Best Synthetic Oil

[boyko59]

Just got a new truck and I prefer to run synthetic oil in my vehicles and was wondering what people believed to be the best Synthetic on the market. Truck wasn't cheap, so I'm not gonna cheap out where it matters most. Vehicle's prior to this were a 2007 Cobalt (college car) and a 1979 Ford LTD II. The Cobalt, I just bought whatever Synthetic was on sale, typically Castrol or Pennzoil. LTD just took whatever.

 

[Etroze86]

I am actually going to switch to amsoil here shortly to run extended drains, but you will get at least 3 or 4 different answers to what people like to run. Burla (a member here) has some great oil knowledge if you need to know what to look for.

 

[boyko59]

I am actually going to switch to amsoil here shortly to run extended drains, but you will get at least 3 or 4 different answers to what people like to run. Burla (a member here) has some great oil knowledge if you need to know what to look for.

Burla actually replied to another thread that I made earlier today. I will check in with them and see what they recommend.

 

[Cruizer]

I've always run Mobile 1 fully synthetic in my vehicles and never lost a motor. I am looking into this Royal Purple though as I hear a lot of people talk about how clean it keeps an engine. My neighbor runs additives to his oil and fuel but I'll have to check what that is (know its not Lucas). Supposed to be really good stuff as well. I'll update when I find out.

 

[kenwitter]

I used to use Amsoil in my rally cars and road cars in Jamaica. Since moving to Canada it's been Mobile 1 and I have no complaints.

I change my oil frequently though. Every 10,000km.

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk 4

 

[boyko59]

@Cruizer: I've heard quite a bit about Royal Purple too. I believe it is one of the sponsors of the Power Block (TV Shows) on Spike TV. I will have to check it out. If not, you and kenwitter both seem to like Mobile 1.

@kenwitter: I will more than likely change my oil even more frequent that that. If my math is correct, that is about 6,200 miles. I more than likely will change mine around every 5,000 miles after that.

 

[Burla]

Best is relative to what additives or base suits your individual vehicle. So your best may not be what is best for a honda accord. The things that are unique to your vehicle are the dry lifters at startup and the fact that Dodge forces you to use an oil weight that is good for startup wear but not necessarily good for long trip protection. The oil is very thin, so it will circulate fast but thin out over long trips. So look for an oil that has something that stays behind that protects your metal when the engine is shut off and a base stock that does not thin with operating temps. So the base stocks you want are group 4 or 5 oil, and one element most oils to use protect dry metal is organic molybdenum. The way you determine what oils have this element and good additive packages is check out the Virgin Oil Analysis on any oil you are considering and the manufacturers comment on he base they use. The common oils that fit this profile are Redline, Amsoil and Motul, but there are others.

All of the "onshelf" group 3 synthetics are great oils but they lack the one thing true synthetics can provide, stable oil viscosity at cold and hot temps. Since you are forced to use 5w20 oil, I would bet your "best" oil would include a base that didn't thin out on long trips. Popular synthetics run cleaner and have better additive packages then conventional, but they do break down faster then true boutique synthetics. To my knowledge Group 5 oil has no petroleum in it, I believe it is a reaction or by product between a particular acid and alcohol. So you can rest assure that is a totally synthetic formula whereas the group 3 synthetics are petroleum based, meaning no matter what you do to them they still are going to have the limitations that petroleum has especially when talking about operating temps. I don't have a stop button when talking oil, so that is it for now hope it helped.

 

[dmclone]

@Cruizer: I've heard quite a bit about Royal Purple too. I believe it is one of the sponsors of the Power Block (TV Shows) on Spike TV. I will have to check it out. If not, you and kenwitter both seem to like Mobile 1.

@kenwitter: I will more than likely change my oil even more frequent that that. If my math is correct, that is about 6,200 miles. I more than likely will change mine around every 5,000 miles after that.

IMO, unless you're running in a very harsh environment and really pushing the engine, you're probably wasting your money by using synthetic and still changing it at 5,000 miles.

