Had enough of hearing about synthetic oil yet? No?...
Writings on the virtues of Mobil 1
The first purports to be journalism but seems to have been written by Mobil.
The second is an opinion by an enthusiast.
The last piece was a posting from an Audio list somewhere.
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COMPANY TESTS SYNTHETIC OIL BY DRIVING CAR A MILLION MILES
This column was published on May 23 2000 in the US Herald-Journal.
Author: Kenn Peters
Imagine driving your car or truck for 1 million miles. Why, it would take
forever. And then you'd have to be driving around the clock.
Mobil, the oil and gas company, did it when it was developing Mobil 1. It
took four years to cover the miles.
Bill Maxwell, an environmental engineer and head of product development
for the Mobil Technology Co., in Paulsboro, N.J., said the company did
high-mileage tests of Mobil 1 synthetic oil during 1989 and 1990 in two
Oldsmobiles with General Motors' since discontinued Quad 4 engine.
The cars were put on a treadmill and run for 200,000 miles. The oil in
one car was changed every 7,500 miles and in the second car every 15,000
miles, Maxwell said. At the end of the 200,000 miles, the car's engines
were torn down and found to be in perfect condition.
"It was astounding. The engines looked like they were virtually new," he
said. Mobil learned from that test that even people who break the rules
by not changing their oil on schedule will be forgiven by the oil.
But Mobil wasn't satisfied. So the company bought a BMW 325i with a
2.5-liter in-line 6-cylinder engine. The company decided to go for broke
and run the BMW 1 million miles.
The BMW spent four years on the treadmill, 24 hours a day, mostly at 85
miles an hour, but with varied speeds, too, down as low as 45 miles an
hour to simulate everyday driving.
Mobil followed BMW's recommended service schedule. Along the way it
changed the fan belt and hoses and did other hardware maintenance. It
religiously changed the oil.
AT THE END of the road, when the engine was taken apart, Mobil's
engineers discovered that the wear measurements were the same as the
manufacturer's specifications.
Today that synthetic oil is commonplace not only for vehicles on the
road, but those on the racetrack, too.
The 5W30-weight Mobil 1 is used almost exclusively by racing teams on the
NASCAR circuit, and most Indy-type cars use 15W50-weight Mobil 1, Maxwell
said. Military fighter planes have been using synthetic oil for a long
time, he said.
One of the basic elements of synthetic oil is a so-called synthetic
fluid, the development of which evolved over the years until it became
obvious it could provide lubricating benefits not obtainable with mineral
oils, Maxwell said.
ONE OF THE oil's toughest tests was in heavy equipment that does duty on
the Alaskan pipeline. The oil must perform in temperatures that dip to 40
below zero, Maxwell said.
Oil companies are constantly being pushed to develop new products to meet
the demands of engines that run hotter, Maxwell said.
"We want higher fuel efficiency and that means cars will be much more
streamlined, hood areas will get smaller, and engines will have to be
smaller," he said. "That will result in less air flow."
What all this adds up to is hotter running engines and more demands than
ever on engine oil.
Incidentally, have you ever noticed how often manufacturers claim
products have been used for years in Europe before they come to the
United States? Well, that's the case with Mobil synthetic oil. Maxwell
said it has been used in Europe for over two decades.
Auto Editor Kenn Peters' column runs Thursdays in the Herald-Journal.
Copyright (c)1996, The Herald Company
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MOBIL 1 SYNTHETIC MOTOR OIL, 10W-30
Reviewed by: John Daeschner -
sugarmsc@swbell.net
Pure synthetic motor oil, $4 a quart, worth every penny
I just had a religious experience involving motor oil. In addition to my
Miata, I have a second, older car; an '88 Honda Accord. It has 158,000
miles on it and I decided to do a valve job on it last week to improve
compression.
Expecting to find nothing but wreckage below the cylinder head, I
was amazed by the condition of the engine. There was virtually no
cylinder bore wear - the ridge at the top of the cylinders was almost
nonexistent and honing marks were still present all the way around the
cylinder bores. I measured the cam lobes and they were within 0.005 of a
new cam - amazing. Honda parts are incredibly expensive, but the valve
guides and valve stems, according to the machine shop I deal with, were
within factory spec. They simply ground the valves and put the head back
togther. Cost me $68, cheapest I ever left that place.
I use Mobil 1 10W-30 in my Miata as well as Mobil 1 75W-90 gear
lube in the transmission and rear end. I change the xmission and diff
lube every 10K, the oil every 3K. I think it's worth the expense since I
don't have to ask to know that a new LSD in a Miata is more than a Kings
ransom.
Since I plan to keep my Miata until it's dead, I believe this is
the best way to preserve the car. It was just mind boggling for me to
take a car apart that I've owned since it was new and see what looked
like no more than 10,000 miles of wear when I knew better. And that Honda
has never leaked a drop of oil.
I think all this business about synthetic oil being incompatable
with engine seals is a lot of hot air. Whether refined normally or
synthetically derived, oil is still oil.
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Posted by John on January 01, 1999 at 09:54:52:
In Reply to: Mobil 1 synthetic oil posted by Louise on December 31, 1998
at 17:53:05:
It may be interesting to note that BMW installs Mobil 1 5W40 exclusively
on their E46 cars. (Don't look for it in auto stores--this viscosity only
available from BMW who has it specifically formulated for their needs).
The recommended oil change interval is approximately 15,000 miles (actual
mileage is determined by the cars computer and displayed immediately
after starting the car).
If you keep a car only as long as the warranty is in effect (on BMW it's
4 years, 50,000 miles) then it makes sense to get the free oil changes
only. If you want to keep the car for a few years longer, you may want to
add an oil change between the recommended ones.
I wouldn't concern myself with the minor increase in per mile cost of
synthetic over petroleum based oils--it's a fraction of a cent per mile.
Wouldn't consider driving a car in extended sub-zero weather such as we
get in Minnesota without synthetic. Protects the engine much better in
cold start situations and puts far less strain on the electrical system.
Some may argue that such a long interval is imprudent and asking for
troubles down the line. But I certainly wouldn't worry about hurting the
engine in a turbocharged Audi. The API rating of the oil includes turbo's
specifically.
My wife's A4 gets Mobile 1 exclusively, primarily because of the cold
weather, but as long as any oil meets the minimum API rating specified by
the manufacturer, and you change oil at the specified intervals, you are
safe under the warranty requirements.
It's fairly well established by now that synthetics, in general, are much
superior to petroleum based lubricants under virtually any operating
conditions, but especially under extreme ones--ie, turbo applications,
longer oil change intervals, cold or hot weather, etc.
It's really an economic issue whether or not the small additional expense
is justified, since your engine should easily get 100,000 miles plus
using petroleum based lubricants--unless you live in the frigid north,
where the cold start benefits of synthetics make this an easy decision.
