Synthetic Oil

Does anyone use synthetic oil in their car? Does it really work better than
petroleum? Are all the synthetic oils roughly the same? I know there is a
battle going on between AMSOIL and Mobil One. They both claim to be the
best.

Bill

Roughly 2/7/04 09:17, Nospam's monkeys randomly typed:

> Does anyone use synthetic oil in their car?

Yes.

> Does it really work better than petroleum?

I prefer to think of it as my wallet "contributing more to the
general health of the economy."

> Are all the synthetic oils roughly the same?

No.

> I know there is a battle going on between AMSOIL and Mobil One.

Yes, Mobil has accused Amsoil of posessing Weapons of Mass
Destruction.

> They both claim to be the best.

So does every lounge lizard in a singles joint.

In article >,
"Nospam" > wrote:

> Does anyone use synthetic oil in their car? Does it really work better than
> petroleum? Are all the synthetic oils roughly the same? I know there is a
> battle going on between AMSOIL and Mobil One. They both claim to be the
> best.

Synthetic oil *is* petroleum. You mean "synthetic vs. refined."

Synthetic and refined motor oils are basically the same thing. The
difference is how they are manufactured. The difference is that
synthetic processes give the petroleum engineer more control over the
precise content of the final product. So its possible (but the term
doesn't guarantee) that a synthetic motor oil will retain its viscosity
and otherwise last longer over wider temperature ranges than refined
oils.

These days "synthetic" is mostly a marketing hype word. Great effort is
made to discover new excuses to put "synthetic" on the label. Blending
refined and synthetic is one way. Do you really get the best of both
worlds, or the worst of both?

If you stick with reputable companies, synthetic still has meaning. IMHO
that's Mobil, Shell, Amsoil, Redline, and a few others, but not Castrol.

Amsoil's marketing ("Dealerships, $25 each!") and past outlandish claims
("Lifetime oil change!") soil what is currently a solid product line.

You need to do some homework on the junk.

Very few are real synthetics these days since there is no regulation on
what the word means.

Mobil one I 'think' is still a synthetic and some oils like amsoil are
pure snake oil that will instantly void the engine warranty if used.

And before I get jumped on that, yes I read the amsoil fine print. When
the manufacturer voids your warranty on your blown engine you can send
the engine to amsoil and have them test it. Then they will come back
and say oops, a bolt broke, not our fault, do you want us to send the
dead engine back COD or just dump it in the garbage?

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Nospam wrote:
>
> Does anyone use synthetic oil in their car? Does it really work better than
> petroleum? Are all the synthetic oils roughly the same? I know there is a
> battle going on between AMSOIL and Mobil One. They both claim to be the
> best.
>
> Bill

Mike Romain wrote:

> You need to do some homework on the junk.
>
> Very few are real synthetics these days since there is no regulation on
> what the word means.
>
> Mobil one I 'think' is still a synthetic and some oils like amsoil are
> pure snake oil that will instantly void the engine warranty if used.

I don't like Amsoil's marketing strategy, and I don't trust many of their claims.
However, I think it is over the top to say using Amsoil "will instantly void the
engine warranty." Many Amsoil porducts are not API certified (they have an
explanation if you care to check). I would never use these products in an engine
that is still under the orignal manufacturer's warranty. Amsoil does have a line
of motor oils that are API certified (the XL7500 series). These do claim to meet
the manufacturer's warranty requirements and should not void your warranty as
long as you change them as specified by the vehicle manufacturer. The catch is -
these are not true synthetics - at least according to my definition. They are
made from highly refined base oils (the group III oils) just like Castrol
Syntech. I find it amusing that Amsoil is now willing to pass off motor oil
refined from crude oil as synthetic given their past advertising claims. Oh well,
life goes on. Personally, if you want a good syntehetic oil, I'd stick with Mobil
1.

> And before I get jumped on that, yes I read the amsoil fine print. When
> the manufacturer voids your warranty on your blown engine you can send
> the engine to amsoil and have them test it. Then they will come back
> and say oops, a bolt broke, not our fault, do you want us to send the
> dead engine back COD or just dump it in the garbage?

I ageree, the warranty is crap. Just like the K&N's million mile warranty and a
lot of other warranties provided by snake oil/miracle product companies. Still I
think the actual Amsoil product is OK, just over priced.

> Mike
> 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
> 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's
>
> Nospam wrote:
> >
> > Does anyone use synthetic oil in their car? Does it really work better than
> > petroleum? Are all the synthetic oils roughly the same? I know there is a
> > battle going on between AMSOIL and Mobil One. They both claim to be the
> > best.
> >
> > Bill