 

[boyko59]

Best is relative to what additives or base suits your individual vehicle. So your best may not be what is best for a honda accord. The things that are unique to your vehicle are the dry lifters at startup and the fact that Dodge forces you to use an oil weight that is good for startup wear but not necessarily good for long trip protection. The oil is very thin, so it will circulate fast but thin out over long trips. So look for an oil that has something that stays behind that protects your metal when the engine is shut off and a base stock that does not thin with operating temps. So the base stocks you want are group 4 or 5 oil, and one element most oils to use protect dry metal is organic molybdenum. The way you determine what oils have this element and good additive packages is check out the Virgin Oil Analysis on any oil you are considering and the manufacturers comment on he base they use. The common oils that fit this profile are Redline, Amsoil and Motul, but there are others.

All of the "onshelf" group 3 synthetics are great oils but they lack the one thing true synthetics can provide, stable oil viscosity at cold and hot temps. Since you are forced to use 5w20 oil, I would bet your "best" oil would include a base that didn't thin out on long trips. Popular synthetics run cleaner and have better additive packages then conventional, but they do break down faster then true boutique synthetics. To my knowledge Group 5 oil has no petroleum in it, I believe it is a reaction or by product between a particular acid and alcohol. So you can rest assure that is a totally synthetic formula whereas the group 3 synthetics are petroleum based, meaning no matter what you do to them they still are going to have the limitations that petroleum has especially when talking about operating temps. I don't have a stop button when talking oil, so that is it for now hope it helped.

That was very helpful, thanks! I definitely did not know most of that and it is always great to learn things that will better you and those around you in the long run. Due to the area that I live in, I do not know that I will have access to the Redline, Amsoil, and Motul brand oils. That may be something I have to look into for future oil changes. I will be sure to keep an eye out though when shopping for the Virgin Oil Analysis and see where they stack up against one another.

 

[boyko59]

IMO, unless you're running in a very harsh environment and really pushing the engine, you're probably wasting your money by using synthetic and still changing it at 5,000 miles.

I've read that the synthetic oils do last longer than the conventional oils (which i changed every 2,500 - 3,500 miles), but I don't always want to trust them and risk ruining the motor over trying to squeeze an extra thousand or two miles out of the oil. For the price and frequency that it needs changed, I couldn't see worrying about it. What is your mileage suggestion?

 

[Burla]

IMO, unless you're running in a very harsh environment and really pushing the engine, you're probably wasting your money by using synthetic and still changing it at 5,000 miles.

Do you not consider a 400hp engine using 5w20 oil a harsh condition? It is at least a challenging condition IMO. I agree though, 5k miles is nothing for group 4 or 5 oil.

 

[boyko59]

Do you not consider a 400hp engine using 5w20 oil a harsh condition? It is at least a challenging condition IMO. I agree though, 5k miles is nothing for group 4 or 5 oil.

What would be your mileage suggestion for a typical group 3, as a group 4 or 5 would more than likely need ordered as there are not many places around my house that would probably offer it. We have an advance and an auto zone, other than that it is places like Walmart that have a decent variety but most of them are your conventional oils.

 

[Burla]

I believe Penzoil Ultra had the best VOA that I have seen for group 3. I have not done a lot of research on that so I would suggest looking up "VOA 5w20 Penzoil Ultra" in your google or any other brand you are considering. The reason I like that oil is the additive package and somehow they have the best noack I've seen except for Redline. The noack is 6.9 or something like that, and that is unheard of for a petroleum based oil. In fact it is so good I think it is a mistake, but PQIA agree's with that number, so somehow Penzoil got a group 3 to not evaporate in a temperate environment.

I would follow what the owners manual says on oil changes as long as your under warranty, and keep your records. I used to buy my Redline online, but I used their dealer locator feature and found that 5 places in my city sold it. And Amsoil is also aggressive in discounts to their customers. It isn't that big of deal to find the stuff, and it is the best thing you can put in your engine.

 

[boyko59]

I didn't notice anything in the manual that stated the frequency of necessary oil changes. It did state that at no time should the time frame between oil changes be in excess of 10,000 miles. I have a book that I will be stapling receipts too and keeping records of all of the work done to it for warranty purposes. I did purchase the factory extended warranty with it when I purchased the truck. It was $2,000, but I talked them down to $1,400.

