More thoughts on G2, G3, G4, and G5 oils

LouDawg · Apr 22, 2006

After having laid in the hospital for the last three days with no access to my computer, it was interesting to come back and read the follow-up comments to my original post regarding the group "memberships" of various name-brand oils, e.g. Group II, Group III, Group IV, Group V.

I've come to a few conclusions:

1. The proof is in the performance, and there are as many different combinations of applications and variables as there are automobiles.

2. It appears that the best way to determine the best oil for your application is to do a series of UOA's...period.

3. I do not think it is unreasonable for an oil company to disclose what base oil(s) it is using in its products. I do not compare it to the "KFC" analogy...rather more like a milk analogy. I don't want to just buy "milk" - I want to know if it's skim, 1%, 2%, whole, buttermilk, chocolate milk, or whatever else. Doing so would not create a competitive disadvantage...do you think that all the majors don't already know what their competitors are using for their base? Now it would be different if I were asking for a detailed breakdown of their additive packages, which WOULD be more like the "eleven herbs and spices", correct?

4. I also do not think it's unreasonable to know what percentage of blend a syn-blend contains. Again, if competitors know, which I'm sure they do, then why can't consumers know?

At the end of the day, I'm going to try my standard dino's and do UOA's, then go try some semi-s or GIII's and do some UOA's, then go full-syn and do some UOA's. I will base my ultimate decision on the results thereof.

Cheers!

Mr Nice · Apr 22, 2006

With modern technology, dino oils have gotten alot better than the dino oils of 10 years ago. As long as you use a GF-3 SL or GF-4 SM rated dino oil you will be fine. What kind of car do you have?

5w20 dino oils do have some Group III base oil added to them, but it won't say "syn blend' on the bottle.

Why were you in the hospital? Hope you feel better.

LouDawg · Apr 22, 2006

quote:

Originally posted by LT4 Vette:
With modern technology, dino oils have gotten alot better than the dino oils of 10 years ago. As long as you use a GF-3 SL or GF-4 SM rated dino oil you will be fine. What kind of car do you have?

Some 5w20 dino oils have some Group III base oil added to them, but it won't say "syn blend' on the bottle.

Why were you in the hospital? Hope you feel better.

I've been battling a bad back for a few years...have degenerative disk disease and herniated disks at around L3-L4...usually screw it up at least once a year. But doing better...thanks!

LouDawg · Apr 22, 2006

quote:

Originally posted by LT4 Vette:
With modern technology, dino oils have gotten alot better than the dino oils of 10 years ago. As long as you use a GF-3 SL or GF-4 SM rated dino oil you will be fine. What kind of car do you have?

5w20 dino oils do have some Group III base oil added to them, but it won't say "syn blend' on the bottle.

Why were you in the hospital? Hope you feel better.

Forgot to answer your car question: it's a Nissan Frontier XE King Cab 2.4L DOHC with AT.

ImaginThat · Apr 22, 2006

quote:

Originally posted by LT4 Vette:
5w20 dino oils do have some Group III base oil added to them, but it won't say "syn blend' on the bottle.

What facts or proof is there to support that statement, I'm sure that Chevron/Texaco would be more than be happy to print it if they were putting GroupIII in since they were the one's promoting their oils as GroupII+ in years prior.

tuong · Apr 22, 2006

what does UOA mean again?

Titan · Apr 22, 2006

Used Oil Analysis

GoldenRod · Apr 22, 2006

No high speed connection in the hospital room?

HokieRich1 · Apr 22, 2006

OK. Help me out here. What is G2, G3 and etc.

Auto-Union · Apr 22, 2006

LouDawg · Apr 22, 2006

quote:

Originally posted by GoldenRod:
No high speed connection in the hospital room?

No high speed, low speed, or anything in between!

Nickdfresh · Apr 22, 2006

I'm glad you're feeling better Lou...

