Are extreme pressure tests relevant in determining a good engine lubricant?

 

The pressure does not start out as "extreme" and many oils fail at low pressures on this test, but royal purple does not. We are talking about reducing wear on metal parts that do have a significant amount of pressure right? I have seen cams and rocker arms flattened out from wear, (Ford mustang with 85K miles) but my 300ZXTT had 140K miles on her and when I tore her down to rebuild for a stronger bottom end, there was less than .005mm of wear on any parts, according to my machinist, who was pretty damn surprised..... I could not even feel a slight scratch on anything. The cams were measured to "exact" factory specs and I had only one main bearing that showed any slight sign of wear at all. That was the only thing my machinist had to touch, besides over-bore, and just routine planing for the block and heads, which he said showed zero sign of warpage, but he just did it, because that's what he always does on any engine rebuild. I run 25lbs of boost and push that engine very hard. I was amazed when I saw the internals, so I'm sold on royal purple. My friend who owns Specialty Z performance, and runs 9's in the 1/4 mile said he would not use anything else. He is not sponsored by Royal Purple, just very experienced.

 

Note RP and Valvoline are sponsors of Street Commodores and even the deputy editor was asking for public input on the tests they were performing. That said, I believe there is relevance to that test with regard to wear. It seems pretty evident to me.

http://forums.noria.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/616604995/m/8381065241

 

Interesting quote from that forum:

What I was hinting at is the fact that pressure test only tests one aspect of engine oil. RP has a lot of molybdenum so it's strength is in these kinds of metal on metal wear tests, but the test doesn't measure things like acid/contaminant absorption capacity, shear/oxidation stability, rust prevention, etc. that are important parts of high-quality oil. This is not to say the RP is inferior in this regard--I haven't seen a truly independent test that objectively analyzes each brand. If someone has seen one, it'd be great if you can point me in that direction.

 

HI,What weight are you talking about??That also will make a difference..

 

20W-50 for the AZ desert summer and 10w-40 in winter. It never gets below 32 degrees out here. Winter is like spring in most states. The EPA wants us to use 0-40 because it will give you better fuel economy, but does not protect our bearings as well. They also claim Zinc and Phosphorus are cat destroyers, but they are great anti-wear additives. I would rather replace a cat than a motor any day. The NOACK test is an important test to determine break-down of the components of the oil, and Amsoil dominates here. Some oil manufacturers are getting away from the API stamp of approval that mainly protects the environment, not out engines. You will see some labels state for off-road use only to avoid these limitations that have been placed on oils. They also want us to go longer between oil changes for environmental protection, but again, that may not be best for our engines. I have read that the older SJ oils that may have higher zinc and phosphorus are better for our engines, and Mobil 1 is actually trying to go back to their old ways of making oil with those compounds, but may loose the "stamp" because you may have a little worse fuel economy. It is worth noting that these new API guidelines do not need apply to “racing,” “severe duty,” or any motor oils that do not carry an API “starburst” seal or clearly state for off-road-use only. Motor oils meeting “Energy Conserving I or II” standards should be avoided as well as those with an API SM or ILSAC GF-4 classifications. Royal purple is still a SJ oil, like we had in our air cooled Porsches that did very well. Do some research. It is interesting.

 

HI,Thanks for your info...In my rsearch the best 20w50 0il and 10w40 oil has been th Mobil V-twin and Mobil motorcycle racing oils...As far as additive packages,,,you can look that up at Mobil and compare it to your Royal Purples specs....I have seen back to back tests comparing it to others in my motorcycle racing publications...Dont get me me wrong,,once you get to a 20w50 and in most cases a 10w40,,they all do have better additive packages then the newer oils becausce they do not fall in to the newer car recomendations for fuel milage and cat life,as motorcycle and diesel oils dont either...Also the heavier weight is more so for protection also.....When I competed in Daytona at the AMIs Dyno shoot-outs with my motorcycle,,Royal Purple gave me free oil because I was the top winner in my class every year I competed.......Just sharing what I know and think.......

 

Yep, 20w-50 gives those bearings more cushion for sure. Wow what cycle do you have and how many horses? I saw a Big Boy or (Fat Boy) the other day with a Chevy 350 and Nitrous driving around here a few wks ago. I thought the doors were gonna rattle off the store fronts when it drove by. That is a monster. As far as the oil deal. Since I have been doing more research, I'm actually thinking of switching to Amsoil, but I'm not sure what they charge. I'll look into the Mobil V-twin as well...Haven't researched that either. Royal Purples only weakness is that NOACK test, so you would need more frequent oil changes. That's why I use mobile 1 in my daily drivers. I did notice Royal Purple says for cars 2001 and older to avoid the new car regulations.

 

Are you people really making oil decisions based on marketing spin and 'bearing cushion' concepts?!?!?!

A UOA to see what wear metals look like would be the trick, no?

 

http://www.synzilla.com/articles/noa..._lucas_oil.htm

RP did not fail the NOACK at 11.2 for the 10W-30. Look at Lucas...That sucks! Valvoline ZR1 just says less than 15%, but has plenty of Zinc and Phosphorus that we should be looking for. Mobile 1 is not bad at all around 9%. So many factors to compare! I'm really starting to steer towards Amsoil 5.70% for the 10W-30. They did very well in the other tests I have reviewed as well.

 

If you want deep, this is for you, http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/motor-oil-101/

 

Put Some royal purple 10 w30 in on Sunday . Runs very smooth. I will say i dident have the normal Cold Start Rattle .

 

I think you can't go wrong with Royal Purple. I have that in my high HP cars, and have no lifter knock and as I stated B4, when I tore down my 140K VG30DETT, I had no sign of wear at all. I was amazed. All this talk about oils has made me question if I'm using the right oil, but I really can't find a reason to switch from Royal Purple. I think I'm going to stick with it, unless I see some real unbiased data that changes my mind. Glad to hear you got rid of your cold start rattle.

I did try Redline for my tranny once, and drained the 80 bucks worth of that stuff back out in less than 2 wks. I went right back to Mobile 1 for my tranny. My shifts felt like rubbing gears made of sand paper. I hate that stuff. I never tried the motor oil B4 though. Doubt I ever will.

 

What weight RP do you use?

 

20w-50 mostly. I use 10w-40 for "winter" here in Tucson. I have not put any in the 996TT yet, but had it in my 615HP 300ZXTT for many years. I'm thinking of going with the 10W-30, or 10W-40 for the Porsche maybe this wk. end.

Funny I saw this thread and his cams looked like mine! I guess I'm not the only one who was surprised. Funny to the other guy in the post trying to down play RP is suggesting the worst kind of oils I stated above.(Some oils may loose the API "stamp" because you may have a little worse fuel economy. It is worth noting that these new API guidelines do not need apply to “racing,” “severe duty,” or any motor oils that do not carry an API “starburst” seal or clearly state for off-road-use only. Motor oils meeting “Energy Conserving I or II” standards should be avoided as well as those with an API SM or ILSAC GF-4 classifications. Royal purple is still a SJ oil, like we had in our air cooled Porsches that did very well. Do some research. It is interesting. 09-29-2011 08:36 PM)

The Oil Analysis from Blackstone is a cool thing to see.

Here is the thread: http://www.moddedmustangs.com/forums...ustang-gt.html