Castrol vs Quaker vs Pennzoil vs Valvoline vs etc... Which dino oil is best?

CentralCoaster · 05-17-2004, 10:32 PM

Is there some good sources of information thats compares the various dino oils? Mobil 1 or any synthetics are out of the question btw... (I tried switching to it, and I'm still paying for it.)

I'd like to know which dino oils are better for what reasons. Everyone says Castrol is the best, but I've never heard a reason. FWIW, I'm currently running Castrol 10w40.

:lurk:

Pete K · 05-17-2004, 10:36 PM

I have been using castrol for 13 years in vette. Not sure why. I would use any of them if the store was out of castrol.I am more fussy about the filter than the oil.

rocco16 · 05-17-2004, 10:50 PM

I can't see where any one of the name brands of dino oil is superior to any of the others.
I prefer Valvoline, but can't give you any conclusive proof that it is better. Fifty years ago, Pennzoil was supposedly made from superior "Pennsylvania" crude. Well, we all know that our oil comes from the Middle East now, so that argument is moot. Castrol/QS/Pennzoil are plenty good enough.

Larry
code5coupe
:seeya

jmrl98 · 05-18-2004, 02:18 PM

A couple months ago in a similar thread someone mentioned that the castrol high mileage oil helped recondition their seals as castrol states on the container. I changed my oil a month ago and switched from mobil 1 to castrol high mileage, and even though my car did not fall into the "high mileage" category according to them (75K), it has reconditioned my valve seals, as I no longer puff after starting from sitting for a week or so. It also slowed a leak I have. :seeya

88vettelover · 05-18-2004, 02:24 PM

I use Valvoline just because of my boss' horror stories.

He used to work in a machine shop pulling apart motors all day and said he could tell the motors that used Pennzoil and Quaker State. Those two oils leave behind a sort of waxy buildup which I have seen on a few buddies cars when doing some work for them. He told me the cleanest engines he took apart were always the ones that used valvoline. So, I just use Valvoline, and have used Castrol Syntec.

:cheers:

JAKE · 05-18-2004, 03:04 PM

Valvoline Racing VR1 20W50.

Jake

Wheelman · 05-18-2004, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Is there some good sources of information thats compares the various dino oils? Mobil 1 or any synthetics are out of the question btw... (I tried switching to it, and I'm still paying for it.)

Have a bit of a leak there Kevin?? :lol:

Wheelman · 05-18-2004, 03:10 PM

Well the guy at autozone told me that royal purple was worth 20 horsepower :rolleyes: :leaving:

KurtK · 05-18-2004, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Well the guy at autozone told me that royal purple was worth 20 horsepower :rolleyes: :leaving:

Maybe you could put on a Royal Purple sticker- would that be worth 5 HP? :jester

vader86 · 05-18-2004, 04:39 PM

Quote:

Well the guy at autozone told me that royal purple was worth 20 horsepower :rolleyes: :leaving:

There have been tests on LS1 Camaro's that I recall, where they changed to RP motor, tranny, and gear oil, and gained 10-15hp.

But the only thing my family has ever run is Castrol GTX in the other cars. Even the builder's around here in SC (and this is a NASCAR area) will recommend GTX. Don't recall why its better, but most dont like the Quaker because they say "its thin as water and doesnt lubricate well"

DarkHalo · 05-18-2004, 07:16 PM

almost 30 years ago I got my first car and used only Pennzoil the first 50k miles. I had to dig into it a couple times and saw that same "waxy" buildup others have mentioned. I switched to Valvoline and it went spotless and squeaky clean in just a couple weeks. I always used Valvoline after that...until I got my vette and switched to Mobil 1 after reading here about it. You wont go wrong with Valvoline ever. And I think especially with higher mileage cars or engines with more wear (which isnt always higher miles) Mobil 1 might not give as good results as Valvoline would.

C66 Racing · 05-18-2004, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Is there some good sources of information thats compares the various dino oils?

This test info from AMSOIL shows some of the info you are looking for. There are several sythetics, including AMSOIL mixed in, but there are a few dino oils in the mix that may help.
http://www.c66racing.com/ComparativeTesting.htm

:cheers:

Chevy Guy · 05-18-2004, 08:40 PM

Check out this thread................
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=822800

Dominic Sorresso · 05-18-2004, 10:36 PM

Quote:

Well the guy at autozone told me that royal purple was worth 20 horsepower :rolleyes: :leaving:

There have been tests on LS1 Camaro's that I recall, where they changed to RP motor, tranny, and gear oil, and gained 10-15hp.

But the only thing my family has ever run is Castrol GTX in the other cars. Even the builder's around here in SC (and this is a NASCAR area) will recommend GTX. Don't recall why its better, but most dont like the Quaker because they say "its thin as water and doesnt lubricate well"

Vadr,

I don't remember why I started using Castrol GTX when I first bought my Xfire 20 years ago. It has 98k miles on the motor and the last compression test I ran a few months ago yielded 200psi cylinder pressure across the board. No blue puff of smoke . The cylinder pressure is a bit high so I swapped in a cam with a little more overlap, but the rings are still in great shape. I use 6qts with an AC PF35 or equivalent filter. And a change every 2k miles. I'm a believer.

87NassauBlue · 05-18-2004, 11:39 PM

I use mobil 1 in my vettes, but all the others get castrol. I have used castrol since I have been driving. I blew a headgasket in a toyota with 117000 miles and the cylinders still had the hone scraches in the cylinder walls. There was also no sludge or varnish. The engine had only ever had castrol. I was sold after that. I know there are other great petrolium based oils, but I found something that works. One that I will never use is Quaker State. That oil is mostly wax and will sludge up your engine and cut off oil flow to parts of your engine, thus reducing your engine life. If you change your oil at regular intervals, you should get reasonable service no matter what oil you use.

CentralCoaster · 05-19-2004, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Check out this thread................
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=822800

Thanks for the link... :thumbs:

It seems like all of those guys detest Castrol, but it seems like that's due to it's so-called synthetic products.

I think I will however, consider switching to 10w30 something. I know the benefits of 10w40 weight, but wasn't aware of the downfalls of a wide spread in viscosities.

Chevy Guy · 05-19-2004, 08:34 PM

No sweat. I spent like 2 hours reading that board when I first found it. There is more information than you can digest on that site.

They do beat up on Castrol Synthetics being that they are not "real" synthetics and are kind of deceptively advertised. Their dino oil is pretty well recieved, thats what I use 90% of the time.

[Modified by Chevy Guy, 1:36 AM 5/20/2004]