Pennzoil Platinum vs. Valvoline SynPower

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They are both good oils.

What is your definition of "better"??

Is better...... cheaper? - quieter? - less consuming? - longer OCI? - stays clearer on the dipstick longer? - what?
 
If it helps your decision any, some guys on the board have commented on how their Pennzoil Platinum has had a burnt smell coming from it.
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When cold, valvoline syn in our 2.3L accord was the noisiest (valvetrain) oil I ever experienced, even over dino. Never went back, tho valv. is still one of my favorites
 
best for longer oci, offers better engine protection, has a better base stock and add. pack.

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They are both good oils.

What is your definition of "better"??

Is better...... cheaper? - quieter? - less consuming? - longer OCI? - stays clearer on the dipstick longer? - what?


 
Both these oils, in the lower grades (30 wt and below) are girly-man oils (based on the criteria of "Energy Conserving" and starburst certification being weakening agents that result in lower HTHS among other things). You need to try some manly oil like Maxlife Synthetic or the new Mobil 1 High Mileage.
 
I've run both in my Volvo turbos. The SynPower was consumed at a much higher rate than the PP. Of course, both of these cars have well over 150K on them, but have never exhibited any consumption issues on a variety of other oils including Shell Rotella T syn, Chevron Delo conventional, GC, Castrol Syntec blend and Motorcraft blend. Just on SynPower.
 
ya, i'm looking for a good synth 5W-20 for my friend's 07' CRV. i did her first oil change at 3k on castrol GTX and i'm doing the next one at another 3k and switching it over to syn. gonna stick with 6k OCI's on syn. just don't know what syn to get in the 5W-20 weight!
 
I will run these in 2 Nissan VQ series engines (2004 Infiniti G35 w/ 3.5L V6 and 1999 Nissan Maxima w/ 3.0L V6) and one Honda 3.5L V6 that's in a 2006 Honda Pilot. None of these cars have consumption issues. The VQ35 is currently running on PP. I am waiting to convert the Maxima to full synthetic after my 2nd rinse phase of Auto-RX ends, which will be in 200 miles and waiting until the Pilot hits 10k to convert it to a full synthetic as well.
 
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The SynPower was consumed at a much higher rate than the PP.




Synpower, and many Group III oils have poor Noack volatility which may or may not contribute to oil consumption. On the Grill, Synpower evaporated extremely fast. Knowing Valvoline, they probably are not using that high quality of a base oil. IMO.
 
VQs seem to like a thicker 30wt oil - Tall Paul's Maxlife Synthetic suggestion is a very good one for these engines. The ML syn is ACEA A3 rated, and can be found for $1/qt after rebate right now (rebate forms are at Pep Boys, but can be used anywhere as they are paid by Valvoline).
 
The Maxlife that is on sale at Pep Boys is a Synthetic Blend? The SynPower is the full synthetic they have on sale. Is it not?
 
All oils are good as long as they meet the proper specs. Some are also a tad better than others. Castrol is fine although I'm not the biggest fan. I've also seen some independent data on Castrol that keeps me away from using their oils.
 
There are rebate forms for Maxlife (regular and synthetic), Durablend, and Synpower. I picked up the forms at Pep Boys, but they are good at any retailer, as the rebate will be paid by Valvoline. In the midwest, it sounds like O'reily's is carrying the rebate forms.

Regular Maxlife is a blend, Maxlife synthetic and Synpower are GIII synthetics; with ML syn meeting more European ("better") specs.
 
My 'un-educated' guess is PP is Shell base oil (likely XHVI(?) and SynPower is likely S-Oil, both GrpIII. The XHVI is mean stuff while I consider the S-Oil at the other end of the GrpIII spectrum. But remember I know nothing.

I have used 5W20 of both on a newer vehicle (now 33K miles). One run on each doesn't make a trend and I'll run a second pass on each relative to MC blend.

But, the SynPower provided some interesting results I CAN NOT EXPLAIN. Over the 5000 mile OCI it had 5%* higher MPG (I excluded a 1200 mile hywy trip which also got +5%). Also consumption appeared to be ~0.5qt, which was higher.

* After replacing with MC first ~100 miles MPG stayed high but then dropped off back to 'normal' according to vehicles computer. In addition, the SynPower first 3000 miles was higher MPG than normal and the final 800 mile MPG was even higher than the first 3000 on this oil.

If shearing it must be LOTs of shear to get +5% MPG.

Can some guess is going on ?

I'll do another run of SynPower after the Motorcraft but I'm concerned. I asked Valvoline to verify it met Ford's 930 spec and they said 'yes'.
 
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The one that is cheaper.
Unless you can conclusively prove 1 way or other between these 2, price is the main determinant.

Anything else is conjecture IMO.
 
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