But I really think you could have just posted this in the previous thread you started. BTW, I agree with most of your observations. I see Auto-Union's point that we are getting the same questions that popped up in the previous thread...

I wonder if the Mods/Admins here can "merge" threads, seems like a good candidate...

LouDawg · Apr 22, 2006

quote:

Originally posted by HokieRich1:
OK. Help me out here. What is G2, G3 and etc.

Try the following and links and doing a little more research on the site...you'll find answers to most of your questions that way. Most forum vets don't like answering basic questions that can be found very easily on this and other forums and web sites.

Wikipedia Motor Oil and All about motor oil

These are just a couple of literally thousands of sites I've found useful.

LouDawg · Apr 22, 2006

quote:

Originally posted by Nickdfresh:
I'm glad you're feeling better Lou...

But I really think you could have just posted this in the previous thread you started. BTW, I agree with most of your observations. I see Auto-Union's point that we are getting the same questions that popped up in the previous thread...

I wonder if the Mods/Admins here can "merge" threads, seems like a good candidate...

Yeah, you're probably right - I could've done that. I guess I thought this was more of a wrap-up of what I had "learned", but it could've stayed on the other one.

Thanks for the kind words...I am feeling better than I was 5 days ago!

abimanyu · Apr 22, 2006

So I guess you won't mind having your car as a guinea pig?

LouDawg · Apr 23, 2006

quote:

Originally posted by abimanyu:
So I guess you won't mind having your car as a guinea pig?

How so?

GMorg · Apr 23, 2006

LouDawg,

Glad to here you are doing better. I just want to remind you that your % milkfat example is a good one. What is the fatty acid profile of that fat? What do you really know. High or low Omega-3, N3, N6, saturated, unsaturated, poly-un, trans, esterified, neutral, ect.? You just don't know. The marketers may have you convinced that they provide information that you can use. You may actually feel that you know something about that milk. It depends on the diet of the cattle, how many animals/dairies are represented in the batch, and even the breeds of cattle. Milkfat is marketed exactly the way motoroil is. Madison avenue wants you to think that you know something that you just may not know. In fact, given the conjugated linoleic acid that is now in dairy diets, I ask you, how much synthetic oil is in that milk?

Again, I would like to know too, but I know that it is not my "right".

I do hope that your back stays sound for a while...

Mr Nice · Apr 23, 2006

ImaginThat,

Try using the search feature, the GF-4/SM topic & Group III base oils have been talked about many times.

[ April 23, 2006, 08:15 PM: Message edited by: LT4 Vette ]

LouDawg · Apr 23, 2006

quote:

Originally posted by GMorg:
LouDawg,

Glad to here you are doing better. I just want to remind you that your % milkfat example is a good one. What is the fatty acid profile of that fat? What do you really know. High or low Omega-3, N3, N6, saturated, unsaturated, poly-un, trans, esterified, neutral, ect.? You just don't know. The marketers may have you convinced that they provide information that you can use. You may actually feel that you know something about that milk. It depends on the diet of the cattle, how many animals/dairies are represented in the batch, and even the breeds of cattle. Milkfat is marketed exactly the way motoroil is. Madison avenue wants you to think that you know something that you just may not know. In fact, given the conjugated linoleic acid that is now in dairy diets, I ask you, how much synthetic oil is in that milk?

Again, I would like to know too, but I know that it is not my "right".

I do hope that your back stays sound for a while...

Thanks for the response. I recognize that there are many, many variables to be considered when classifying any commodity-type product, whether it be milk, motor oil, or fried chicken. However, despite the many variables, I still do not think it is unreasonable to have rough classifications as to the heritage of the product. What we, as oil consumers, do with that information is up to us, but would it not be the same as looking at the SM, GF-4 ratings? I mean, what do we really know about those, other than what API and ILSAC tell us? Indeed, ignorance is bliss, and knowledge in the hands of a few, is power. But not in the hands of everyone!

Cheers!

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