In colorado, there are still sinclair stations, and they stil lhave green dinosaurs in front. *NM*

I read somewhere that Castrol Syntec 5w40 is better than Mobil 0W40, unless the car is being driven in really cold temps (mine's in storage when it's sub-zero).

Apparently, Syntec (or whatever it's now called) has more of some good additive(s). Also, the bigger the spread in the viscosity range, the worse the oil is. Maybe it breaks down faster? I can't recall.

1. So, is Syntec 5w40 better than Mobil 0W40, assuming the car isn't being driven in freezing temps?

Second - other less mainstream (in NA) oils... 'Total' is growing in popularity here, and then there are boutique oils I've read about in Excellence, etc, the names of which I can't even recall.

2. So, is there a an superior to Mobil or Syntec - whether it's Total or some other brand?

When I refer to 'superior' (and we might all have our own definition), I'm considering application in these conditions - oil changes semi-annually, about every 5000 miles, some short stop and go, some highway, some redlne, no racing, no super-hot ambient temps.

All views are welcome - those supported by empirical data are probably most helpful.

Have at 'er.

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com

The only oil my mechanic uses is Motul which I've read is the next grade above Castrol and Mobil 1. My mechanic races, certified porche, mercedes and audi tech and swears by this stuff. Pricey but I sleep better changing it out every 5000 miles.

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com

Quote
Ruby
The only oil my mechanic uses is Motul which I've read is the next grade above Castrol and Mobil 1. My mechanic races, certified porche, mercedes and audi tech and swears by this stuff. Pricey but I sleep better changing it out every 5000 miles.

Never knew you had to change oil on porches. Wouldn't that make them slippery and dangerous?

Well, I guess to get seriously experted, the obviously best solution is to use 3.75 litres (might as well use CDN spelling) of Mobile 1 0W40 and 3.75 litres of Castrol Syntec 5w40. Keeps it simple and you've got all your bases (or is that pistons) covered.

That oil combo would also be good for an additional 7.38 iHP as per the dino test.

Sinclair Oil's exhibit at the 64 NY World's Fair had a statue of their saurian logo, maybe 20 feet long. When the fair ended, the statue showed up on somebody's lawn in Staten Island and stayed there for many years. I couldn't find a picture of it, but here's a larger version:
[aoghs.org]

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com

This might do the job:
[cdn.brobible.com]

Use any of the above-mentioned oils and your car will be fine, even if you follow the recommended oil change intervals of 15k miles.

If you track the car then maybe do it more often.

Oil is not a big factor unless you're using the totally wrong thing.

oil with 5K mile change intervals. The engine runs just fine. My 996 Turbo has just a few miles short of 120K miles on its engine running Mobil 1 0w-40 oil with 5K mile oil changes (save one time I forgot and run the oil 10K miles!) since I bought it with 10K miles on the clock. The engine runs just fine.

There's a 996 Turbo with around 400K miles on its engine the owner recently dropped the engine to address some leaks and rebuild what he believed to be an engine in need of a rebuild. Upon teardown he and his mechanic found no measurable wear at any of the bearing interfaces. Main, rod bearings ok, along with the cylinders and pistons even the cam lobes and buckets were fine. Oh, the oil: Mobil 1 0w-40.

If you have an aversion to Mobil 1 0w-40 there are many 5w-40 oils (and probably (I haven't checked though) at least one 5w-50 oil) available from various makers that are approved to chose from. I just got a current approved oils list from a tech and scanned it into a PDF file but I left the printed copy on my work desk and the digital copy on my work PC so i can't post it until next week.

Note one problem with using a boutique oil, even an approved one, is the approval can go away/expire or the oil can go away. Case in point there seems to be a strong desire to run a 'turbo diesel' oil in 996 Turbo engines. There is one approved turbo diesel oil, Esso Ultron Turbo Diesel 5w-40 oil that is spec'd WW (world wide in Porsche speak). However, a bit of research turns up this oil's market is in Russia and the word I read from those sites which give some English along with the Russian is Esso is going to discontinue this oil shortly. The approval expires June of this year, too.