is Mobil 1 a group 4, true synthetic?

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I know Castrol is hydrocracked, and the court story, etc...but what's the final deal today as far as Mobil 1, I'm hearing conflicting things, and unable to get a straight answer...
 
Also, please tell me why Mobil 1 sucks. I am about ready to believe that, after having been brainwashed into loving it for so long, old habits die hard. Hit me with it, let's hear it...Mobil 1 sucks because____________________________. And _________________oil is better because__________________.
 
(the site has me second guessing everthing...it's information overload lol...the moly is higher on maxlife, the tbn and zddp are higher on Amsoil....AAAAAAAAA!!! I can't take it anymore!!!)

:)
 
If you want to use Mobil 1, buy some and run it through a couple of OCIs. Then get a UOA done. If you don’t like what you see in the UOA, buy another brand.

The base stock of an oil isn’t the final word on performance. Neither is someone else’s UOA/VOA for that matter.

See how it runs in your application under your driving habits.

Just saying…
 
Is it a true Group IV oil? That is hard to say. Most "Major" brand oils are mixtures of Group III, IV and V. This allows them to save money but tailor the product properties. The manufacturers will not divulge their formula mixture amounts.
Some of Mobil 1 formulas may be mostly IV or all IV.

The important thing is the oil and the add pack.

What really is important is cost and performance. Mobil 1 gives good performance and the cost is reasonable.
 
Originally Posted By: ZZman
Is it a true Group IV oil? That is hard to say. Most "Major" brand oils are mixtures of Group III, IV and V. This allows them to save money but tailor the product properties. The manufacturers will not divulge their formula mixture amounts.
Some of Mobil 1 formulas may be mostly IV or all IV.

The important thing is the oil and the add pack.

What really is important is cost and performance. Mobil 1 gives good performance and the cost is reasonable.


Concur.

In my mind, one of the most important things I've learned in my time here is that while a given oil may be made up of a majority of a particular type of base oil, almost all (maybe all of them) oils are mixtures of different oils. I would surmise that the particular mixture is driven by characteristics the oil maker is targeting for that oil, balanced of course, with the maker's predictable desire to maximize profits.
 
It does not suck, and would serve you well for a long engine life. I've been a Mobil user in one way or another since 1999, and I'm not convinced its as good a product as it was(I think there is something behind the higher Iron).

IMHO, there are better oils for good prices, so until I see anything different, I'm done with Mobil.

I think ZZman gave a good explanation.
 
Here is recent quote by Tom, and after reading many of his posts and knowing he has a long background in lubricants, I trust his opinion.

This sums up my feelings on the subject

Originally Posted By: Tom NJ
ExxonMobil sponsor this site, and I have to believe that more than a few of their managers/executives read it as well. We are, after all, a good representation of their target market for high performance synthetic oils, and our opinions reach far beyond this site as we talk to our friends and neighbors. It would be nice if they could step in here with some specific comments or explanations for our observations on their oil's performance - not the party line marketing fluff about being number one and trusted by top OEMs, but a head-on addressing of our wear concerns.

Hundreds of UOAs posted here show a trend of higher iron content, and several of their top competitors have publicly accused them of having higher wear rates than other similar products. As a long time M-1 user, this is enough to raise my eyebrows and seek an explanation, which I am not getting from them or the endless speculation and theories tossed around here. I think it would be to their benefit to talk to their customers, rather than continue to allow us to possibly misinterpret their silence.

As a former oil marketing executive I understand the safety of silence, but I also understand the importance of communicating with customers in an open and honest manner when it comes to real and relevant concerns. For the first time in 10 years I am beginning to lose faith in M1 and seriously considering changing brands. I really don't want to change, but I prefer to do business with companies who value their customer's opinions and concerns. Unfortunately, modern management teachings attempt to reduce business to a series of mathmetical formulations rather than good old fashioned customer relationships. Size is no excuse for being out of touch with the people who buy your product.

Tom NJ
 
Mobil has alot of customers and members of this website constitute about.028%, probobly less. While I realize alot of people think this forum gets read as much as the New York Times, fact is it doesn't. Sit at your local parts store and ask every guy who buys Mobil 1 if he is aware of the high iron content, then ask him if he knows what group IV Oil is. 10 out of 10 won't have a clue and won't care either. So is Exxon going to have a press conference over there chemistry to satisfy the small little town where 28,000 people live? Not likely.
 
