Everyone who has experience with Red Line, please weigh in here. I know Red Line is expensive, so please don't tell me this. What I want to know is your experiences, including UOA's. I hear that Red Line is the best, but I'd like to see some empirical data to support it. Thank you in advance.
Is Red Line the primo oil?
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I switched to Redline in my vehicle after I bought it with 59,800 miles. I think the engine must have been quite dirty because the UOA I did after the second oil change with RL came back pretty bad. Meaning high, extremely high, wear metals across the board. I'm told that RL cleans the engine of contaminates left by previous oils and a UOA won't look good with RL for 3 or 4 oil changes. Despite the poor UOA, I have stuck with RL and will be testing again after the fourth oil change. I, too, believe it to be the best and I'm waiting till the fourth oil change to decide whether it is working in my engine.
Hope this helps.
Hope this helps.
When he raced, my dad swore by Redline racing oil. I have a case of Redline 5w30 sitting in my living room that I'm going to use in my soon-to-be rebuilt engine after the first couple thousand miles. I'm planning on starting out with 8,000-10,000 mile OCIs and will probably do a UOA during the second OCI. I'll be sure to post the results here, but that'll probably be late this year/early next year.
My engine at the 65K mi mark.
Used RedLine 10w-30 since 10K mi on the odo.
10-12K mi long oil changes with mostly freeway driving.
Lately I don't drive as much.
Here is my UOA after 14 months and 7K mi.
Used RedLine 10w-30 since 10K mi on the odo.
10-12K mi long oil changes with mostly freeway driving.
Lately I don't drive as much.
Here is my UOA after 14 months and 7K mi.
I don't think there is necessarily one single primo oil. Certainly Redline is very good, and I use it myself. However, I've also come to admit that my attachment to it, while initially research based, is also somewhat irrational, in the sense that many other oils would be just as good, or so close that I wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Many other synthetics post great UOAs, as to many dinos. Somebody around here said he's been using Redline for close to 500,000 on an '84 Civic, and that the engine is squeaky clean. It's hard to argue with that. And, incidentally, I think Royal Purple is also primarily Group V, and there are others as well. The "mystique" about the wonder of Redline seems to be a combination of fact, rumor, and marketing savvy. That doesn't mean there is anything wrong with it, though. It did convince me....
According to older posts I dug up, their "street" oils are a blend of Group IV and Group V.
From here:
http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=013248;p=1#000008
From here:
http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=008031;p=1#000014
ccdhowel wrote: "I'm told that RL cleans the engine of contaminates left by previous oils and a UOA won't look good with RL for 3 or 4 oil changes."
From what I can gather, the statement above is used here often and rarely questioned. Are there other oils that BITOGers recommend using for 3-4 oil changes with bad UOAs? My impression is that AutoRX and LC20 are considered highly here. I have not noticed that either of these products clean so well that they produce poor UOAs. Am I missing something? Are the cleaning products and the Redline cleaning different things?
From what I can gather, the statement above is used here often and rarely questioned. Are there other oils that BITOGers recommend using for 3-4 oil changes with bad UOAs? My impression is that AutoRX and LC20 are considered highly here. I have not noticed that either of these products clean so well that they produce poor UOAs. Am I missing something? Are the cleaning products and the Redline cleaning different things?
You might want to check out Honda Mugen line of oils and Toyota TRD line of oils. Also ELF Solaris and the top of the line ELF Excellium. Depends how much money that you are willing to pluck down. Some people feel better with cheaper oil and for others, expensive oil justifies its price. Just go with the most expensive oil that you are willing to pay.
http://theoildrop.server101.com/cgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=002432
AutoRx turned it a pretty crappy UOA here. There's only 5-6 UOAs on this entire site while Redline has hundreds.
GMorg has a good point. There are other ways to interpret that, however, rather than as a direct contradiction. It seems to me that in order to resolve that dispute we would have to see perhaps dozens of UOAs, from dozens of vehicles of the same make/model/year, perhaps every 10k, over maybe 70k, simultaneously doing the same thing with many different oils, taking note of driving conditions, etc. And on top of that, run the experiment simultaneously with many different makes/models to take account of different designs and metallurgy.
It seems to me that would be the best way to eliminate as many variables as possible, tell which oil is "the best" in general, and which for particular applications. That would also be so hugely impractical and expensive that it probably will never happen. Wouldn't it be interesting, though, to compare all that data, if one had a year or so to spare?
I don't mean to sound flippant. Just trying to imagine a truly solid way to answer the original question of this thread.
It seems to me that would be the best way to eliminate as many variables as possible, tell which oil is "the best" in general, and which for particular applications. That would also be so hugely impractical and expensive that it probably will never happen. Wouldn't it be interesting, though, to compare all that data, if one had a year or so to spare?
I don't mean to sound flippant. Just trying to imagine a truly solid way to answer the original question of this thread.
motul 300w chrono oils are also 100% double esters
KBF - "Plus Redline is about the same price as Amsoil"
This is a pretty vague statement actually as well. I can't speak for Redline, but their prices are pretty consistently discounted to around $7/qt. I think list is above this, but I'm not that sure . Base prices MUST be pushing them hard, maybe someone knows more.
Amsoil can be had for about $4 qt all the way above $7 qt for the Series 2K and 3K. Depending on container volume/type and quantity. Also depends on how purchased. But mostly the cost rests on the oil type. Base prices have also pushed Amsoil hard.
This is a pretty vague statement actually as well. I can't speak for Redline, but their prices are pretty consistently discounted to around $7/qt. I think list is above this, but I'm not that sure . Base prices MUST be pushing them hard, maybe someone knows more.
Amsoil can be had for about $4 qt all the way above $7 qt for the Series 2K and 3K. Depending on container volume/type and quantity. Also depends on how purchased. But mostly the cost rests on the oil type. Base prices have also pushed Amsoil hard.
Pabs, what if I only want 5 qts of SERIES 2000 0W-30. According to this site, it'll cost me $8.88/qt plus tax and shipping?
https://www.amsoil.com/storefront/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=1
https://www.amsoil.com/storefront/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=1
noob,
Thanks for the link. However, I'm not convinced that the wear metals in the linked report was due to 'cleaning'. I clearly don't know, but the person that submitted the report opens with the following statement:
"The engine model in this car seems to have a history of severe oil consumption, ring failures and oil related rod/bearing failures. ...Current oil consumption is about 1qt every 500-600 miles with smoke visible only on startup an long periods of idling."
Thanks for the link. However, I'm not convinced that the wear metals in the linked report was due to 'cleaning'. I clearly don't know, but the person that submitted the report opens with the following statement:
"The engine model in this car seems to have a history of severe oil consumption, ring failures and oil related rod/bearing failures. ...Current oil consumption is about 1qt every 500-600 miles with smoke visible only on startup an long periods of idling."
427 - Actually it's even more than that for single quarts at catalog prices.
IMHO, on paper, its the best I've seen, pure ester base and the VOA numbers are great.
Having said that, I believe its overkill for 99.9 % of the applications. If I had a race motor that was built right to the edge, then I would use it.
For passenger cars, Delo 400. Close in specs to RL and cheap.
Having said that, I believe its overkill for 99.9 % of the applications. If I had a race motor that was built right to the edge, then I would use it.
For passenger cars, Delo 400. Close in specs to RL and cheap.
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