Synthetic oil or not?

[GasSavers_RoadWarrior]

Up here we don't seem to get the supertech filters, and the Mobil one is more like $35-40, so the Supertech synth seems like a better deal at ~$19, Escort will get that again when it's back together, it loved it... though I'll run a diesel spec through it for the first couple of thousand in case the cam bearings got a little displaced with having the head off and getting it skimmed.

[DracoFelis]

Originally Posted by FLAteam

Its a good time to switch to the best synthetic oil available (from what I've heard), Mobil 1.

Be careful with marketing hype. Exxon-Mobil (XOM) is big, and can spend big $$$ on advertising. But that doesn't mean they necessarily make the best product.

For a more balanced viewpoint, check the analysis (including lab testing) of Mobil-1 over on the "Bob Is the Oil Guy" forums ( http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php ). I think you will find that Mobil-1 is an OK mid-grade synthetic, BUT it is by no means the best out there. Nor is Mobil-1 the best value for the money (you might be able to do just as well with a cheaper brand, or do better than Mobil-1 for little extra cost).

Furthermore, there appears to be evidence that sometime after Exxon bought out Mobil, that the merged company (which apparently had many penny pinching Exxon execs, replacing the more balanced Mobil execs) actually CHEAPENED the Mobil-1 formula, without telling anyone (the story only broke AFTER some INDEPENDENT OIL LAB found evidence of cheap ingredients in Mobil-1, that shouldn't have been in there if the old formula was being used). And what did Exxon-Mobil say when the story broke? They reverted to market-speak claiming that they make a good oil, and that their recent "reformulation" of Mobil-1 was to make a better product for their customers! i.e. they didn't deny the results of the independent lab tests, and just tried to double-talk when shown that they were using cheaper (and many would say inferior) ingredients in in Mobil-1 than they historically had been using!!!

[GasSavers_RoadWarrior]

Originally Posted by DracoFelis

They reverted to market-speak claiming that they make a good oil, and that their recent "reformulation" of Mobil-1 was to make a better product for their customers!

Kinda like the clothing companies recently... "New tagless shirts! No more itchy annoying tag to get in the way!"... yeah because it cost 10c a piece to have an embroidered tag made and stitched in... and .5c a piece to print it on instead.

[theholycow]

...or because people like me kept complaining about the tags. I, for one, am happy for them to save money on the tags (which certainly didn't cost them anywhere near 10c, probably closer to .5c (and the printing probably costs closer to .1c)) while I enjoy the comfort of the missing tag.

As for the oil, that's actually more of a vast evil conspiracy (one of the few that's real) than you think; it's not limited to ExxonMobil. They reformulated when the industry (whichever organization is the authority, I no longer remember) changed the standards for what can be called "synthetic". At this point, there are very few oils from completely synthetic base stock (most are similar to Mobil 1, made from well-refined discriminatingly selected natural dinosaur-juice base stocks) and I imagine the folks at BITOG know which ones are.

[bkrell]

M1 is in no way the best oil possible. But come on, it's widely available and still relatively cheap. RoadWarrior, you're up in Canada. You should have access to some good 0W synths that we don't get down here. But if your current combo is working for you, why switch?

[96hb]

I just switched over to Mobil 1 0w30 and a Supertech filter last night. I will be sure to post if it actually improves my FE like it claims.

[VetteOwner]

i just snagged my 10W30 dino oil 5 qt jug for $12 last night :P gotta et my delco filters and im good to go! (so nice having 2 cars that use same filter 3387A!!!FTW)