Please no heated debates, if we can keep it all civil and not have any brand bashing by all means lets discuss. Take what you will from this video but please let's not make this a which oil is better thread.

[youtube]8dEFGJqpCMY[/youtube]

Here's a PDF of some independent testing. http://www.proracestore.com/images/categories/516_2.pdf
And another. http://www.animegame.com/cars/Oil%20Tests.pdf

 

So this is the "My oil is better than yours, but please don't debate it"... Come on. Where's the independent testing with cited products & the ASTM standards they are testing to? Same old marketing ploy...

 

No not at all. I have no problem with debating, BUT I KNOW what happens and it turns into people bashing all brands. If people want to debate it and keep it civil that's fantastic. I don't want any bashing in my thread is how i should have worded it. My apologies, I will edit my original post to reflect that.

 

You started off with the connotation that RP was better than everything else, but then say not to pull this thread into a debate...

That video is exactly why BP wiped the floor with RP which ultimately ended with the NAD demanding that RP pull all of its user testimonials which were not backed by scientific facts (aka. false advertising) in 2009.

Just to put things into perspective, I could take that test rig and come to the same conclusions with Walmart brand dino juice as the hands down winner. That video has no credible facts in it because it does not disclose anything about the oils that they are using to compare with RP. It is marketing 101. Also, the fact that the rotor isn't replaced leaves zero credibility to the test in my book as well. Test #1 will smooth out surface imperfections in the rotor. Same with test #2. Now test #3 comes along and Wow! Look at that, better test results.

As far as the "independent" testing you edited into your OP, the pro race store comparo is a joke. We swapped out "swam water" (insert used up oil of your choice there) for RP and saw gains of X%. Again, doesn't really hold water. The best comparison is the 2nd link you provided which still uses a test that has been abandoned years ago...

So what does the forum BobIsTheOilGuy.com have to say about RP compared with other oils? And specifically the StreetCommadores Oil Comparo?

 

Mike, that's great if you use RP. And that appears a valid test. But what's the point of it to the average guy here? It's not an accurate representation of a real world issue. Anymore than that old Lucas demo on the parts counters that showed how much better lucas+oil 'clung' to cylinder walls. Made me think of 'snake oil' when I saw that.

I've torn down an engine I drove hard for over 100,000 miles using mobil 1, and base my recommendations on that. *
It displayed no appreciable wear at all, cam lobes and followers nice and shiny no grooves, cylinder walls still nicely crosshatched at 189,000 total. So obviously the piston could be freed out the top by scraping the ridge with a pocket knife.

In other words, Mobil 1 to me is good enough and a damn sight better than many 'famous oils' because it also left no sludge or hard cake even in a turbo bearing oil galley. Fingernail scratch test around head casting caught nothing. only near the 'breather' port on the inside of the valve cover was there anything.

To put a point on it.. if I had TWO SVO's and beat the **** out of them equally for 100,000 miles, one with each oil, I dont know how I could tell the difference, do you?
*Along with the TBIRD engine with coolant damaged bearings that I had to run M1 20w-50 or pistons sounded like they wanted out. For 70kmiles.

Now figure in price and availability.. what's the point again?

 

A bit more digging on that StreetCommodores.com article and I found THIS.

The bottom line is this. Use a quality oil and you'll be fine. And by "quality oil" I am not choosing sides between dino juice & synthetics. There are plenty of good oils on both sides of that fence available to keep your engine very happy for a very long time. RP is a quality oil, but just not worth the cost IMO given the other quality alternatives there are available.

 

I totally agree with you pettyfog. And Mobil 1 is a great widely available synthetic. I choose RP over Mobil for 2 reasons (my own opinions if you will) 1. Because even though Mobil 1 is a "full synthetic" It's still derived somehow using a dino base stock and synthetics (not quite sure how that works and google is failing me at the moment. I'll edit my post when i find the article)
and 2. because I like their filters, I figure use the oil and filter that were designed for each other and I can't go wrong.

I do agree that any quality synthetic would work just as well, especially in a street/ "normal" day to day operating vehicle. It may make more difference in a high horsepower race engine but probably not so much in a DD.

EDIT: Here's an article i found. http://www.technilube.com/faqs_info/synth_diff.php It's called a PAO synthetic, I can't remember what the RP base is i'm looking now.

EDIT 2: Here's an excerpt I found from a forum asking about RP oils. Link to original here > http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums...Number=1190820

From: "Kyle Neal" <kyle.neal@royalpurple.com>
Date: July 10, 2008 9:06:12 AM CDT
To: "'Johnny Petree'" <jlpetree@>
Subject: Royal Purple - Base Stock
Reply-To: <kyle.neal@royalpurple.com>

Johnny,

We're a combination of synthetics including Group III, Group IV's (PAO), and V's (Esters but do not use Polyol Esters)- deciding on which oil is better just by the base stocks is not as simple as some make it out to be. Formulators rarely use a single straight base stock - as solubility, solvency, and seal elastomer compatibility issues can result using a single type of base stock.

The base stock is like flour, flour is flour. The difference is the cake, it is in the way you bake it, mix it, and the ingredients you add to the flour. We do not just focus on the base stock, but the oil as a whole, because it is all in the chemistry.

Have a great day and I hope this helps.

Kyle Neal
Technical Sales Representative
1 Royal Purple Lane
Porter, Texas 77365
work- 281-354-8600 ex 248
cell- 713-705-9556
kyle.neal@royalpurple.com

From: Johnny Petree [mailto:jlpetree@]
Sent: Thursday, July 10, 2008 6:08 AM
To: rpautotech@royalpurple.com
Cc: rpindtech@royalpurple.com
Subject: Automotive Question

Can you tell me if your regular automotive oil, not your racing oil, is a Group III or a Group IV synthetic base.

Thank you,

Johnny Petree
Wausau, WI 54403
jlpetree@

 

I can set up any test to prove that X brand of oil is better than y brand of oil.

The video you showed proves absolutely nothing. Not the RP is a bad choice in any case.

It all comes down to marketing and what you can convince the public. Plain and simple.

I've gotten well over 200,000 miles on "dino" oil, with regualr oil changes. Explain to me why I should change to a synthetic that costs X3's as much yet I can only get twice the milage between oil changes?

Us old school guys are a bit hard to change.

That being said, my wife's former '98 Camaro SS and current '06 Monte Carlo, both with alumininum blocks, have been fed a steady diet of synthetic oil since their first oil change.

My old, ragged ZR2? Dino oil all the way.