Engine Oils of the 1980s

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Shannow, thanks for seeing through the veiled sarcasm. So, I have to ask a couple questions- since they backed the oils to distances even farther than today's M1 AP way back when, I wonder if they really haven't "given up" to a certain extent on truly making oils better. Either that, or there really are other forces at work when only talking about what 5L of oil can handle, regardless of the add packs.

I think two of the biggest drivers to the lack of progress from 30 years ago are: oil companies realized that even though they made an oil capable of, and warrantied to, 40k- only a tiny, tiny fraction of people even began to skim the surface capabilities of those oils. Second, with 30 years of inflation, even taking into account the technologies used 30 years ago to make 40k oils are now dirt cheap in comparison, that nobody would pay what would likely be $20/qt or more even if it could go 40k.

I think Mobil has proved both of these theories- it's warrantied to 20k and is $40+/5qts... but when looking at VOAs and UOAs we haven't seen results in line with what would be expected of a truly "top tier" oil. This is just Mobil's shot at maximizing profitability while not really delivering anything different than what is already in everbody else's jugs as well.
 
Turbo mag Page 55, top of column 3 - talk about phosphorus ruining cats. Never realised the discussion was going on way back then
eek.gif
 
Originally Posted By: Shannow
This last one for SR5...It WAS 15W50


Laugh !!! ......... I knew it !!
That's why I used Castrol Edge 10W60 back then, because it started "sooner" and went "further" than M1 15W50. That was back before you educated me to polymer VII loading, shear and volatility. Now days I would go the M1 15W50, but back then moving from GTX 20W50 to Edge 10W60 (PAO & Ester based I believe) was fantastic. Very few people I knew were willing to pay extra for a synthetic back then.

Also it wasn't called Edge, it's original name was Formula-R and it could be had in two flavours, either 0W40 or 10W60. Before that they had Castrol TXT 10W40 "Synthetic Technology" that was rated "CCMC European Test Sequences G4, G5 and PD2". The CCMC was eventually replaced by the ACEA test sequences.

I still have an original bottle of Castrol TXT (empty). I mostly rode shared sump motorcycles back then and shear was a big problem to me. Castrol GTX 20W50 sheared out and gave bad gear changes after 5000 KM but the thinner Castrol TXT 10W40 was good for 10,000 KM. That made me a convert.

Thanks for posting the images, they are great.
 
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Who was it who insisted that it was always 5W ?

I knew it was 15W, as I bought it to mix with Duckhams 15W50 as per the (general) advice of Vizard.

We sold Shell XMO 15W30 back in the day at Shell Manuka...another one of those things if I knew then what I know now...15W30, VII free, all basestock.
 
Yeah a 15W30 Group II oil (I assume) would be perfect for me.

Can't recall who said the original M1 in Oz was 5W. Maybe they will read this thread and 'fess up.

Thinking back, that TXT was before Group III synthetics, so probably PAO based and I suspect low in VII given it's shear stability. I would love to see a old spec sheet for it to see what it's KV100 and CCS was.
 
Thank you very much for taking the time to post all these! Just like music, advertising required some talent AND product knowledge back in them days. Sometimes wish I could just go back, for the better or worse.
 
Originally Posted By: Shannow
Who was it who insisted that it was always 5W ?

I knew it was 15W, as I bought it to mix with Duckhams 15W50 as per the (general) advice of Vizard.

We sold Shell XMO 15W30 back in the day at Shell Manuka...another one of those things if I knew then what I know now...15W30, VII free, all basestock.


ME ! Mobil 1 was always 5W-50 here for many years, I worked in a couple of Mobil stations in the early '80's, and the Mobil 1 never moved off the shelf. BP's first synthetic was 5000, and was the same as the Duckhams, Duckhams being their performance brand at the time. I remember BP Corse, no idea what it was, but we used to use BP C3 in diesels at the time, C3 obviously meaning something different then.
 
Originally Posted By: Garak
I probably have some very dated Popular Mechanics and Car and Driver magazines laying around. I should take a look some day.


Same here, pop sci and mech illustrated I think
 
Originally Posted By: Lubener
Was about the time when cans were phased out in favor of plastic bottles.


Not here...no pics of cans
 
Happy nostalgia day Shannow, for this as well as the Honda NR thread.
It is always entertaining to go through a stack of old enthusiast mags and the adverts are often more interesting than the editorial content.
Thanks for the images.
It's also amusing that what was once considered quick is now available from any grocery getter.
 
Originally Posted By: Lubener
Was about the time when cans were phased out in favor of plastic bottles.

In 1986-87 I was working at my uncles gas station. We still had the cans with the oil spout we had to put in our self.

 
Originally Posted By: BlueOvalFitter
... We still had the cans with the oil spout we had to put in our self. ...
Screwdrivers were easy, and less messy.
 
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