This topic comes up repeatedly on here and I've noticed it's even in the shout box. No one knows for sure what any brand of synthetic contains. Even Amsoil's 5w-30 could potentially use some Group III. If it's majority PAO, they won't even mention other base stocks. It's pointless.

From the Japanese Mobil 1 Website:

15w-50 - PAO
0w-40 - PAO
0w-30 - PAO
0w-20 - PAO

5w-30 - PAO + Hydroprocessed
10w-30 - " "

How one defines synthetic varies. Only Mobil 1 5w-30 "Extended Performance" was tested and showed Group III. Also contained Group V.

Tired of the topic and tired of stickies.....next subject PLEASE!!!

I'm tired of it too.

This is an informative website, but lately it seems thats all that is discuessed, is whether a certain oil is group 3 or 4 or 5 and whether or not it's a "true" synthetic or not.

Repeat- repeat- and repeat! Gets very old fast.

The only reason I posted it is so maybe people would read it and not jump to false conclusions and post more threads on this subject. Or should I have just let it die on it's own?

I turned off the shout box. The noise went away.

If performance in YOUR application, determined by UOA is good, then what is the issue? One is paying for PERFORMANCE, not BASESTOCK, per se. I know some are overcome by the so-called value proposition of using PAO or better basestocks exclusively, but even those setups have their limitations.

We are at a point when the overall chemistry is more important than basestock, IMO.

JMH

I normally don't click on this type of thread but I will respond this time. Most new people to oil feel (or think) they want a 100% PAO based oil without realizing that what makes a PAO a good base oil also makes it poor at holding an additive package (very low solubility). PAO are fully saturated (no double bonds or aromatics) which helps it resist chemical attacks but also resists the add-pack at the same time. Group V and/or III are used with PAO's to hold the additives. Esters are very soluable and work very well with PAO's. It doesn't matter if it's a mixture of III, IV, or V's, it's all classified as a synthetic.

Like everything in life, to much of one thing is never good.

my $0.2

It is certainly Group 666

No, wait .. wait a second, it is actually group 25.2352353

How many decimal places of precision do you need?

Actually Deep Throat told me it is a new super secretive group -3. Apparantly they have a new POW+ formulation that doesn't even use oil. They insert a layer of vacuum between all surfaces held in place by superconductive layer of POW+ oil. No friction, no heat, even absorbs all the engine noise. You can drive in a stealth quiet mode like that sissy Prius toy.

Thank you very much for this explanation and the time it took to write it.

Agree 100%. Thats all you need to know.

Only one side of the argument is being voiced however. Yes, Grp III may perform as well as (or even better) than say a full PAO. However, Grp III oil is much cheaper than PAO. My disappointment is that the Grp III syns cost as much as PAOs. I would rather pay more and KNOW EXACTLY what I am purchasing versus "marketing" claims.