Pennzoil Ultra or Pennzoil Platinum?

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If your paying big bucks why not get a synthetic oil? I forget, is the PU majority grpIII+ XHVI slack wax base like ultar helix? If so I'll give Penn the bene and call that a Syn AND a good oil.
 
It all depends on how a person looks at it.

"It only 5 bucks" or "5 bucks is 5 bucks"

If Oilmaven has been using PP since new in the 08 Impala, then PU would have almost nothing to clean on the inside of the engine. So, I'd go with the "5 bucks is 5 bucks" way of thinking! Those GM engines aren't killing their oil.
 
I was using PP when PU came out and tried that and two weeks ago my OC was PP again. I consider them virtually the same. My engine could probably care less. As far as the 46% cleaner claim, my engine was pretty clean to begin with. Either one on sale is my next choice.
 
Originally Posted By: lexus114
The cold pour point is a lot lower on the PU.


-39 for PP acording to an Amsoil test comparison. Among the oils compared in their test, PP had the best cold crank score (narrowly edging out Amsoil in that category). I think you eventually reach a point where good is good enough. If the car`s only ever seen PP, the engine is already clean. Why bother switching to Ultra at any price difference.

If it ain`t broke, why fix it. If it were me I`d sooner spend the extra $5 on a better filter,
 
I`m just saying their is a definite difference between the two of them. That was just one thing I pointed out. -39 is the same as PYB.
 
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I agree there`s a difference. Its more a question of at what point does the diminishing returns justify spending more money.

Everyone has their own opinion on that one. For some it begins and ends with whatever dino happens to be had the cheapest price. For others, only the best will do, at any price.

I`m somewhere inbetween. I suspect the majority of us here are, just at different points along the continuum. I don`t use cheap oil (cheap as in low quality), but there`s an upper limit to what I`ll spend based on the law of diminishing returns. I try and get the best bang for the buck by choosing good oils that are bought during sale prices. They don`t have to be the best out there for me, just the best I can get within what I`m willing to spend, the selection, and my own baseline minimum criteria.

But to each his own.

-Spyder
 
I have said it before, and I'll say it again. It comes down to love baby. I love my cars, both of them, and one is a 13 year old Sunfire. For my babies, only the best will do.

If you love your car, ride, whatever you want to call it, five bucks is nothing. Is PP good.....Yup. Is Ultra better.....Yup. They will both run fine on pretty much whatever, but I have a love factor, so the five dollars is mute.

I even gave my vehicles some SSO for a while, however, I can't stand paying the shipping charges. So, I guess even love has a bit of a price.

You can even argue that $5 is cheap insurance in protecting your investment.

Just love your cars dudes!!!!! And don't be cheap. Pay the five bucks, and sleep extra good at night!!!!
 
I think westcoaster nailed it. I DO love my cars...old or new, big or small...and always have. If anyone was ever guilty of "over maintaining" their cars it's me. My dad owned a little service station in the middle of nowhere in northern Michigan and I spent most of my "formative" years there working with him...not because I had to (my 3 brothers hated the place...would do anything to avoid working there) but because I loved it. My dad was probably one of the best mechanics ever...could diagnose a problem just by listening to the engine or taking the car for a quick spin...he was legendary and people came long distances for his expertise. He was also reasonably priced (cheap might be a better word) and the most honest man I've ever known. I started hanging out there when I was a little kid and continued until I graduated from high school and left for college(he sold the business in 1980 and retired). It IS about love...sad but true for many of us. Our cars are more than just basic transportation...an appliance...a thing. They depreciate, rust and break down...and cost way to much of our disposable income to own. We talk longingly about efficient mass transportation and claim to envy people who live in New York or Chicago and can function without a car. Still we spend endless hours cleaning and maintaining them, comparing them and lusting after the next one (I could be talking about women here). In the end, until we are in a position that we are too feeble to drive, can't afford to own one or teleportation devices make them obsolete we will continue this love affair.

I'm off to Wal Mart to do an exhange...
 
Originally Posted By: oilmaven

I'm off to Wal Mart to do an exhange...


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Hey why not! good read also.....
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I think cars will be with us for a long time, so will the need for car maintenance.

Even if teleportation is finished tomorrow, it will still be the biggest legal and religious battle you'll ever have seen over the definition of death and murder.
 
oilmaven We can START to diagnose a problem with a quick ride or some listening, but that is far from a conclusive result. Even for simple things.
 
Originally Posted By: westcoaster

If you love your car, ride, whatever you want to call it, five bucks is nothing.

You can even argue that $5 is cheap insurance in protecting your investment.

Pay the five bucks, and sleep extra good at night!!!!


I agree. In an extended interval like 7500 miles, the $5 is something like 75 cents extra per month! Why agonize over that?
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Originally Posted By: westcoaster
If you love your car, ride, whatever you want to call it, five bucks is nothing. Is PP good.....Yup. Is Ultra better.....Yup. They will both run fine on pretty much whatever, but I have a love factor, so the five dollars is mute.


