So I've spent a few hours around here, more than I wanted or needed I think, and I've come to these conclusions and have learned these things: (please correct me if I'm wrong)
Most name brand oils are pretty much the same. The small differences, most people wouldn't really care about and would consider insignificant, except for motor oil fanatics/extremists/terrorists.
I would feel comfortable running almost any fully synthetic oil for 10,000-12,000 miles from what I've gathered. And I plan on buying any fully synthetic oil from here on out- whatever it is that's on sale. I would feel comfortable running almost any conventional oil for 7,000 miles, but I'm probably going to stick with fully synthetic around 10-12,000.
I'm sure you guys are aware of this study and have a lot to say about it, but as an oil newb, this was all I knew of love: http://www.animegame.com/cars/Oil Tests.pdf
From that I took a liking to Valvoline Maxlife Durablend, and have ran it in 2 cars and have a jug left that I'm planning to run 7,000 miles in for my 2001 Corolla. I'm doing all this blind with no UOAing because I feel pretty comfortable with those longer intervals from what I've gathered around here. I was just shocked, I mean my whole world changed when I heard that you don't need to change your oil every 3,000. There's even a government initiative here in CA, (and of course, it's gotta be CA), trying to inform the public and to cut back on all that waste.
So I've got 0W-20 Amsoil Synthetic Signature Series in my 2001 Toyota Corolla right now. It calls for 5W-30 but Toyota has approved 0W-20 for that car according to some chart I saw online once somewhere at some point. It gets to maybe 30 degrees in the winter here and I wanted to reap the benefits of a .00001% increase in fuel economy. Totally worth it. It has an Amsoil oil filter.
It's at 6,750 miles right now, and I plan on going 12,000 miles. My commute is 5 miles to and 5 miles back, city. I drive like a toad in mud, and coast to red lights, for fuel economy. My grill is partially blocked off as well, for aerodynamics and to speed up warm-up times, if that matters. Would 12,000 miles be alright? Could I go longer? I've thought about doing an UOA. Maybe if I get the money but I'm not that fanatical about it. I just don't want to waste perfectly good oil, like some crazy person I know who changes their Royal Purple every 3,000 miles or something. So yeah, after this, I'm going to run the Valvoline MaxLife Durablend 5W-30 for 7,000 miles. What viscosity should I use? I know nothing about it except 0w-20 will save me an 3 cents a year in gas from the extra fuel economy that I plan on using to make a wish in the mall water fountain, and that the W stands for winter, and that's all I know. I've heard of this strange 5W-20?
My other car is a thing of beauty. 1987 Chevrolet Sprint TURBO. A re-branded Suzuki Cultus. It's Japanese. Oh when I bought this thing, it idled like death in [censored], and would die at idle. The owner replaced the O2 sensor, and possibly did other things as well. The issue was just an old dirty clogged up air filter, suffocating and choking out the engine, so that it would die at idle if you didn't open up the throttle some. Ten bucks later, there was glory. Three cylinders in all of it's turbo-charged glory. Zero to sixty in eight point seven seconds, only two seconds slower than a V8 Camaro of the same year. It weighs 1,600 pounds, and is basically aluminum foil on wheels. But anyway, it called for 10W-30, and I gave her 10W-30, Valvoline Maxlife Durablend. It has a 3x Fram filter. I have no problem with Fram or the mid-tier 95% filtration. But in the future I would opt for a fully synthetic with a top-tier oil filter. And the one that's on sale. Some of these oil rebates are insane. I know Pennzoil has a $10 rebate with $5 off a future purchase. You could get a jug of synthetic for 13 bucks and have another $5 on top of that. Insane.
Quick question - how often should you change your air filter? I have since renounced K&N air filters from what I've learned and I am saddened by them. The oil and MAF sensor problems, and the increased engine wear, and the chore of oil and cleaning, all makes it bitterly disappointing.
I have another question - what's a good list of good synthetic oils readily available at major outlets that won't break the bank? I will never touch Royal Purple for instance. I had a go at AMSOIL because there was a discount (though that discount may just basically be for anyone who signs up, lol), and I saw a lot of their studies, but who's to say if they weren't biased. From what I've heard here on BITOG, AMSOIL is top-notch though, so that is nice, and I do like them still. But a bit pricey, and I think the other synthetics are just as good and the difference won't matter to most people, myself included. I don't expect my engine to get an extra 25,000 miles from using AMSOIL over say, Synthetic Napa, for instance. So I'm thinking these so far, and feel free to chime in, with a top 3 or something.
