Engine Oil ?

[HSV472]

i use Castrol seems good

[maxpower QLD]

yeah what i ment when i said "the usual" is thats what i normaly run in my VL , my brother was telling me about Mobil 1 (he swears by it) so i thought give it a try .

I never knew Penrite made a fully synthetic engine oil , might give it a try the next time the VL is due for a oil change . The mechanic who now services my VZ uses Gulf western , I'm a bit sus on it it seems kinda cheap n tacky so i might start running penrite or mobil 1 in it again .
I don't know much about oils so i look at the price as a general indicator to quality and what other people (friends,family and guys at work) reconmend and use .

[commsirac]

kinda shocked at how much better she runs on Mobil 1 .:

No surprise here.

[maxpower QLD]

No surprise here.

Really ? My house mate she even said that she's noticed a difference in the way the car runs .
It wheel spins in third gear when i nail it up the drive way (its a gravel driveway but its not a bad effort for a manual NA VL) as where it'd only wheel spin in 2nd gear at 2700 RPM when i was using the other oil .
I'm not saying Penrite is crap , i just think that each engine is different and that some run better on different oil then other engines using the same oil if makes any sence .

[minux]

i just think that each engine is different and that some run better on different oil then other engines using the same oil if makes any sence .

Spot on, I noticed when switching Oils in my VT i could actually have varied Torque curves and final rwkw differences in similar conditions depending on oil. In some cases it made 7rwkw difference.

[vxcalais_01]

yeah what i ment when i said "the usual" is thats what i normaly run in my VL , my brother was telling me about Mobil 1 (he swears by it) so i thought give it a try .

I never knew Penrite made a fully synthetic engine oil , might give it a try the next time the VL is due for a oil change . The mechanic who now services my VZ uses Gulf western , I'm a bit sus on it it seems kinda cheap n tacky so i might start running penrite or mobil 1 in it again .
I don't know much about oils so i look at the price as a general indicator to quality and what other people (friends,family and guys at work) reconmend and use .

Gulf Western is a good aussie made oil (cheap cause it doesnt need to pay for its ads and shelf space everywhere. And please research on oils, price is not a good indicator of oil quality either. Base oil is what you pay for, check its additive levels, wear rates etc. Mobil 1 i would never use its too expensive for what it is......Mobil Delvac, now thats an oil worth writing home about. Penrite 5W50 retails for $45-50. Mobil 1 5W50 is $60 plus on special yeah ??! Its just too expensive for a oil that is not fully Group 4 to warrant its price and does not hold up as well as other oils do in my opinion (yes my own opinion). They put their prices high as they supply a lot of base oil to other oil companies. Look at is this way, one V8 Supercar uses Mobil 1 as its a good racing oil as well as a huge sponsor. That team uses expensive oil. Another Team that used to exist but are big in the U.S (Daytona etc). Havoline Team, sponsored by Caltex/havoline....another large base oil producer/refiner/supplier etc. They used the 20W50 Havoline Premium straight off the shelf, the stuff you would see when you buy your fuel at Safeway Servos. On that same shelf is Delo 400 one of the best oils ever made, one of the only to give a warranty. Both of these oils only cost $29-$35, cheaper at Big W. But they are not marketed like Mobil. Expensive oils are not necessarily the only good ones. Shell it top stuff as well....

[commsirac]

Really ? My house mate she even said that she's noticed a difference in the way the car runs .
It wheel spins in third gear when i nail it up the drive way (its a gravel driveway but its not a bad effort for a manual NA VL) as where it'd only wheel spin in 2nd gear at 2700 RPM when i was using the other oil .
I'm not saying Penrite is crap , i just think that each engine is different and that some run better on different oil then other engines using the same oil if makes any sence .

I think you have taken what I said the wrong way.
You claimed to be shocked by the difference with the mobil one compared to the penrite.....I wasnt surprised at all by what you have reported, hence my response...."no surprise here".

[greenacc]

VXcalais, you seem to be well read on oil. do you reckon you could list say your top ten, some middle of the roaders, and some shockers for us ? to help steer all the amateurs in the right direction. I've been using shell helix super lately cos it doesn't burn up as quick as some others, but i get the feeling it aint so good after all going bythe rattles is makes at startup. lol.

