You're welcome.
I want to get this point across to the masses, and not just you.
I am predicating my comments based upon statisically "normal" life here, and all the implications that macro data sets into play.
Looking over all that VOA data shows us that there are both similarities and differences in the approach lube makers and blenders take. But, they all generally have shown great ability to protect equipment and post excellent UOAs. After all, we've all seen great reports from SOPUS, XOM, Conoco, Castrol, Amsoil and all manner of other brands, right? But there are also great reports and success stories from AAP, AZ, ST and other house products.
The point of the PQIA site is to inform us of the API compliance of many brands, and root out the non-compliant products. To that end, they (PQIA) do a great job. And as for the products themselves, they all lube, cool and clean the engine with great aplomb.
But my personal point is that all those different formulation still end up equaling one answer; great overall protection. In a mathematical sense, if we were looking for the answer of "10", we could get there with many different numbers and equations.
2+8
12-2
6+4
15-10+5
5+5
8+2
ect ...
They all are a different road to the same destination.
And so it goes with lubes. Generally, any API licensed (or mimmiced) products are substantial enough to get you the result you desire. Brand loyalty is nice, but unnecessary.
I would agree that there may be some "near perfect" combination that is unique to each situation, but to find such a condition, you'd have to do micro analysis (see my normalcy article for details). That is WAY, WAY more intensive and expensive than any BITOGer has the resources for (typically due to a condition of total lack of patience). And so, using a brand name or quality house brand will get you everything you need to the end goal.
Too many folks (mostly BITOGers) get their undies all wadded up in a padantic frantic mess believing that some magic number of Ca, Mg, Boron, Ti, etc is the only answer. Nothing could be further from the truth.
After looking over and studying well more than 10,000 UOAs in my personal database, and countless thousands more in others, I have come to the conclusion that house brands are every bit as good as any other lube. While there will always be one-off special niches, the VAST majority of folks can be well served by typical products in their "normal" applications. I say this with the knowledge and experience of years of statistical quality control process engineering as my lay trade. While I do not work in the lube industry, I can see the results in macro data sets for what it is and isn't.
So, because equipment protection is essentially assured via license compliance, then you might as well make your wallet happy, because your engine won't know the difference.