For instance I'll probably stay away from Quaker State Synthetic. I'm sure it's fine but what I heard from one random guy once on the internet somewhere, there are better oils. And I'm never going to buy Mobil 1 again, because of hearsay and superstition and legends of poor performance and mediocrity and other unfounded reasons. Lol, I'm sure it's a fine oil, but maybe for a purely emotional reason, I'll never touch the stuff again.
So I was thinking these are top-tier, affordable oils, widely available at major outlets, when they're on sale/with a rebate special:
-Pennzoil Ultra (I like Pennzoil Platinum, but so long as there is Ultra, I will go with Ultra.)
-Castrol Edge w/ Titanium
-Valvoline SynPower
-Valvoline MaxLife Synthetic (What's the difference between this and SynPower? Because if it's like Pennzoil Platinum and Ultra, I want the Valvoline Ultra one, whichever it is.)
-Napa Synthetic
-Crisco Vegetable Shortening
-Extra Virgin Oil Olive
Some stupid part of me would love to use some obscure special brand of synthetic oil no one's ever heard of, and put stickers of it on my toolbox. But I try as much as I can to try and shut that stupid part of me up.
Should I put Quaker State Synthetic on the list? If it's even mildly, almost imperceptibly inferior, not even in reality but even in blind perception, then I'd like to reject it. Oh, I have nothing against Quaker State. Should I put it on the list? I think making a list of oils I plan on staying away from would be equally interesting for me. Only synthetics.
-Mobil 1 Synthetic (for reasons stated above. Basically unfounded superstition. A troll witch doctor sorceress once told me that Mobil 1 will bring me death and misery.)
-Walmart SuperTech Synthetic (I know the wonders of SuperTech. Just rebranded oil - exact same stuff as the name brand oil. But I cannot bring my stupid, self-righteous, pretentious, bigoted/racist self to buy Walmart oil. It's basically racist to reject Walmart oil, somehow, because SuperTech is super good stuff. And if I weren't so stupid and petty and stupid, I would run that in my car until the day I die because it is so so cheap.)
-Mobil Super Synthetic (I once saw someone change their oil with Mobil 5000, and my pretentious, AMSOIL self was so disgusted. You should have seen my scoffing face, as if I saw a man eat his own vomit. So bigoted, so close-minded, so racist. I am ashamed. But I still cannot bring myself to buy this oil, which in my mind is cheap and inferior and for homeless people's bicycles.)
-Autozone Synthetic
-O'Reilly's Synthetic (I know, I know, what a bigoted [censored]. I have no problem with Napa Synthetic but I scoff at Autozone and O'Reilly's Synthetic Oil. "What, do you think you're better than me or something? What, are you too good for Autozone oil? Did your mama lube your little Fisher Price tricycle with the used oil of some rich Saudi Arabian price's Maserati growing up? I've been running gas station no name Bullet motor oil since 1868 at 50,000 mile intervals without a problem, you synthetic [censored]. I hate everything about who you are and what you wish to become."
I might try Halvoline Synthetic. But if the others are on sale, I'd probably prefer them. I was curious about Eneos, some obscure brand I've never heard of, but judging from these UOAs: http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1960498, it seems like a 7,500 mile oil and not a 12,000+ synthetic oil. So what other readily available, good synthetic, affordable oils are there? (i.e. not 9 dollar a quart Royal Purple. Yeah, more like Royal pain in the wallet, amirite? Hah! more like uhh... hold on let me think of a good one... hmmm.... uhh... More like! More like makes my... I'd need a purple pimp fur coat to afford that stuff! Hah! I want so much to be loved and accepted.)
-Tell me about http://www.pqiamerica.com. I don't know what to make of those charts. Why can't they just order them in order, lol. I know it's not that simple, but the average consumer would appreciate that. I am a stupid ignorant mass. I wish it would just say, this oil is the winner! This oil is the loser. The threads here on BITOG talking about the PQI studies are just arguing and it's not clear-cut and one guy says this oil won and other guy berates him and insults his intelligence, lol. I'm just a dude who wants to know what oil to buy and how often he should change it, and which is the best oil, let's be honest. I know know, there isn't a best oil or whatever, but I'm going to say it's AMSOIL, there, I said it. I know, I'm an idiot, and I accept that. Can we just get a sticky or something? Or a 1 page, summary, maybe a few sentences? "These synthetic oils are pretty good: They'll last at least 10,000 miles, and many go 15,000 miles and beyond. These synthetic oils are not as good:" 3 sentences. Can we do that? I know, I know, I'm stupid. But please, someone do that. Someone give me those three sentences, all things be [censored]. Please.
Have you guys heard of these new nano-technology miracle motor oils that are supposed to soak into the metal and increase engine compression? Lol, I want to see the 20 page post-a-thon of argument and hatred on that.
