On Tue, 7 May 2002 15:25:45, Brian Berryhill said:
>I've been reading up about Mobil1's reforumlated SuperSyn oil... it looks
>like since they couldn't beat Castrol Syntec, they're now joining them,
>using less PAO in their formula.
{sigh} Syntec is junk.
>5w30 TriSynth with SuperSyn's pour point is UP to -54F
>(http://www.mobil1.com/products/trisynth/index.jsp)
>5w30 old TriSynth's pour point is -65F
>(http://www.unofficialbmw.com/all/misc/all_oilfaq.html)
Brian, last I checked, as long as it flowed at -40F, I'd be fine with it.
I'm not aware of any vehicle manufacturers who require unaided starting
below -40F, for that matter. Even up here in Michigan, we don't see those
kind of temperatures (okay, once in a blue moon up in da UP, eh? maybe) and
have to resort to environmental chambers or really expensive road trips to
Inuvik, Northern Territory, Canada in the middle of January to get those
kind of temperatures.
>I don't know about you guys, but I'm a little perturbed with Mobil1's
>decision... and I'm going to start looking for other alternatives for
>synthetic oil. Do many autocrossers use M1, or do they use the expensive
>stuff like Amsoil?
I use Mobil 1 and will likely continue to do so as long as they haven't
added any of the long-chain VIs that Castrol uses in Syntec -- and I don't
think they have, being too smart to try to pull of a 5W50...
It occurs to me that there may be another, regulatory reason for this
change. The PA0s that give such great low-temp flowability are also more
volatile and could, therefore, increase the likelihood of evaporative HC
emissions. Since Mobil 1 is OEM-installed in several high-end makes
(Mercedes-Benz AMG, Porsche, Corvette, etc.), particularly those sold in
Europe where the very tight Euro III and Euro IV standards are, believe it
or not, possibly even more strict than CARB's California standards on
evaporative emissions (I don't have all the details, but based on some
conversations I've had with suppliers of certain vehicle components, it
sure sounds that way). So removing some of the lighter PAOs, giving up
some extremely low temp flowability (c'mon, on a real-world basis, a change
from -65F to -54F isn't going to make one little jot's difference), but
reducing the VOCs coming off the oil in a SHED test (evaporative emissions
test that consists of sealing the car in a controlled-enviornment shed and
literally measuring EVERYTHING coming off the car -- even from the interior
plastics, weatherstripping, tires, etc.) is a trade that seems reasonable
to me.
(Evaporative emissions trivia: My '65 Mustang, with its period fuel system
and vinyl interior, emits more hydrocarbons sitting still than my '99
Mustang Cobra emits while running.)
The more I think about it, the more I think this is in fact what drove the
change, Brian, not Syntec which really isn't a blip on Mobil's sales radar.
Off to Mexico in the morning, so replies may be a few days away.
Jim Crider
autojim@att.net
/// unsubscribe/change address requests to majordomo@autox.team.net or try
/// http://www.team.net/mailman/listinfo
/// Partial archives at http://www.team.net/archive
|