When you "peel back" all the marketing regarding Castrol EDGE and Magnatec - it collectively has dawned on me from recent posts by Gokhan and others that spec for spec the Castrol - USA synthetic oils just don't match up as well to SOPUS , Valvoline and possibly M1 synthetic oils ? From lack of GTL base stocks (or equivalent ) to VII % , NOACK , temp ratings and other key specs. what Castrol ships to the USA is essentially a Tier 2 / Tier 2.5 synthetic oil . True , both EDGE and Magnatec meet D1 / Gen 2 and Magnatec has posted good UOA wear numbers - but for what you are getting for your $$ the SOPUS , Valvoline and possibly M1 oils appear to be better $$ spent . *Those smarter than me with factual data please feel free to weigh in on one side or the other ...
Castrol : Synthetic Oil Quality Shipped to USA ?
- Thread starter ChrisD46
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What you and no one on BITOG knows with any certainty is if any of those differences are meaningful in any way. I've never seen any evidence to suggest Castrol doesn't perform just as well as SOPUS, Valvoline or M1 oils. My subjective view is Castrol is as good as any quality oil.
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.. and Redline called and said stop wasting your money on SOPUS and Valvoline products. Point is, there will always be a brand that can make the case that you're "not getting what you pay for".
If Castrol protects your engine from wear, as evidenced by the certs/approvals, what good is anything "extra" in a lube if you're already getting the necessary wear protection? I mean, you're not suggesting SOPUS or Valvoline are making some age defying hydrocarbon elixir for your engine and that's why you should buy it, are you?
If Castrol protects your engine from wear, as evidenced by the certs/approvals, what good is anything "extra" in a lube if you're already getting the necessary wear protection? I mean, you're not suggesting SOPUS or Valvoline are making some age defying hydrocarbon elixir for your engine and that's why you should buy it, are you?
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Originally Posted by PWMDMD
What you and no one on BITOG knows with any certainty is if any of those differences are meaningful in any way. I've never seen any evidence to suggest Castrol doesn't perform just as well as SOPUS, Valvoline or M1 oils. My subjective view is Castrol is as good as any quality oil.
True .... especially weight grade (European) Castrol 0W40 I would say performed as good as Mobil 1, even better ...
What you and no one on BITOG knows with any certainty is if any of those differences are meaningful in any way. I've never seen any evidence to suggest Castrol doesn't perform just as well as SOPUS, Valvoline or M1 oils. My subjective view is Castrol is as good as any quality oil.
True .... especially weight grade (European) Castrol 0W40 I would say performed as good as Mobil 1, even better ...
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Dunno-my Magnatec sure seems to do a good job in my 4.6, and a lot of Ecoboosts out there, for "not meeting approvals"!
Meets the specs is meets the specs. Otherwise it is just competing marketing blather. GTL is blather by Royal Dutch Shell to tout a proprietary process of theirs, not an inherently better material. It is market driven to expolit the current glut of cheap natural gas.
You're putting way too much "value" in numbers on a sheet of paper. As others have said, if it meets the spec, it's 100% acceptable. Some would say that going beyond that is a waste of money, both for the oil producer in adding unnecessary components and the consumer for buying what they don't need.
It's your money, waste it on what you want.
It's your money, waste it on what you want.
I think Castrol makes fine oils....so do the others. I've always felt Castrol's cold weather #'s could be better (or maybe it's just their published data that's lacking). I wouldn't be surprised if Castrol (and even others) use less costly base stocks in their North American products.....the cost of synthetics in Europe and the extremely long recommended OCI's must be for a reason.
Castrol's marketing approach has never been too focused on base oils used or specific product data sheet figures. They tend to shy away from that, and that is ok. You can get caught up in a meaningless numbers game sometimes and go down an endless rabbit hole. Currently Castrol's emphasis is on their proprietary Ti additive and Magnatec chemistry, which is quite good and unique. As far as base oils, they could be using standard III (maybe even II+?) with some small amount of PAO or esters in their oils. I know their 0w40 is PAO. Suppliers could range depending on location and source.
I'm impressed with their oils and think they are actually very good. They make some strong claims on some very credible engine testing.
I'm impressed with their oils and think they are actually very good. They make some strong claims on some very credible engine testing.
I'm a Pennzoil guy, but I also deal with statistics all the time, so I can tell you with certainty that: if you use an oil that meets the specifications your engine requires and change it at the manufacturer recommended intervals, that you will never, ever, in a million vehicles' lifetimes EVER have a statistically significant difference in the lifetimes of those engines that is solely attributable to the choice of oils. Period.
