oil Stabilizer (32.5 pts) – The Lucas product is primarily an oil stabilizer which claims also to reduce friction and improvement oil lubricity. Unfortunately it ranked next to last in that respect. The Lucas product received average to below-average rankings in every parameter but one. The only parameter it received an above-average score in was low-pressure Non-Seizure scar (0.38 mm). However, it attained this scar only at the lower Non-Seizure Load of 63 kg, making it inferior to products like X-tra Lube (0.38 mm at 80 kg) and even Prolong (0.39 mm at 80 kg). The Lucas product also received a higher-pressure Seizure Load Scar measurement of 2.75 mm, which placed it 5th among the ten product. However, like it’s other scar, this scar was attained only at a Seizure Load level which was lower than other products – 160 kg. Lucas’ SeizureLoad Scar of 2.75 mm @ 160 kg is judged to be inferior even to the untreated base oil rating of 2.79 mm @ 200 kg. Lucas was also one of only three product (STP, MotorPurr) to attain only 200 kg for Weld Load. Lucas’ product cost of $12.00 per treatment is less than some of the other products on the list (though much higher than both X-tra Lube and STP), but its overall results seem to call into question the value of its lubrication-enhancing claims.
Versus the unadulterated oil
Quote:
5. Base Oil (27.5 pts) – The untreated 15W-40 base oil actually outperformed over half of the additized oil samples according to test criteria. The base oil performed poorly on the Load Wear Index (8th) and Non-Seizure Load but had the smallest Non-Seizure scar. This might be explained by low Non-Seizure Load (only 63 kg); however, the associated scar was still smaller than Lucas, Slick 50 and Greased Lightning at the same 63 kg low-pressure load. The base oil achieved the same high Seizure Load level and actuallyhad an associated scar that was smaller (2.79 mm) at the 200kg than all but the X-tra Lube (2.38 mm) and Prolong (2.43 mm) products. It is notable that the base oil achieved equal Seizure- and Non-Seizure Load readings as Slick 50 but produced smaller scars at both levels than that product.
Lucas...what's more important than what it doesn't do is what you imagine that it could do.