Obviously, like was already said, clean oil and a filter beats dirty regardless of the brand. Consumer Reports did testing of oil and filters several years ago. The conclusions they came to is that the only motor oil that lived up to it's claims was Castrol GTX. They had good things to say about Quaker State also, but Castrol lived up to it's advertisements. The best filter for quality filtering over the long haul was Fram. They had good things to say about Purolator, but Fram was by and far the best overall filter. The filter they advised staying away from was Hasting's. Poor filtering of minute contaminants which led to premature wear of internal components. They did not test synthetics or blends in this battery of tests. I have been using synthetics in my motorcycles for many years. The bikes run cooler and smoother on them. They have shown the advantage of pure synthetic oils in general for better lubrication and longer change intervals. What you have to weigh is the significant added expense of using synthetics in a car. The prices haven't come down back to when Amzoil was the only synthetic on the market.
I used a fram once. I went to change it and tightened the oil wrench down and put some pressure on it and it collapsed! crunched up like a pop can. good stuff!
Round 12............ I have read industry reports and extensive test documents that rate Amsoil #1 Mobil #2 Royal Purple was not rated nor was redline since they a niche market. Also Mobil One filters I beleive was #1 The Motor Craft filters Ranked really high as well. They tested over 20 filters. Based on flow/ filtering/and construction. If I remember the Penzoil synthetic rated well. I agree 100% Severe driving conditions (which is just about every thing according to OEM manufactures ) Requires more frequent changes. Also Oil drainback is a major concern. The longer it stays in one spot the more likely sludge and coking of the oil will result.
I don't know if it's good luck or a good filter but we use Fram exclusively and have had nothing buy superior filtration from it. We also use Castrol GTX, best oil on the market except for Mobile 1 which is crazy expensive. Just my opinion.
I guess that makes 2 engine builders... mine also suggested Kendall. It mixes well with racing fuel and he said he switched a couple years back and he really see's a difference in the engines he tears down in the winter. Now I know that things "might" be a little different for a race car, cause I change my oil every month and my filter(motorcraft) every 2 weeks. That might be "overkill" but its my motor and thats what I feel comfortable doing.
. I have seen the cut-aways for Wix and Fram filters too. The Wix filter looks good, looks like it should be better than Fram, but how do we know it really is? You can't tell how good a filter is just by looking at it. You need to test a filter and see how well it actually FILTERS. Only then can you tell whether a Wix or a Fram is better. I've also seen a consumer reports oil filter test. This was ten years ago or so, but Fram was rated the best of all the filters available at the time in just about every category. Fram filters will filter your oil just fine, make no mistake about it. There might be better filters out there, but how would you know unless you've seen data on actual filtering tests. And even if these filters were better, would it be worth the extra hassle of getting them from special retailers and would it be worth three or four times the cost of a Fram? You have to take everything you hear with a grain of salt. Some people would probably still claim that the earth was flat if they thought anyone would believe it. People say a lot of things...and about 90% of the time, they're dead wrong.
Mavman427, I was working for Wix as a Sales Rep when that report came out. Now to say that the good people at Dana were upset would be a understatement, this got so heated that wix teamed up with Baldwin Filters and sued Consumer Reports because the test only ran the oil through the filter one time. Consumer Reports then agree to re-run the test and print their finding in the next issue (that kept them out of court). Fram finshed dead last after having the oil pass through for 3000 miles. Now like all well trained reps I always had a good set up of filters with the tops cut off of them to show customers. In 1990 it was easy to show how badly Fram made a filter, it was cardboard inside a metal can, things have changed since then. One of my best friend still works for Dana and even he has to admit that Fram has done their home work, he says the the Fram X2 is one of the best filters on the market. I'm I saying that Fram is a bad filter, no not at all. If you change your oil and filter every 3000 miles you will never have a internal engine problem. Is the Fram base line filter as good as Wix or Baldwin? No! You get what you pay for, but that not saying fram is a bad filter! Like with all my posts this is only my .02 and being that I was a filter rep I had to put the old .02 in there. Terry Gates AKA Bossmav
My engine in my Comet has around 400 or 500 passes on it , all with Penzoil . My truck has 250 000 K ( 150 000 miles ) all with Penzoil . I dont know what the best oil is but my dad runs CO-OP oil in his Grand Marquis which has 80 000 miles on . I am pretty sure COOP oil doesnt even have additives in it . So I am pretty sure all the hoopla about oils and additives is a bunch of malarky . I should also point out that up where I live the winter temps get down to - 30 for weeks at a time . It also gets up to 90 in the summers . Filters ...... There has to be something to be said about the checkvalves or lack of in filters .I would have to agree with whoever was slagging Hastings filters . I used to run them . In the winter time when is was colder than -20 , a cold start would take up to 30 or 40 seconds to get oil pressure . I could hear the lifters rattling even . I tried a filter from " Canadian tire " and got oil pressure almost right away . Since then I have tried purolater . fram , and bosch . All of them work much better than the Hastings in the startup pressure issue . But does it make a difference ? My Comet had a hastings filter on it for all of those passes and my truck had them for probably 130 000 miles .
funny thing... i do remember my dads' 71 pinto...he used k-mart oil filters, quaker state and every 3000-4000 miles. broke a timing belt at 135,000. did dome damage requiring a rebuild. the machinist didn't believe the engine had 135,000 on it. if i have a point from this i just support the clean oil thing...k-mart oil filters???? go figure. do they even make those any more?
I just started using Royal Purple this year, so the jury is still out. Jegs sells it for $5 a quart. I like the idea of extended drain intervals. Money-wise it works out about the same as running cheaper oil and changing it four times a year. Plus the cold startup protection is better.
WOW! You were right, Dan. Talk a bout a conversation starter! (which oil is 'best') I hadn't looked at this thread in a while and thought I'd check it out. I had no idea there was a major debate going on - (and I missed it ). Let me add some more fuel to the oil fire - I'll bet Quaker State is as good as any other oil in it's class. Take THAT! Oh yeah, Republicans are better than Democrats. :stirring the pot:
Quaker State Hey Rick, Thanks for making my post not the only one to say Quaker State......wehll, they do go in the gm's......Robert
well being 18 i push my car very hard most of the time. since i live in florida i run between 10w-40 - 20w-50 depending on the seasons with the humidity in the summer sometimes it reaches 110 down here. ive been using pennzoil for quite somtime now and a fram oil filter there are some cases when im racing someone were i run wide open at 20 - 30 minutes at a time and ive never had my oil turn to sludge or soupy water for that matter and i do an oil change every 3000miles now when i get my 302 put in if any of you have been following any of the other threads then you know the problems im having im going to run quaker state synthetic oils.
