Why Less Love For Mobil 1 ?

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I've used Mobil 1 full synthetic in the Z06 (which was factory fill) since day one. Oil consumption was typically 1 qt/5000 miles when driven somewhat hard at times, which I considered not bad for the LS6 engine. I've never ran any other oil in it, so don't have a consumption point to compare.

I've also ran M1 FS in my V6 Tacoma ever since it had 5K miles (after a full break-in), and the oil level goes down about 1 mm on the dipstick (29mm between L and F = 1.6 qt) in 5000 miles, so virtually no consumption.

I came across this collection of UOAs of different oils used in the Mustang V8 Coyote engine. One thing I noticed is that the M1 seemed to shear down and have more viscosity loss than most other brands. Also noticed Motorcraft sheared down too. Make your own conclusions.

https://www.svtperformance.com/forums/threads/official-gt-5-0-boss-302-uoa-thread.805918/
 
the reason I don't use it is because its got a lot of hype I think and I always felt my engine sounded louder with it. Ive said it before that I like to use valvoline because I like the look of the bottle.
 
Originally Posted By: Linctex
Originally Posted By: mazdamonky
It isn't like it is a bad oil. It just commands a price premium compared to oils that are just as good or seemingly better.


Well........

after the big debacle with "Castrol Syntec" Group-III being allowed to sell as "synthetic"....

Mobil then went ahead and watered down their formula with Grp-III as well, but did NOT lower the price.

That is why there is some hate.


The problem with all this “whatever” about M1 is they use 2 or 3 base fluids in different ratios per formula …
This one is in my Tahoe

 
I still like Mobil 1, I ditched it because they didn't meet the Chrysler MS6395 spec, even thought I know they exceed it. I might switch back one day,but for now I'll stick with Pennzoil.
 
I quit using it when I started hearing excessive noise in ALL my OHC engines I put it in and then found BITOG and began reading of all the excess iron (wear) numbers in oil reports by MANY users. Couple that with the fact that Exxon/Mobil are just a bunch of greedy crooks and shady as heck, I have no use for the company.

And my "noisy engine" complaints were not anecdotal, they instantly got quiet using Pennzoil or Valvoline products...
 
One of the things Mobil 1 made its name on was excellent cold-flow properties. And that is still the case. Recently, I looked up some cold-flow motor oil testing on YouTube, and M1 was the winner, or, within the top 3, in all the tests I looked at.

If I remember correctly, Castrol didn't do very well and neither did Royal Purple, which was surprising for what's considered a high-end boutique oil.

Also, M1 still uses quite a bit of PAO, especially in their higher-end variants (0W, EP, AP).
 
Originally Posted By: PeterPolyol
I personally don't like the way they do business.
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I'm quite surprised , actually, that there are about a handful of people on here that feel similarly.


I find, compared to the other majors that their business practices are actually a bit more high brow
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They aren't posting marketing graphs or claiming wear performance and then qualifying that with microscopic subscript "applies to 5w-30 grade only". They aren't posting the best picture from a set of 6 pistons and comparing it to the worst piston from the same test on another oil.

And then of course, with respect to some of the smaller players, they aren't using one-armed bandits or 4-ball wear scars either.

Their marketing generally consists of "these are the OEM's that use our products. We make top-tier oils". They do not go after competing products by name. I like that. They are also incredibly vertically integrated with XOM Chemical, I find that appealing, others may not.
 
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: PeterPolyol
I personally don't like the way they do business.
21.gif
I'm quite surprised , actually, that there are about a handful of people on here that feel similarly.


I find, compared to the other majors that their business practices are actually a bit more high brow
21.gif
They aren't posting marketing graphs or claiming wear performance and then qualifying that with microscopic subscript "applies to 5w-30 grade only". They aren't posting the best picture from a set of 6 pistons and comparing it to the worst piston from the same test on another oil.

And then of course, with respect to some of the smaller players, they aren't using one-armed bandits or 4-ball wear scars either.

Their marketing generally consists of "these are the OEM's that use our products. We make top-tier oils". They do not go after competing products by name. I like that. They are also incredibly vertically integrated with XOM Chemical, I find that appealing, others may not.


I have to agree they're a class act compared to many of the others when it comes to marketing. Especially some/one of the highly touted by some members here, boutique oils.
wink.gif
 
No hate from me but like most people here I buy the oil only when it's on sale.

Mobil 1 is not on sale as frequent or the sale is not as sweet as the other brands. This is the case for the biggest hardware retail chain and the Walmart near where I live.

I might be wrong but I have not seen a rebate offered by Mobil or Imperial either. My wallet only follows the path of least resistance.
 
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Originally Posted By: newbe46
No hate from me but like most people here I buy the oil only when it's on sale.

Mobil 1 is not on sale as frequent or the sale is not as sweet as the other brands. This is the case for the biggest hardware retail chain and the Walmart near where I live.

I might be wrong but I have not seen a rebate offered by Mobil or Imperial either. My wallet only follows the path of least resistance.


Canadian Tire has it on sale regularly. In fact, I think it is on sale right now.
 