[maxpower QLD]

Gulf Western is a good aussie made oil (cheap cause it doesnt need to pay for its ads and shelf space everywhere. And please research on oils, price is not a good indicator of oil quality either. Base oil is what you pay for, check its additive levels, wear rates etc. Mobil 1 i would never use its too expensive for what it is......Mobil Delvac, now thats an oil worth writing home about. Penrite 5W50 retails for $45-50. Mobil 1 5W50 is $60 plus on special yeah ??! Its just too expensive for a oil that is not fully Group 4 to warrant its price and does not hold up as well as other oils do in my opinion (yes my own opinion). They put their prices high as they supply a lot of base oil to other oil companies. Look at is this way, one V8 Supercar uses Mobil 1 as its a good racing oil as well as a huge sponsor. That team uses expensive oil. Another Team that used to exist but are big in the U.S (Daytona etc). Havoline Team, sponsored by Caltex/havoline....another large base oil producer/refiner/supplier etc. They used the 20W50 Havoline Premium straight off the shelf, the stuff you would see when you buy your fuel at Safeway Servos. On that same shelf is Delo 400 one of the best oils ever made, one of the only to give a warranty. Both of these oils only cost $29-$35, cheaper at Big W. But they are not marketed like Mobil. Expensive oils are not necessarily the only good ones. Shell it top stuff as well....

I'l admit that i don't know as much as you do about oil , i'm just going by what brands i have used in the past and compaired to what i'm using now "Mobil 1" which seems to be one the best i've used so far in my VL and if i find a BETTER oil thats cheaper then i'l use it .

As for my VZ it curently has gulf western in it and i'm not at all impressed with it , whether my mechanic has put in the wrong grade of oil in i'm not sure . But . . . in my opinion i think it's crap (yes thats MY opinion) and i'l never use it in my VZ again , it dosn't mean that everyone should stop using it just becouse i don't like it .

[94calais]

i use castrol gtx3 seems alright, thought about using the castrol edge oil nut don't know weather i wanna spend that much

[vxcalais_01]

VXcalais, you seem to be well read on oil. do you reckon you could list say your top ten, some middle of the roaders, and some shockers for us ? to help steer all the amateurs in the right direction. I've been using shell helix super lately cos it doesn't burn up as quick as some others, but i get the feeling it aint so good after all going bythe rattles is makes at startup. lol.

Greenacc, its a doomsday clock 12 hour request you are making. Will cause hassles, but i will do one if you like. Maybe a few people should do it and it will make a better picture, list say 2 or 3 according to per grade would be better..... eg. 5W40 - 1,#####,2#####,3$$$$$$ and so on....

[Arrow12]

Torco oil

[vxcalais_01]

Torco oil

Goods tuff Arrow, which on do you use and is it easy to come by ? I havent seen it anywhere before, only online i think....they got a good website and been it a few reviews over the years.

[Arrow12]

Where abouts are you from mate?

[greenacc]

OK vx calais, if you had to choose between Mobil 1000= ( repco) or valvoline durablend what would it be for an ecotec ? doomsday clock lol. i'm just looking for sound advice that goes beyond the labelling and adds on tv.

[vxcalais_01]

Durablend......The Repco SOFL stuff they had on special is fantastic for the price ($15 with Repco filter), 20W50 Sl/CF. The durablend is fantastic stuff as it is blended apparently up to 33% with Group 3 or GRoup 4 synthetic oil. So you can use this oil for slightly longer than the Mobil 1000 which i would use for 5000 easily and the Durablend for 7000 minimum. The Durablend should be SM rated as well. But it costs more. It reminds me of mountain dew when i used it.

