Motor oil and filters for our cars - I have finally come to my senses and become practical in my old age

I keep my vehicles as long as possible. Handed over my 07 C6 corvette to my wife as her daily driver, I don't drive as much anymore but I drive an 08 GMC duramax. Mobil oil and ac delco filter in vette and rotella/ac delco filter in truck. I do both when the DIC/ driver information center is 0%.
 
This forum is just like all of the forums (there are not many) I frequent. Chock full of folks who "know" much more than the manufacturers who built AND WARRANTY theirs rides.

I have two high performance vehicles. Oil change for one is at 10k; the other at 20K. The manufacturers are waaaaay smarter than I am.

BTW, I performed scores of oil changes for my vehicles when I was young. Way past the days when I did. 😊
Wait until the topic of best GUN oil comes up!:eek:
 
Note: This thread is basically for people who truly care about what oil and filter they use on their cars. I know some just bring it to their local Service Station guy and don't even ask what is being used. I suppose if you lease a car and return it after 2 or 3 years I might agree and the less costly - the better. This info is for people who buy their vehicles and intend on keeping them for a good long while. Cars and trucks are so costly now days, I'd think many who plan on driving them for a long time would care. That is what this thread is based on. Hope you get some benefit from it.

Over the last 3 decades I have used Amsoil products exclusively for all my vehicles, power equipment, generators, snow blowers, etc. It has never let me down and research over those years always places Amsoil products at the top of the heap - I don't think that's even disputable. The company makes exceptional products HOWEVER....... they come with the caveat that you don't look at price! Amsoil, as many here already know is a pyramid based sales structure outfit designed for people to become their own rep's and distributors. Not taking their quality away - just stating one of the most important reasons their prices are so high - tiered profitability I guess you'd call it. Fast forward to a year ago.........

Amsoil has continually raised their prices and now a quart of their Signature 0W20 oil with sales tax and shipping is well over $15.00 a quart. Their filters are almost $20 each. As usual I did my yearly research and last year discovered a relatively new product from Penzoil. It is their ULTRA PLATINUM Full Synthetic 0W20 motor oil made from natural gas. In the 3 different articles and as many videos as I have read and watched, Amsoil is still top dog at a rating of 98%. The Penzoil Ultra Platinum is rated at 96.5%. I had to get real and ask myself if the extra 1.5% was worth triple the price! Now, if I was driving 25,000 - 30,000 miles a year like I used to or taking my car to the track, Amsoil would still be my choice as it is still #1 (by a very small margin). But..... at an insignificant loss of 1.5% and being that I now drive under 5,000 miles a year, I just don't require or can no longer justify spending 3 times the price for the Amsoil for a 1.5% difference.

I also did some new research on the oil filters as well. Again, Amsoil usually comes out on top but recently Mobil 1 Extended Life filters came out almost the same (within a smidgeon) and by some websites and some testers, even better. Amsoil filters do a slightly better job at filtering down to 20 microns however they do become more restrictive as they are used. Mobil 1 filters are rated about the same as Amsoil filters but down to the 30 micron size. Some engineers actually rate the Mobil 1 filters superior because they are less restrictive as to the actual oil flow. Suffice it to say they are both pretty good filters and once again at a whole lot less money (Mobil 1 vs Amsoil).

I am not trying to tell anyone here that Amsoil is still not technically #1, I am just bringing to the table that there are alternatives that are for all intents and purposes 1/3 and 1/2 the price and for most of us there is absolutely no effective or noticeable difference at all! Don't take my word for it - you can do your own research if you'd like. Just make SURE you are comparing Amsoil with the Penzoil ULTRA PLATINUM (not their Platinum line which is completely different) and the Amsoil filters with the Mobil 1 EXTENDED LIFE version.

I just wanted to pass this info along as we are all looking to save a few bucks without sacrificing performance and quality if possible. If there was any real substantial difference I would still be using the Amsoil and would have never taken the time to write this thread. BTW, I just bought four, 5 quart containers of the Penzoil 0W20 Ultra Platinum from Walmart online at $26 / container. I believe it's currently on sale and there is no delivery fee. They also carry the Mobil 1 Extended Life filters at $11/ea.

I hope this enlightens a few who are interested.

