Originally Posted By: Shannow
Joe, wasn't taking a crack at you, just adding to the data set.
I'd buy your 10W20 2.9HTHS in a heartbeat, or if you choose to move to my preferred "XW-HTHS" system, I'd really rather a 10W-3.4.
No slight was even remotely taken. In fact I'm rather pleased you drew my attention to this Citgo PDS because I think you have stumbled upon the perfect oil for 'pootlers'. The 10W16 is even better than my conceptual 10W20.
I am a pootler and proud of it! I am not one of those people for whom driving is a pleasure. I liken driving to getting my prostate checked (it's necessary but the longer it goes on, the more I wish it was over!). My little lightweight car rarely goes above 2500 rpm and 55 mph. I change up as quickly as I can, I never tow a boat and our climate is about as moderate as moderate can be. As such, I reckon my oil, even in the big-end bearings, never gets anywhere close to 150°C. As such, I reckon my engine could happily live with a 2.3 cP HTHS oil. The car is specced for 0W20 so moving to a 10W16 isn't that much of a leap.
I also like this 10W16 oil from a philosophical point of view. Once upon a time, all the world had was Group I base oils. They were okay but not great. To improve them you resorted to additives; VII polymer to up the VI and a DI cocktail to improve their resistance to oxidation, etc. Then along came PAO to be followed by (much cheaper) Group III. These base oils had inherently better VI and way better oxidation resistance than Group I oils. Logically these oils should have required LESS VII/DI than Group Is but that's not what happened. Additive treats tended to stay where they had always been and everything just got 'better', or so we were told. My gut feel would be this Citgo 10W16 is a Group III based oil which contains no VII and very little Ashless (which logically you wouldn't need because there in no VII to create deposits and the base oil is so stable, the risk of the oil sludging is remote). It would contain detergent (necessary for acid control) and ZDDP (necessary for wear control) but that's probably it. I wonder what this stuff costs? Logically it should be very cheap but in the lunatic world of lubricant economics, what stuff costs often has zero relationship to what it costs to produce.
I will try and find out more about this Citgo oil (particularly its Noack & Phosphorus content). I know a guy who might know a guy who could provide answers. Fingers crossed...