 

[dmclone]

Do you not consider a 400hp engine using 5w20 oil a harsh condition? It is at least a challenging condition IMO. I agree though, 5k miles is nothing for group 4 or 5 oil.

You mean a non-turbo and low reving V8. Not really

 

[dmclone]

I've read that the synthetic oils do last longer than the conventional oils (which i changed every 2,500 - 3,500 miles), but I don't always want to trust them and risk ruining the motor over trying to squeeze an extra thousand or two miles out of the oil. For the price and frequency that it needs changed, I couldn't see worrying about it. What is your mileage suggestion?

Better to be safe than sorry but here is my take.

#1 It's going to cost me $60-$70 for oil and filter.
#2 If I was only going to go 4-5k miles between oil changes I would just use dino for $20
#3 Blackstone results show me that 7-8k is nothing. The oil filter is probably holding back longer intervals before the oil itself. I've seen others talk about waiting until 10k+ miles to change it but I think I'll stick to 7-8k.
#4 I've yet to hear any oil related issues on any hemi. There are millions of them out there. I'm sure there are plenty of engine problems but you'd be hard pressed to convince me that this happened because someone went an extra 2k between oil changes.
#5 If Ram was worried about 7-8k miles they would put engine sensors that tell me to change it more frequently. There is no upside for them to give bad info.
#6 I've followed this method for my last 8-10 vehicles. Most of them we're high reving 4 cyl and some turbo's thrown in there.
#7 If I kept cars for 100k+ miles I may change my mind but doubtful.



I'm going to use mobile 1 and I'll probably go about 7-8k miles between oil changes. About 1% of the time I'll be pulling anything, about 80% of my driving is on the highway doing between 65-80mph, etc.

Once again just my take

 

[Burla]

You mean a non-turbo and low reving V8. Not really

Low reving v8? I guess that depends on who's driving hey, lol. No trucks until very recently have used such a thin oil. I have had a lot of trucks in my life (A pup, Toyota, 3 F150 platforms, Avalanche, Dodge Cummins, Silverado) and they all were 10w30 or 10w40 except the diesel, and the highest horse power I had prior to this ram was 285. So now I have the most HP in a truck that I ever had and I'm running the thinnest oil I have ever run. I think it is a good thing that guys are asking questions about oil for these trucks, the right oil choice can make up for a lot of the risk Dodge is asking us to take by running such a thin oil.

 

[WISluggo]

I recently thought long about this topic, and just today I made the oil change at 1,100 miles to get the break-in oil out. Here is was my thinking:

I wanted to run a synthetic oil and keep my changes at 5K miles. At 5k miles I would get a UOA from Blackstone and see how it is looking. If I can push for longer intervals then I will do so.

I really wanted to run Penzoil Ultra 5w20, but it is proving to be VERY hard to find at my Walmart. Penzoil Platinum seems to be a very comparable oil but contains less sodium based on a VOA that Burla pointed me to. So for the first oil change I went with Penzoil Platinum and a Napa Gold filter (Made by Wix, Napa #7899). Penzoil was the same cost per 5qts at Walmart as the Mobil 1...I have heard some reports of Mobil 1 causing the Hemi Tick. I also read here and elsewhere that Royal Purple reformulated their oil and now it is causing the Ram computer to occasionally throw the "wrong oil" code and turn on the Check Engine Light.

I know I am wasting money changing the oil after 5k, but nothing wrong with keeping fresh stuff in there!

Side note - whatever I ultimately land on will be used in both my wife's 2008 V8 Explorer as luckily we use the same oil filter and oil weight.

 

[JAMCAR223]

Love this thread. I have a feeling this is about to get good....

 

[Burla]

Here is the VOA of 5w20 on penzoil platinum, pretty impressive for sure. Has ok Moly and TBN of over 12, thanks to all that calcium. I think the only reason I recomended Ultra over this is because of the noack, both penzoil synthetics are real good stuff. Can't blame Mobil 1 for hemi tick, I would say it is as good as these penzoils too.