I think you mean moot. "Five dollars is moot."

Originally Posted By: westcoaster
I even gave my vehicles some SSO for a while, however, I can't stand paying the shipping charges. So, I guess even love has a bit of a price.


Now wait a minute...you just said that if you love your car, feed it only nothing but the best. But then you contradict yourself and say you don't like paying shipping charges, so you won't use "the best", but maybe the "second best". So "second best" (Pennzoil Ultra) is good enough for you, but if someone else is using "third best" (Pennzoil Platinum?), that's unacceptable?

You're doing a cost/benefit analysis just like everyone else is. I can't stand the viewpoint that if you don't pay the most you can possibly pay for something, you must not "love" your car. I think the argument that paying more for something just because it's "cheap insurance" is the lazy man's approach to not doing research and understanding what is beneficial to pay for, and where you're not getting a return on your investment.

If you wanted to take it to the extreme, you'd run the most expensive oil you can find in your car and change it every time you drive. Yep, every time. The first time you crank the motor, you've got "used oil" in the sump. So why not change it? You love your car right? Nothing but the best, baby.
 
Originally Posted By: lexus114
I`m just saying their is a definite difference between the two of them. That was just one thing I pointed out. -39 is the same as PYB.
Hey, Lexus, No one cares anymore if the oil is synthetic. Just pay more for a fancy label to "Baby" your car. I think I might go into sales since the median population are so uneducated and apathetic. Yo, I Gots Movado, Bose, Ipads and Beringer White Zinfandel !
 
I do care if the oil is synthetic. For dino in '94 LS400 the OCI is 6-7k/6mo, with synthetic the OCI is 12-14k/12mo. I would not extend OCI beyond 8k with dino but I did extend OCI to 15-16k with M1 some years ago.
 
I like to look it at as a simple cost vs perceived benefit of spending whatever extra to get the desired results equation; with taking into account the law of diminishing returns factor, which stipulates that beyond a certain price point, the extra benefits (real or perceived) are going to be so marginal (or non-existent) as to be not worth the extra costs.

This equation is going to be different for everyone here as we all have different incomes to work from, varying amounts to spend on our cars (no matter how much we love them), and different perceptions on how much is enough to spend before we each, individually, cross the diminishing returns threshold.

For some it may be the cheapest oil (brand name or no name) that meets the grade and certifications spec`d for their cars, and anything spent beyond that is a waste of money (the diminished returns things).

At the other end are those who do the research to find the objectively best product within the same grade and specs and will pay any extra cost to get it.

Most of us here are somewhere between these different points on the spectrum. We want a better oil than the no-name stuff that barely meets the grade and specs our engines call for, but there`s the cost point in the equation where we say that the additional benefits of spending x dollars for y additional benefit(s) aren`t worth those extra dollars.

Where we draw the line is a subjective thing that`s going to vary for everyone.

My next oil change will be with PP because at the $19 I paid for it, I`m expecting the benefits of the extra $8 spent above the cheaper alternative (Castrol GTX, which I`ve used in the past and have no bias against) to be worth the $8. To go to something better than PP would have meant spending twice the amount (or a bit more) to get Ultra.

PP will accomplish for me more of what I want out of it than the Castrol GTX can: 10,000 km OCIs with no risk of oil breakdown, better cold start performance over the coming winter thanks to its lower pour point and one of the best cold crank numbers out there (according to an Amsoil test), and better cleaning ability.

Ultra will accomplish all of that too, and likely some superior cleaning over that 10,000 km OCI. But it wasn`t worth it for me to pay twice the price for it (because PP was rolled back that day and Ultra wasn`t).

To each his own.

-Spyder
 
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For any change interval you might be doing, the difference in cost per mile between the PP and the Ultra is nil.
Is the Ultra a better oil?
I'm sure it is.
Do you need it.
I'm sure you don't.
Should you use it?
Why not?
You could try the Ultra, and see for yourself whether you notice any difference at all.
If you do, it's worth the four bucks and change.
If you don't, you can keep that sawbuck in your pocket.
 
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
For any change interval you might be doing, the difference in cost per mile between the PP and the Ultra is nil.
Is the Ultra a better oil?
I'm sure it is.
Do you need it.
I'm sure you don't.
Should you use it?
Why not?
You could try the Ultra, and see for yourself whether you notice any difference at all.
If you do, it's worth the four bucks and change.
If you don't, you can keep that sawbuck in your pocket.



+1

i tried it just for the heck of it, im hard on oil and i DRIVE cars, not just putt around. didnt notice one bit of difference really with the Ultra compared to my Edge other than it was the slightest bit noisier, but it could have just been me looking for problems.
 
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