Originally Posted by clydesdale
How is the blue bottled universal 2 cycle mix? Does it stack up to the name brand stuff like Stihl? How about the silver bottled synthetic version? I am hoping I don't need to buy high dollar stuff from a dealership.
A good rule of thumb is to use a lower quality oil at a higher rate. So, if your equipment specifies 50 to 1 EGD oil, It's quite likely you can use a lower quality oil at 32 to 1 with safety.
In fact, in our testing using less oil than 32 to 1 is when wear increases measurably in typical engines. Put another way, 50 to 1 will show slightly more wear under hard use than 32 to 1, regardless of the oil chosen. And ratio's like 24 to 1, 20 to 1 and in some cases, even 16 to 1 may be better choices for ultra high output racing engines. Examples of very high output engines may include 21HP 50cc engines and 55HP 125cc Kart engines.
FWIW, classic 125cc motocross bikes make about 31-32HP at the wheel and are not considered extremely high output.
Low output engines include lawn equipment, such as trimmers which make 1 in homeowner versions and 1.5HP in commercial flavors. And, of course, LawnBoy mowers, which make 3 to 6.5HP in various flavors. But it's good to remember that some low output engines actually need quite a bit of oil due to low quality internals.