Date: Thu, 30 Jun 2005 11:52:19 +0100 From: Sleeker GT Phwoar <carl.robsonnospamcing-czechs.com> Subject: Re: synthetic oil
In article <YrGdnewB5uAIXl_fRVn-2gnospamphia.com>,=20 Malt_Houndnospamm*yahoo.com says... > Not from my experience or understanding. Please cite some references.=20 > Everything I have read or heard indicates that it is a true synthetic.=20 > It's Castrol Syntec that is labeled as a "fully synthetic" but is a=20 > cracked petroleum based oil. That is not necessarily a bad thing, just= =20 > different. >=20 Below is an article written by John Rowland, Silkolene/Fuchs Chief R & D=20 Chemist for 40 years.=20 Quote:=20 Costs of synthetics vary considerably. The most expensive are the=20 ?Ester? types originally only used in jet engines. These cost 6 to 10=20 times more than high quality mineral oils. The cheapest synthetics are=20 not really synthetic at all, from a chemists point of view. These are in=20 fact specially refined light viscosity mineral oils known as=20 ?hydrocracked?. These have some advantages over equivalent mineral oils,=20 particularly in lower viscosity motor oils such as 5w-30 or other oils=20 with a low ?W? rating such as 5w-50 etc and they cost about 1.5 times=20 more than good quality mineral fractions. We use several different=20 grades of this base oil, where appropriate. This is the ?synthetic?=20 which is always used in cheap oils that are labelled ?synthetic?. Yes=20 it?s a cruel world, you get what you pay for!=20 Now, you may ask, why are these special mineral oils called ?synthetic??=20 Well, it was all sorted in a legal battle that took place in the USA=20 about ten years ago. Sound reasons (including evidence from a Nobel=20 Prize winning chemist) were disregarded and the final ruling was that=20 certain mineral bases that had undergone extra chemical treatments could=20 be called ?synthetic?. Needless to say, the marketing executives wet=20 their knickers with pure delight! They realised that this meant, and=20 still does, that the critical buzz-word ?synthetic? could be printed on=20 a can of cheap oil provided that the contents included a few percent of=20 ?hydrocracked? mineral oil, at a cost of quite literally a few pence.=20 So, the chemistry of ?synthetics? is complex and so is the politics!=20 The economics are very simple. If you like the look of a smart well- marketed can with ?synthetic? printed on it, fair enough, it will not=20 cost you a lot; and now you know why this is the case. But, if you drive=20 a high performance car, and you intend to keep it for several years, and=20 maybe do the odd ?track day?, then you need a genuine Ester/PAO (Poly=20 Alpha Olefin) synthetic oil, such as PRO S or PRO R. This oil costs more=20 money to buy, because it costs us a lot of money to make, very simply,=20 you always get what you pay for!=20 UNQUOTE:=20 Here is a link to some specs of oils. http://www.opieoils.co.uk/lubricants.htm And Biased toward AMSoil but, http://www.bestsyntheticoil.com/amsoil/index.shtml#mobil2 "Nothing Outperforms Mobil 1? Wrong!! Just compare the technical specifications. We've got the data on the new=20 Mobil 1 SuperSyn 5w30 and we've compared it to AMSOIL 5w30. Guess who=20 comes out on top in every category? You guessed it ... AMSOIL!=20 According to the ASTM D4172 Four Ball Wear Test, Mobil 1 SuperSyn 5w30=20 allows 50% more wear than AMSOIL 5w30. 50%! What about NOACK volatility=20 (the measure of an oil's rate of consumption under high heat/stress=20 conditions)? Mobil 1 consumes at a rate nearly double that of AMSOIL.=20 And how about TBN (Total Base Number - the measure of an oil's ability=20 to neutralize acid build-up and corrosion)? AMSOIL has a TBN value=20 nearly 50% higher than Mobil 1.=20 Of course, there are other areas where AMSOIL comes out on top as well=20 such as a viscosity index score that is 12 points higher than the Mobil=20 1 product which isn't even on the charts (we didn't want to beat up on=20 them too badly). Why don't you take a look at the charts for yourself? " And this link goes into quite a lot of detail over both Syntec, and=20 Mobil 1 and the PAO Synthetic/Cracked petroleum synthetic debate too. http://www.clubwrx.net/forums/archive/index.php/t-4702.html --=20 Carl Robson Car PC Build starts again. http://smallr.com/rz Homepage: http://www.bouncing-czechs.com
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