There is nothing wrong with M1 IMO. It's a very good oil with a long track record of success. It is also used as factory fill for some high end vehicles. There is even a SAAB in the Detroit Auto Muesem that went over a Million miles with its original engine using Mobil-1 and still ran when it was donated to the Museum.

You will find more speculation than anything else concerning Mobil-1 it's base stock, the secrecy of XOM not telling you what basestocks they use, the high Iron readings that show up in some UOA's etc.

Truth is they have a long track record for excellent protection, including members on this board. They also are very widely available at a pretty good price.

IMO who cares if the basestock is made out of cooking oil, it's how it performs in real world applications and it is one of the best oils out there!
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I almost agree.

Just because Toyota was great 10 years ago, does not mean I should buy their cars 10 years from now, without indepth research. Just because Hyundai sucked 15 years ago, does not mean I should never look at their cars in the future
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I understand your point, but don't you think that the higher end engine manufacturers like Porsche, Mercedes etc. would all be breathing down XOM throat if the formula had been weakend in the name of profitability?

Also I don't think that XOM would weaken the formula if they knew they had a winning combination that was driving consumers to use their products.

It's pretty impressive to have a long list of manufacturers that use your product as a factory fill and to have people driving a million miles on your product with the original engine.

Sure oils were different 10 years ago, but since then they have tweaked the formula and picked up more manufacturers that are using them as factory fill.
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Originally Posted By: HARTZSKY
Mobil has alot of customers and members of this website constitute about.028%, probobly less. While I realize alot of people think this forum gets read as much as the New York Times, fact is it doesn't.


Actually, considering the decline of the New York Times, and the rise of BITOG, I might disagree with you!
 
Originally Posted By: StevieC
I understand your point, but don't you think that the higher end engine manufacturers like Porsche, Mercedes etc. would all be breathing down XOM throat if the formula had been weakend in the name of profitability?

Also I don't think that XOM would weaken the formula if they knew they had a winning combination that was driving consumers to use their products.

It's pretty impressive to have a long list of manufacturers that use your product as a factory fill and to have people driving a million miles on your product with the original engine.

Sure oils were different 10 years ago, but since then they have tweaked the formula and picked up more manufacturers that are using them as factory fill.
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True, but I dont necessarily chalk up quality to factory fill, and that applies to the Toyo branded Mobil oil.

If you look at the current market, the UOA results, and prices of oils, Mobil is just not the value it used to be.

Lets face it, you could run any brand name oil, with an OEM filter and 5k OCI's and NEVER have a problem. If that's all we were worried about, then we would not be here :)

Im gonna give Amsoil 5w-20 a shot for awhile.
 
Originally Posted By: elwaylite


Lets face it, you could run any brand name oil, with an OEM filter and 5k OCI's and NEVER have a problem. If that's all we were worried about, then we would not be here :)



I run syn oils 5000 miles and I am still here. What I have learned here is that the very best values are the synthetic oils and top quality filters sold on BOGO or with nice rebates and run for OCI's of 5000 miles. This has brought the average cost of a synthetic oil change to about $10 for me. Huge savings over the years.
 
I never said that is was of great value... I think there are other great or better oils out there for the money. We were discussing the performance of Mobil-1. It does perform and has a solid track record.

I used M1 before the price IMO, got way out of control. Now in Canada because we are gouged for oils compared to our US neighbours, I choose to spend a few bucks more on an oil change and get Amsoil and my UOA's seem to fare better from what I can tell. They show me the oil holds up better versus the mileage in my application.

IMO Pennzoil platinum is cheaper and does the same job as M1 and it is widely available like M1 is.

I have used M1 in the past with excellent results but can't justify the price of it. It's just not a value anymore...
 
I think there is a good chance M1 will be mostly PAO/V going forward, if it's not already. It's possible the Katrina disruption impacted their move to some Grp III along with price. Their oils still contain significant amounts of PAO, more than any other oil readily available. Some are all Grp IV/V based, others are blends.
 
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