Group 3 synthetics.

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It is and is not false advertising, basically a Group III synthetic is a hydrocracked dino oil, there have been some good UOA's.

1) Pennzoil Platinum
2) Amsoil XL
3) Castrol Syntec

If I have left any out, others please chime in.
 
I believe that Valvoline Synpower is also a grp III, or at least a grp III base with some grp IV added to it.

Then there's the rumors that Mobil1 is no longer a full synthetic and has grp III base in it like the others.
 
Originally Posted By: c3po
It is and is not false advertising, basically a Group III synthetic is a hydrocracked dino oil, there have been some good UOA's.

1) Pennzoil Platinum
2) Amsoil XL
3) Castrol Syntec

If I have left any out, others please chime in.



All this talk about Pennzoil Platinum, and it is not a true synthetic?
 
Originally Posted By: Jdblya
Originally Posted By: c3po
It is and is not false advertising, basically a Group III synthetic is a hydrocracked dino oil, there have been some good UOA's.

1) Pennzoil Platinum
2) Amsoil XL
3) Castrol Syntec

If I have left any out, others please chime in.



All this talk about Pennzoil Platinum, and it is not a true synthetic?


Which means nothing, PP has proven itself time and time again and is everyday priced at Walmart for 20.00/5qt jug.
 
I'm completely over the whole "only group IV and V are synthetic" mentality. There are plenty of Group III oils that perform extremely well.
 
Originally Posted By: chevrofreak
There are plenty of Group III oils that perform extremely well.


As well as conventional oils.
 
Originally Posted By: maximus
Originally Posted By: chevrofreak
There are plenty of Group III oils that perform extremely well.


As well as conventional oils.


Not for 9-10k OCI
 
Originally Posted By: DeeAgeaux
Originally Posted By: maximus
Originally Posted By: chevrofreak
There are plenty of Group III oils that perform extremely well.


As well as conventional oils.


Not for 9-10k OCI

Not for "true" winter.
 
Any oil that doesn't mention PAO's/Esters is most likely a Group III oil. All are GIII, unless the say otherwise on the bottle or website, is an easy way to look at it.

Nothing wrong with GroupIII. But, seems that there are 'good' and 'bad' group III base oils. This is why we have some automaker specific GIII motor oils and ATFs. The groupIII basestocks from various suppliers are not interchangeable. PAOs/PIOs.... have that interchangeability.

I was under the impression that EOPs blends are used by Pennzoil in their synthetics. SOPUS also has some fancy XHVI basestocks too.

We also see that some GroupIII oils have been reformulated over the years to meet more demanding better spec's. So, some have a shot of group IV/V in their formulas now for better cold flow/pumpability, and less oxidation/sludge at higher temps.

I definitely understand the 'true winters', the sludge monsters, the turbo toasters, the undersized sumps, the rpm junkies, the lugging shortshifting crowd........ and why I would pay more for a real IV or V synth oil.

My vehicles are not disposable. Marketing/advertising, which gave us group-III, also gave us maintenance free disposable cars which the consumer loves to lease or trade in all the time.
 
I feel and have felt since way back when Castrol Syntec came into the market that its deceptive business to call those oils SYNTHETICS.I quit Castrol way back when and never used any of their products again because of such.I started off MANY years ago with a SYNHETIC called CHEMLUBE.It was a extended drain oil.It cost almost three times what conventional dino oil cost many many years ago.Then SYNTEC appeared and I was shocked at the price.Then WHY it was less money.I still have a hard time reading the posts about PP and the others mentioned and using the WORD synthetic. I ran into the very same situation last year with ATF and Castrol/Valvoline advertising their SYNTHETIC ATF at a fraction what the 'boutique order only" ATFS ran.I inquired with Castrol and Valvoline and got a somewhat RUDE its proprietary but BELIEVE US its as good as the ones costing TWICE as much.I DID NOT believe them and passed on their products.Picked up the phone and ordered my 'boutique'atf with confidence I was getting REAL synthetic like I wanted.I see that in some ways some of you all feel the same way.At the moment I'm using Amsoil XL in ONE vehicle and IT went against my grain to use it because every time I see that WORD SYNTHEIC on the bottle its frosts me to no end.Am I too close minded or to old fashioned and don't like to feel 'had'.PP and others might be GOOD oils but I'd feel more comfortable about buying and using IF their wording was more factual.I ASKED AMSOIL if the XL had PAO and got that its proprietary [censored].No differant a answer then the OTHERS I asked about their ATF.Heck its MY hard earned money and why can't THEY just be truthful if its so darn good.Why HIDE behind that word SYNTHETIC just because Castrol won a court battle back when.
 
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Originally Posted By: DeeAgeaux
Originally Posted By: maximus
Originally Posted By: chevrofreak
There are plenty of Group III oils that perform extremely well.


As well as conventional oils.


Not for 9-10k OCI


There was a 9k GTX UOA awhile back that says otherwise...also, many OEM OLM's allow for dino to go up to 14k in some instances...I am not saying I would do that, but I presenting the other side
 
To me, Group 3 is just what all "dino" oil should be; properly refined! That said, there isn't much difference IMO b/w Gr2 and Gr3 performance wise.
 
For one,Group 3's have a higher Viscosity Index than Group 2 Base Oils. I recently read that currently Group 2 is 49% and Group 3 is only 1% of Total Barrels per- day capacity in N. America. The others, Group 1 30%, Naphthenic 16% and Rerefined 4%.
 
I love Castrol Syntech. It's been a great oil for my Tacoma. I've used Edge as well and love it but the Syntech 5w20 works excellent.
 
Originally Posted By: mechtech2
Does it really matter if the base materials are chemicals or crude oil, if the end result of the processing is the same ?


But the end results is not the same. Group III does not equal group IV.

It may be true that the performance of Group III approaches the performance of Group IV. It may also be true that both usually exceed the need. But that still doesn't mean they are equal.
 
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