My only negatives with M1 oils are street price (excluding rebates) and start-up noise in some engines. If I hear it, the oil comes out and another goes in. No M1 for that motor again.

But my F-150 (5.8L) pick-up is running M1 right now, even though the Bronco (5.0L) sounds like a can of marbles on cold start with M1. The Bronco is on Delo 400 and happy as a clam. No brand loyalty here.

The M1 was on sale, so I stocked up for the PU
smile.gif
 
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: newbe46
No hate from me but like most people here I buy the oil only when it's on sale.

Mobil 1 is not on sale as frequent or the sale is not as sweet as the other brands. This is the case for the biggest hardware retail chain and the Walmart near where I live.

I might be wrong but I have not seen a rebate offered by Mobil or Imperial either. My wallet only follows the path of least resistance.


Canadian Tire has it on sale regularly. In fact, I think it is on sale right now.


They do, $25.99 for a 4.4 L bottle which is the cheapest I have seen for a long while. I can't remember the last time it was this cheap but again I might be wrong.

Comparing that to PP or Valvoline syn @ $26.88 for a 5 L bottle at Walmart.
 
I don't think M-1 has been a victim of "hate" here. Maybe its just not what some would choose. The only oil I can remember being really hated was Royal Purple. In days past, the mindless, irrational RP bashing was once terrible here, but thats no longer the case.
 
I only started doing my own oil because my closest Subaru dealer kept really hosing basic things up, then I figured I should learn something about oils rather than just grabbing the one with the coolest looking bottle at WM.
Then I learned about this bogeyman called "LSPI" as well as "The Calcium Connection", so I scrambled around trying to find mass market oils that were low in Ca and some Mobil 1 flavors seemed to fit the bill. Now that dexos1 Gen 2 is in force and more big name oils are starting to look like "old" M1, I am not so attached to XOM.

wemay posted a link to an interesting paper that claimed that magnesium-based detergents interfered with the MoS2-ZDDP synergy, but that could be at least partially counteracted by using boron--based dispersants. I wondered if that might explain the slightly higher iron levels that Blackstone reported with M1 in some engines, but I guess any potential disadvantage there is being erased by other oils using add packs that look a lot like M1 lately.

As for noise, I will say that my engine made a strange little rattle now and again when I ran M1 5W30 EP...I'd think it's pretty likely that something was wonky with the oil filter on that change or something else totally unrelated was going on, but I also don't run EP anymore.

I doubt I could track down the graph anymore, but XOM shared a plot of viscosity vs. time for M1 AP 5W30 (I think) and some unnamed competitive oils that showed their product losing viscosity faster than the others, but the M1 also succumbed to oxidative thickening much later than the "bad guys". I wonder if it might be possible that this is an XOM characteristic for oils other than AP?

Since d1G2 went live, I have run M1 AP, Pennzoil Gold (a blend!!!), and Valvoline AFS, all 5W30s. Before that, I only ran one jug of something other than M1, and that was before I learned about LSPI. I now see M1 as one good choice on the shelf with a lot of competition, but its price is quite good if it's rebate season...as long as I'm not doing something crazy like buying 5W30 ESP.
 
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Originally Posted By: racin4ds
I quit using it when I started hearing excessive noise in ALL my OHC engines I put it in and then found BITOG and began reading of all the excess iron (wear) numbers in oil reports by MANY users. Couple that with the fact that Exxon/Mobil are just a bunch of greedy crooks and shady as heck, I have no use for the company.

And my "noisy engine" complaints were not anecdotal, they instantly got quiet using Pennzoil or Valvoline products...


You did a great job of making your own opinions meaningless...and what a cute signature …
 
Originally Posted By: kschachn
Originally Posted By: dogememe
Sure but at the end of the day that's why there are a bunch of different brands and models of cars. Maybe I like large Fords and GMs and somebody else likes boring Toyotas and the next person loves their overpriced high-maintenance BMW. At leat that's my perspective. But the owner of the boring Toyota will go on and on about excellent resale value, and the owner of the BMW will not shut about about how much better their car handles, and you know what? Nobody is wrong. Everybody just has their own requirements, needs, wants, perspectives, opinions and priorities. Same thing goes for motor oil.

But such opinions are generally made on personal experience, you on the other hand made your comments because you "heard" it:

Originally Posted By: dogememe
I've just heard too many people (especially with older GMs) complain about oil consumption when switching to M1 compared to any other brand of synthetic oil. I will never use it.

That is a silly reason to do something.


Never consumed any in anything in several decades …
 
A lot of the so called hate for M1 comes down to brand fanaticism. All oils are pretty good now but the “my oil is better than yours” Line is getting old.

Of course, some will rant for whatever reason.
 
Originally Posted By: PimTac
A lot of the so called hate for M1 comes down to brand fanaticism. All oils are pretty good now but the “my oil is better than yours” Line is getting old.

Of course, some will rant for whatever reason.


Exactly … when I have come on here to say PUP tested louder than M1 in two engines … it was not to bash PUP … it was to say I used an instrument in the same setting and same engines and that’s that … still both great products …

These noise equals bad lubricant gurus ever come up with anything technical?
How many parameters can effect noise?
 
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