[greenacc]

There seems to be an increasing number of FRICTION MODIFIED oils on the market. Nulon is one that comes to mind. Are friction modified oils OK to use in an Ecotec? and do they actually save fuel or make more power like they claim ? Some subaru owners manuals actually specify friction modified oils... what the

[vxcalais_01]

There seems to be an increasing number of FRICTION MODIFIED oils on the market. Nulon is one that comes to mind. Are friction modified oils OK to use in an Ecotec? and do they actually save fuel or make more power like they claim ? Some subaru owners manuals actually specify friction modified oils... what the

Yes, this is just the additives that alter the friction between metal surfaces over the standard base oil naturally lowering the friction by way of Teflon, Moly Graphite etc....Some oils need it to achieve certain ratings, fuel economy GF-3 and so on.....It only becomes an issue i believe in motorbikes and shared sumps, transmissions where the gear boxes or whatever share teh oil with the engine and the mechanisms cannot grip and its all slippery....

[BLO-4RD]

i prefer castrol

[bradcad]

Friction modifiers caused bilions of dollars worth of damage in Australia alone, in the form of glazed bores. Teflon and moly dont like heat (although I keep getting told the new moly is unaffected.....havent seen any evidence for or against).

Friction modifiers have their place. Many will argue that place is not internal combustion

[vxcalais_01]

bradcad, which are common oils that are not friction modified ? I think Penrite may be a few. Moly is used in small quantities sometimes only as an anti oxidant etc.

The Problem we have in Australia, is we seem to not have many quality oils. Our base oils are majority Group 1 which shouldn't really be used past 5000k's. They are then blended with small amounts of Group 3 and sold as Semi Synths. The GRoup 3 is needed to bring it up to SL standards. GRoup 2 is very rare actually, the only ones i know of are Mobil Delvac MX and Castrol Delo 400 Diesel oils. ULX being another but its imported. Castrol who i am usually biased against for being the main cause of this (Cause of Group 3 now being called Synthetic which is the cuase of us paying top premium for it. We could of been getting Extremely high quality oil for a lower price, now we are paying top dollar)....are getting ratings of their oils namely GTX with SM ratings. They are either using Group 2 oils, or more Group 3, but are holding thier lower prices. This is why i feel the ratings are important, excluding some like PM Lubricants who use top quality GRoup 3 and only attain SL because they want to keep the higher additive levels and quality package they have. SM in Australia clearly means higher base stock or higher percentage of it.

[vxcalais_01]

To summarize my point above, read the data on LPG specific marketed oil right......Its primary purpose is to reduce nitration of the oil and so on...... Penrite HPR 10 GAS is Group 1 blended with group 3, Mobil has 15W40 LPG, a GRoup 1, Shell Helix Plus, GRoup 3 with Group 1, Group 1 for their 15W40 LPG only, Havoline, again their 20W50 LPG is mainly i believe Group 1. Now look at the characteristics of Group 1, is still has contaminants and nitrates, the same sh$t they are trying to keep out ! GRoup 1 is very good oil with good additive package but i cannot see it going past 5000k's. Only use this blends of oil if it has a SM rating, because a requirement of SM is that the oil lasts 10,000k's safely or longer drain intervals over the previous. And yes, there are some SL rated oils that are still better than some SM oils.

[greenacc]

hmm, sounds like i'll stay away from friction modified oil then.
So vx calais, if I use an SM rated 20W50 and change it every 8 thou it should be fine yes?

what do you think of Elf oil ? I use it in the mrs car.

[vxcalais_01]

ELF - Excellent Oil. The Excellium 10W50 is the pick of their oils. Group 3. I know Penrite 15W60 is non friction modified and still a SM rated oil. Its because it is relatively thick, so does not need to meet all fuel efficiency criteria. Other oils though, it will be much harder to not be friction modified. I was only dwelling on Bradcads comment, but i am a supporter of additives like Molybdenum, its benefits outweight the bads like all additives, Zinc has its bad points too, but is essential to the oil. SM and Future SN, Moly and Graphite will be a common feature as Zinc is further reduced. There are other additives being used that not many people even know about, they dont show up on the usual tests. Only time will reveal.

[bradcad]

I was under the impression friction modifiers were banned. That is unless you include moly and teflon as friction modifiers- moly becoming far more prevelant, as you know. They were heavily used in the 80's untill the problems became apparent.

Was passed a Royal Purple analasys the other day with some interesting, but somewhat inconclusive results. I should really pass it on to anyone interested.....