Popular Science article in 1976 on synthetic oils

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I like the picture of the hot babe holding the electric sled!
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Page 101.
 
Originally Posted By: Rick in PA
I remember that issue. I also worked at a Mobil station during that time.

Reading the article, you can see how they hyped that synthetic oil could go 100,000 miles. A lot of folks bought into that. They thought you could change to synthetic and you'd never have to change your oil again... ever. That didn't work out.

The other issue that arose was oil consumption. Mobil 1 was 5W-20, at the time 10W-40 was the "standard" oil weight. The 5W-20 improved efficiency a little, as highlighted in the article and this was not too long after the oil embargo of '73. Everybody was looking for increased MPG. However, it also increased oil consumption. This was particularly a problem where someone had switched to Mobil 1 in a bit of a clunker that already had a little oil leak. All of a sudden, the little oil leak became substantial. The synthetics were 4-5x the cost of conventional oil and having a car that guzzled that stuff hurt.

So while the introduction of synthetic motor oil took off with a burst, by the late '70s it had mostly fizzled. People became disenchanted with it and most folks switched back to conventional motor oil.

It was ahead of its time.


Not me.
 
Originally Posted By: BISCUT
"Synthetic oil lowered octane rating..."

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I think it said it reduced the octane requirment of that particular motor, probably had something to do with the deposits in the combustion chamber and valve not building up. That and reduced consumption which adds to knock problems.
 
It is a magazines duty to promote the sales of products. Syn oils were way better than conventional oils in the 1970s. Today you have to define syn oils and note the greatly decreased difference between the syn and conventional oils.
 
Originally Posted By: Shannow
I've got that mag in my collection somewhere...good read.

All proof was the stuff smokey took to Indianapolis.


Diesters, I've heard..
 
Originally Posted By: Ohle_Manezzini
Originally Posted By: Shannow
I've got that mag in my collection somewhere...good read.

All proof was the stuff smokey took to Indianapolis.


Diesters, I've heard..
Polyol ester types.
 
Thank you for sharing. I was born in 80's but I really enjoyed the article read. As a kid we found a playboy from 1980 and it had lots of car ads and articles. I was about 12 but remember it had about two pages of girls and the rest was of some sort of substance. Pitty how going forward has sent us backward. I still regard Mobil1 as the standard of oils though I used Pennzoil Synthetic in my Hyundai and Castrol Magnatec/Edge 0w20 in my Honda.
 
Originally Posted By: CT8
Originally Posted By: Ohle_Manezzini
Originally Posted By: Shannow
I've got that mag in my collection somewhere...good read.

All proof was the stuff smokey took to Indianapolis.


Diesters, I've heard..
Polyol ester types.


Yes, you're right. I misplaced it by FrigidGo sold in Alaska, from Emery Eons E11 and of course Amsoil, back in the day still Amzoil. Those were diesters.
 
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Originally Posted By: Ohle_Manezzini


Yes, you're right. I misplaced it by FrigidGo sold in Alaska, from Emery Eons E11 and of course Amsoil, back in the day still Amzoil. Those were diesters.


Eon E11 was marketed by Pacer in Texas and, like the original Amzoil, manufactured by Hatco using a diester base oil.

Tom NJ
 
I did a few runs with EON oils they had a long life oil and a high [?] performance oil blend.
 
Didn't EON become neo synthetic? I bought some years ago from bakerprecision.com. Ran well but costly even compared to Redline oil which advance auto was carrying in the 04-05 years in stock.
 
Originally Posted By: benjy
before 1999 mobil I was all group IV PAO oil as were others. come 1999 + castrol looking for big profits starts selling group III oil as synthetic ska syntec. mobil + castrol go to court castrol wins WE LOOSE. as everyone scrambles to formulate a group III fake synthetic, now legally synthetic. today its Amsoils top of line oils + all of Redlines oil being real group IV + V synthetics in the USA
There was NO court case.
 
Really? Where was the fight about true synthetics and group III, between Mobil and Castrol? SAE anals? I've always heard that Mobil lost such judicia, considered became so highly modified by man, that a dino could become a syn.

Yoda
 
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Originally Posted By: Ohle_Manezzini
Really? Where was the fight about true synthetics and group III, between Mobil and Castrol? SAE anals? I've always heard that Mobil lost such judicia, considered became so highly modified by man, that a dino could become a syn.

Yoda


It was a Better Business/Advertising dispute, not a court case.
 
read the whole 6 pages, very interesting + informative for sure clearing up some earlier info i remembered reading. with todays hard to find at times specs its frustrating to really know whats what!! to add to that my former fav amsoil tells you nothing + is no longer blowing the PAO horn!!!
 
Thanks for posting this! My favorite quote is "if you put zinc into a di-ester type synthetic lubricant and don't have it in there properly you will have wear problems"
 
I remember that article in PM and started using Mobil I when I could find it in our area of northwestern New Mexico. I believe that was 1978. Started using it in 400 cu in Ford and 350 cu in Chevy. Never had any trouble almost forty years of using Mobil I. Great product.
 
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