Most name brand oils are pretty much the same. The small differences, most people wouldn't really care about and would consider insignificant, except for motor oil fanatics/extremists/terrorists.
I would feel comfortable running almost any fully synthetic oil for 10,000-12,000 miles from what I've gathered. And I plan on buying any fully synthetic oil from here on out- whatever it is that's on sale. I would feel comfortable running almost any conventional oil for 7,000 miles, but I'm probably going to stick with fully synthetic around 10-12,000.
I'm sure you guys are aware of this study and have a lot to say about it, but as an oil newb, this was all I knew of love: http://www.animegame.com/cars/Oil Tests.pdf
From that I took a liking to Valvoline Maxlife Durablend, and have ran it in 2 cars and have a jug left that I'm planning to run 7,000 miles in for my 2001 Corolla. I'm doing all this blind with no UOAing because I feel pretty comfortable with those longer intervals from what I've gathered around here. I was just shocked, I mean my whole world changed when I heard that you don't need to change your oil every 3,000. There's even a government initiative here in CA, (and of course, it's gotta be CA), trying to inform the public and to cut back on all that waste.
So I've got 0W-20 Amsoil Synthetic Signature Series in my 2001 Toyota Corolla right now. It calls for 5W-30 but Toyota has approved 0W-20 for that car according to some chart I saw online once somewhere at some point. It gets to maybe 30 degrees in the winter here and I wanted to reap the benefits of a .00001% increase in fuel economy. Totally worth it. It has an Amsoil oil filter.
It's at 6,750 miles right now, and I plan on going 12,000 miles. My commute is 5 miles to and 5 miles back, city. I drive like a toad in mud, and coast to red lights, for fuel economy. My grill is partially blocked off as well, for aerodynamics and to speed up warm-up times, if that matters. Would 12,000 miles be alright? Could I go longer? I've thought about doing an UOA. Maybe if I get the money but I'm not that fanatical about it. I just don't want to waste perfectly good oil, like some crazy person I know who changes their Royal Purple every 3,000 miles or something. So yeah, after this, I'm going to run the Valvoline MaxLife Durablend 5W-30 for 7,000 miles. What viscosity should I use? I know nothing about it except 0w-20 will save me an 3 cents a year in gas from the extra fuel economy that I plan on using to make a wish in the mall water fountain, and that the W stands for winter, and that's all I know. I've heard of this strange 5W-20?
My other car is a thing of beauty. 1987 Chevrolet Sprint TURBO. A re-branded Suzuki Cultus. It's Japanese. Oh when I bought this thing, it idled like death in [censored], and would die at idle. The owner replaced the O2 sensor, and possibly did other things as well. The issue was just an old dirty clogged up air filter, suffocating and choking out the engine, so that it would die at idle if you didn't open up the throttle some. Ten bucks later, there was glory. Three cylinders in all of it's turbo-charged glory. Zero to sixty in eight point seven seconds, only two seconds slower than a V8 Camaro of the same year. It weighs 1,600 pounds, and is basically aluminum foil on wheels. But anyway, it called for 10W-30, and I gave her 10W-30, Valvoline Maxlife Durablend. It has a 3x Fram filter. I have no problem with Fram or the mid-tier 95% filtration. But in the future I would opt for a fully synthetic with a top-tier oil filter. And the one that's on sale. Some of these oil rebates are insane. I know Pennzoil has a $10 rebate with $5 off a future purchase. You could get a jug of synthetic for 13 bucks and have another $5 on top of that. Insane.
Quick question - how often should you change your air filter? I have since renounced K&N air filters from what I've learned and I am saddened by them. The oil and MAF sensor problems, and the increased engine wear, and the chore of oil and cleaning, all makes it bitterly disappointing.
I have another question - what's a good list of good synthetic oils readily available at major outlets that won't break the bank? I will never touch Royal Purple for instance. I had a go at AMSOIL because there was a discount (though that discount may just basically be for anyone who signs up, lol), and I saw a lot of their studies, but who's to say if they weren't biased. From what I've heard here on BITOG, AMSOIL is top-notch though, so that is nice, and I do like them still. But a bit pricey, and I think the other synthetics are just as good and the difference won't matter to most people, myself included. I don't expect my engine to get an extra 25,000 miles from using AMSOIL over say, Synthetic Napa, for instance. So I'm thinking these so far, and feel free to chime in, with a top 3 or something.
