Well I don't know enough about it myself to say whether synthetic oils are
"better" than dino-juice. All I did was ask John Leverett, the chief engineer
at Panoz, and he said that Ford recommends Mobil 1 tri-synthetic for the Cobra
engine. Then I found out that Chevy also recommends this oil in the Corvette.
Porsche and Mercedes also use it. According to Mobil, it's factory fill in
Vipers and Aston Martins too.
It's not always factory fill. Some companies, like Ford, recommend using
dino-juice for the first X,000 miles of breakin and then switching to
synthetic.
I use it in motorcycles too, which is a kind of sacrilege among motorcycle
riders. But it seems to retain its transparency and viscosity better than the
super-expensive oils "made for motorcycles". That may not imply that it's a
better oil, but it seems intuitively "right".
I'm curious whether anyone has done any dyno testing comparing different oils
and what differences they might have found (if any).
-----Original Message-----
From: Dennis & Sherry Armstrong [mailto:miata@pacbell.net]
Sent: Wednesday, October 10, 2001 10:50
To: mrclem@telocity.com; ba-autox@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: API Raises the bar
I think it's just the supply. They probably delete their stock of older
economy oils before they delete their stock of premium oils.
Now don't get me into the synthetic versus conventional oil
conversation. That one could start a thread that would make
the course design thread seem short :)
Dennis
----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael R. Clements" <mrclem@telocity.com>
To: "Dennis & Sherry Armstrong" <miata@pacbell.net>;
<ba-autox@autox.team.net>
Sent: Wednesday, October 10, 2001 10:44 AM
Subject: RE: API Raises the bar
> Interesting.
>
> Mobil 1 Tri-Synthetic oil, which is their "performance oriented" oil that
many
> manufacturers consider to be the best motor oil you can put in your car,
is
> rated at SJ / CF.
>
> Mobil 1 also makes "drive clean" oil, which is their "economy oriented"
oil,
> and this one is now rated SL.
>
> They also say, "In addition, later in 2001, Mobil 1 (Tri-Synthetic) will
> exceed the newest certification standards being implemented on that date -
> ILSAC GF-3 and API Service SL."
>
> Seems strange, doesn't it -- they'd adopt the new standard first in their
> economy oil and only later in their high performance oil? Makes me wonder
> what's different about the SL standard -- perhaps it's focused primarily
on
> increased economy.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-ba-autox@autox.team.net
> [mailto:owner-ba-autox@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of Dennis & Sherry
> Armstrong
> Sent: Wednesday, October 10, 2001 10:02
> To: ba-autox@autox.team.net
> Subject: API Raises the bar
>
>
> I was buying motor oil a couple of weeks ago, I always check the
> API ratings on the container. I was surprised to see SL, This is
> probably for the new 02 vehicles. But every time the standard is raised
> quality greatly improves.
>
>
> These are standards set by the American Petroleum Institute. For
> those who don't know the ratings. S is for Gasoline Engines
> And C is for Diesel Engines. The ratings start with SA for Gasoline
> Engines & now top out at SL, Diesel Engines start out with CA and
> I believe now top out at CE.
>
> Sometimes you will see a combination rating SL/CD this is a
> combination gasoline diesel motor oil. This caused problems
> with the ford 2300 in the late 70's, at that time the combination
> was SE/CC. When owners of Ford Pintos of that era used that
> combination, Their Camshafts would wear flat.
>
> SAE rating on the container is the Society Of Automotive
> Engineers. This is the viscosity rating of motor oil, 10W-30,
> 5W-30 ect. This has nothing to do with the quality of the
> oil.
>
> The quality of the oil, Or performance standards are rated by
> the API. So here they are rated from the bottom to the top.
>
> Gasoline Diesel
> SA CA
> SB CB
> SC CC
> SD CD
> SE CE
> SF
> SG
> SJ
> SL
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