Regards,
Chef38
Chemical formula for Natural Gas is CH4, one part carbon and 4 parts Hydrogen. It occasionally has some condensates in it that are collected in a pipeline but condensates are not oil, unless you count the compressor oil that bypassed the turbine. It was burned in the 1930's and 40's as "drip gas".
If they are making oil from the products stripped out of Nat Gas, they are not making it from Nat Gas, just the petroleum products that were in the same well.
If someone tried to convince me that an oil was made from Natural Gas, a product that is 60% of the weight of air, I would have a long laugh. [40 years in that industry].
 
Averaging 65 MPG in my 2024 Prius at 8400 miles since January 8th. I will follow the manufacturer's recommendation to change the oil and filter at 10k miles intervals. I will not let them rotate tires every 5 k miles. That is just stupid, since it would DISGUISE any uneven tire wear due to alignment. I drove 9 miles though city traffic to Discount tire to get some hub caps for the mag wheels Toyota decided to cover with plastic hub caps. When I got out I put my finger on each of one of the front and rear brake discs. In those 9 miles the brake shoes had never touched the rotors. They were the same temperature as the outside air.
Now you can say "no way" but you have to understand the effectiveness of regeneration in this vehicle. It travels a mile on 2/128 ths of a gallon of gas. That's TWO OUNCES of fuel.
In a 100 mile trip at 55 to 65 MPH it ran on the battery HALF the time it was moving. Basically that means the engine ONLY RAN HALF the time it was moving.
This is not a plug in, just the basic $27.5k model but it has been perfected for efficiency. The oil is still full and as clean as it came out of the can, with absolutely no consumption (8400 miles).
No way I am going to change the factory recommended oil and filter type. They are NOT made by Toyota so I will get the oil from the company that makes it and the filter from Toyota.
My current average is 9 MPG better that the EPA city rating of 56 MPG. I know exactly how to drive it to get that economy and I can demonstrate that to anyone who wants to see it for themselves.
My fuel cost, even at $3 a gallon is 300/65 = $.04615 per mile.
2 ounces of fuel per mile.
A 2020 on the rack at a well known internet Toyota Independent shop with 346,000 miles still had 50% of the ORIGINAL brake pads left. You can search that yourself. It's on utube. The AC works like a heat pump driven by an electric motor, the compressor runs with the engine off. The car has no fan belts.
Oh yeah I almost forgot. It drives itself on cruise control. You just have to touch the steering wheel every 10 seconds or it slows down and stops until you do touch the wheel.
The dang thing kept me awake when I started a trip without enough sleep. Kept %$^&ing at me for an hour until the sun came up and then I finished a 444 mile round trip to pick up two of the three Smith& Wesson hand ejectors I bought that began my interaction with this forum.
I'll be glad to demonstrate every single claim I have made on this post, since many people cannot comprehend how good this car really is.
 
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One more time. One has no clue about the actual effects of any given engine oil on engine durability. It's all anecdotal based on one's personal duty cycle. Without hard teardown measurements, over a disciplined design of experiment, you are guessing. This is like walking through a mine field.... Upps. There goes one. Just play it safe and use a synthetic.
 
"If someone tried to convince me that an oil was made from Natural Gas, a product that is 60% of the weight of air, I would have a long laugh. [40 years in that industry]."

Google GTL base oils or Gas to liquid used in Penzoil motor oil and some shell products
 
I STILL stand by Amsoil as #1 as do most of the people and engineers in the know. The only thing I rethought is weather or not #1 is truly needed in that #2 (Penzoil Ultra Platinum) is now so close to #1 it's truly hard to justify 3 times the price! This Penzoil product is relatively new - at least I only discovered it about a year or so ago.
Chief,

Actually, my gas mileage improved by 1.5 MPG since the switch.

So over the course of a year, I at least break even.

Now if I keep it under 70, I might save more. ;)
 
Rotella T6 in my 6.7 Ford diesel, change every 5000 miles......., and it 13 quarts......
 
I think the big difference is how engines are being made these days. Instead of making them simpler, auto manufacturers are tossing everything and the kitchen sink in them. I think some of it has to do with pollution control. Some of it I think has to do with building a better mousetrap. Sometimes I think they go toooooo far. If I have to spend an extra bill a year to make sure that my truck lasts a little longer then so be it.

I found this guy on Youtube. Seems pretty knowledgeable.


Verrry interesting video.
If I'm digesting it correctly the best performing oil in this test was the NAPA synthetic (albeit by a small amount).
$4/qt vs $10-20/qt, plus less wear?
No brainer.
 
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