For instance I'll probably stay away from Quaker State Synthetic. I'm sure it's fine but what I heard from one random guy once on the internet somewhere, there are better oils. And I'm never going to buy Mobil 1 again, because of hearsay and superstition and legends of poor performance and mediocrity and other unfounded reasons. Lol, I'm sure it's a fine oil, but maybe for a purely emotional reason, I'll never touch the stuff again.
So I was thinking these are top-tier, affordable oils, widely available at major outlets, when they're on sale/with a rebate special:
-Pennzoil Ultra (I like Pennzoil Platinum, but so long as there is Ultra, I will go with Ultra.)
-Castrol Edge w/ Titanium
-Valvoline SynPower
-Valvoline MaxLife Synthetic (What's the difference between this and SynPower? Because if it's like Pennzoil Platinum and Ultra, I want the Valvoline Ultra one, whichever it is.)
-Napa Synthetic
-Crisco Vegetable Shortening
-Extra Virgin Oil Olive
Some stupid part of me would love to use some obscure special brand of synthetic oil no one's ever heard of, and put stickers of it on my toolbox. But I try as much as I can to try and shut that stupid part of me up.
Should I put Quaker State Synthetic on the list? If it's even mildly, almost imperceptibly inferior, not even in reality but even in blind perception, then I'd like to reject it. Oh, I have nothing against Quaker State. Should I put it on the list? I think making a list of oils I plan on staying away from would be equally interesting for me. Only synthetics.
-Mobil 1 Synthetic (for reasons stated above. Basically unfounded superstition. A troll witch doctor sorceress once told me that Mobil 1 will bring me death and misery.)
-Walmart SuperTech Synthetic (I know the wonders of SuperTech. Just rebranded oil - exact same stuff as the name brand oil. But I cannot bring my stupid, self-righteous, pretentious, bigoted/racist self to buy Walmart oil. It's basically racist to reject Walmart oil, somehow, because SuperTech is super good stuff. And if I weren't so stupid and petty and stupid, I would run that in my car until the day I die because it is so so cheap.)
-Mobil Super Synthetic (I once saw someone change their oil with Mobil 5000, and my pretentious, AMSOIL self was so disgusted. You should have seen my scoffing face, as if I saw a man eat his own vomit. So bigoted, so close-minded, so racist. I am ashamed. But I still cannot bring myself to buy this oil, which in my mind is cheap and inferior and for homeless people's bicycles.)
-Autozone Synthetic
-O'Reilly's Synthetic (I know, I know, what a bigoted [censored]. I have no problem with Napa Synthetic but I scoff at Autozone and O'Reilly's Synthetic Oil. "What, do you think you're better than me or something? What, are you too good for Autozone oil? Did your mama lube your little Fisher Price tricycle with the used oil of some rich Saudi Arabian price's Maserati growing up? I've been running gas station no name Bullet motor oil since 1868 at 50,000 mile intervals without a problem, you synthetic [censored]. I hate everything about who you are and what you wish to become."
I might try Halvoline Synthetic. But if the others are on sale, I'd probably prefer them. I was curious about Eneos, some obscure brand I've never heard of, but judging from these UOAs: http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1960498, it seems like a 7,500 mile oil and not a 12,000+ synthetic oil. So what other readily available, good synthetic, affordable oils are there? (i.e. not 9 dollar a quart Royal Purple. Yeah, more like Royal pain in the wallet, amirite? Hah! more like uhh... hold on let me think of a good one... hmmm.... uhh... More like! More like makes my... I'd need a purple pimp fur coat to afford that stuff! Hah! I want so much to be loved and accepted.)
-Tell me about http://www.pqiamerica.com. I don't know what to make of those charts. Why can't they just order them in order, lol. I know it's not that simple, but the average consumer would appreciate that. I am a stupid ignorant mass. I wish it would just say, this oil is the winner! This oil is the loser. The threads here on BITOG talking about the PQI studies are just arguing and it's not clear-cut and one guy says this oil won and other guy berates him and insults his intelligence, lol. I'm just a dude who wants to know what oil to buy and how often he should change it, and which is the best oil, let's be honest. I know know, there isn't a best oil or whatever, but I'm going to say it's AMSOIL, there, I said it. I know, I'm an idiot, and I accept that. Can we just get a sticky or something? Or a 1 page, summary, maybe a few sentences? "These synthetic oils are pretty good: They'll last at least 10,000 miles, and many go 15,000 miles and beyond. These synthetic oils are not as good:" 3 sentences. Can we do that? I know, I know, I'm stupid. But please, someone do that. Someone give me those three sentences, all things be [censored]. Please.
Have you guys heard of these new nano-technology miracle motor oils that are supposed to soak into the metal and increase engine compression? Lol, I want to see the 20 page post-a-thon of argument and hatred on that.
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