Specifications are not like a percentage grade; they are a pass/fail, and there are no "extra points" for "exceeding" the specification. Anything else is just ego or speculation.
Specifications are not like a percentage grade; they are a pass/fail, and there are no "extra points" for "exceeding" the specification. Anything else is just ego or speculation.
Originally Posted by ChrisD46
There is meeting spes.(Castrol EDGE) - and then there is exceeding specs. (Valvoline Advanced ) for the same price comparable price to the consumer.
And is there a link somewhere to an independent study that:
a. Shows by how much one oil exceeds the specs vs another
and
b. Demonstrates in real world use cases what impact these differences have on your engine?
Unless such study exists, it's all speculation.
To me, the idea behind any spec is that any oil that at least meets it is good enough for that given application. If it weren't "good enough," then the spec would have been made more stringent in the first place.
There is meeting spes.(Castrol EDGE) - and then there is exceeding specs. (Valvoline Advanced ) for the same price comparable price to the consumer.
And is there a link somewhere to an independent study that:
a. Shows by how much one oil exceeds the specs vs another
and
b. Demonstrates in real world use cases what impact these differences have on your engine?
Unless such study exists, it's all speculation.
To me, the idea behind any spec is that any oil that at least meets it is good enough for that given application. If it weren't "good enough," then the spec would have been made more stringent in the first place.
I have not trusted Castrol since the lawsuit to call Gp3 a synthetic. It seemed deceitful at the time and I just dont trust anything they say now. Everyone now has lowered their standards for what is considered synthetic to compete and I blame Castrol. Would not use it if someone gave it too me.
Originally Posted by samven
I have not trusted Castrol since the lawsuit to call Gp3 a synthetic. It seemed deceitful at the time and I just dont trust anything they say now. Everyone now has lowered their standards for what is considered synthetic to compete and I blame Castrol. Would not use it if someone gave it too me.
So even though you say "everyone" now is being deceitful by "lowering their standards", it's only Castrol that you still distrust? You do realize any oil on the shelf today that's API certified outperforms the absolute best oil available from when the Syntec/Mobil thing happened when looking at today's oil performance expectations?
I have not trusted Castrol since the lawsuit to call Gp3 a synthetic. It seemed deceitful at the time and I just dont trust anything they say now. Everyone now has lowered their standards for what is considered synthetic to compete and I blame Castrol. Would not use it if someone gave it too me.
So even though you say "everyone" now is being deceitful by "lowering their standards", it's only Castrol that you still distrust? You do realize any oil on the shelf today that's API certified outperforms the absolute best oil available from when the Syntec/Mobil thing happened when looking at today's oil performance expectations?
Originally Posted by samven
I have not trusted Castrol since the lawsuit to call Gp3 a synthetic. It seemed deceitful at the time and I just dont trust anything they say now. Everyone now has lowered their standards for what is considered synthetic to compete and I blame Castrol. Would not use it if someone gave it too me.
When the opinion becomes fact, print the opinion.
I have not trusted Castrol since the lawsuit to call Gp3 a synthetic. It seemed deceitful at the time and I just dont trust anything they say now. Everyone now has lowered their standards for what is considered synthetic to compete and I blame Castrol. Would not use it if someone gave it too me.
When the opinion becomes fact, print the opinion.
My Town and Country consistently drank Mobil 1 (3qts over 5000 mi OCI).
Switched to Castrol Edge and cut oil consumption in half. 130K on it now, the last 50K on Castrol. Engine runs great, no smoke, no strange sounds. Seemed to work ok for me.
Trying Supertech in the T&C and Cobalt on this oil change. First time using Supertech and it seems to be doing just fine in both vehicles so far, too.
I'm sticking with Mobil 1 on the Honda and Toyota, though. Engines run great. Never need makeup oil between changes. Oil stays clean. Winner-Winner on those cars.
Switched to Castrol Edge and cut oil consumption in half. 130K on it now, the last 50K on Castrol. Engine runs great, no smoke, no strange sounds. Seemed to work ok for me.
Trying Supertech in the T&C and Cobalt on this oil change. First time using Supertech and it seems to be doing just fine in both vehicles so far, too.
I'm sticking with Mobil 1 on the Honda and Toyota, though. Engines run great. Never need makeup oil between changes. Oil stays clean. Winner-Winner on those cars.
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