Hey man I work for Valvoline, I worked at the oil change for 4 years, I've seen it all. As much as Ashland would tell you to switch from Maxlife to Synthetic is safe, I wouldn't recommend it. You will most likely start to leak with the Synthetic. I've seen more than enough. Synthetic is so much thinner, and your seals are old and brittle. Just stick with what you vehicle recommends, that's where you'll see the best performance. 5w30,10w30, doesn't really matter unless you live in Alaska. Just go with what they call for, run Maxlife, use a good filter, change it every 3,000. Almost all the oils out there are certified to run in anything. API, GF-3 etc, look for the starburst symbol. As far as the best Oil out there- Synthetic- Mobil1 High Mileage- Valvoline as far as everything else is just about even in comparison.
As far as driving style goes. A conventional oil will break down quicker. Use a semi-synthetic, full sythetic, etc. Change it every 3,000, your problem solved.

 

Has anyone been to the Amsoil website. You find some great info on running synthetic. I've run it in low and high mileage vehicals and never had a leaking problem. On high milage trucks you'll need to change the oil a few more times because the synthetic will clean out all the old deposits. I have had one failure due to deposits cloging an oil passage, but after I opened the motor it was obviously in need of an overhaul. That change over was on a car with 120k mile and serviced at a Penzoil station.

 

Where did this myth about synthetic oil having "magical cleaning properties" start? It sounds a lot like the old "dont run detergent oil in an engine that had used non-detergent oil". Mobil did extensive research that disproved that one.

Just as detergent oils merely added far less deposits to the ones already there, synthetics will not add to the varnish and deposits that may exist in an engine, but cannot remove them. The cleanliness argument for synthetics has to do with high temperature stability of the base oil, not some "miracle" cleaning additive. Unfortunately, the marketing hype is intended to confuse, just like the "friction and wear" statements.

Jim

 

You have got to be kidding me.....Every time someone brings up synthetic oil some Amsoil user will add a message like the one above. This thread was supposed to be about the differences in the listed oils. I ran into problems finding the necessary data so I have temporally abandoned the process.

 

Just felt I had to add a comment on oil (any brand) and advertising/research done by the oil producers.

If you're going to go to an oil brand's own web site to get info on their product, do you really expect to find any negativity about their product?

That's like asking a politician why they should get the job instead of their opponent.
Any company or group that goes through the lab testing processes, comparing one oil to another (or many) is not doing it for free, someone is paying the light bill to have the test run.

I have yet to see any of the oil tests compare more than about ten known oil brands, not a single one compares any more than that. Ever wonder why? The tests are stacked from the get go. Whoever is writing the check wants to be certain that their favorite comes out ahead in the most number of tests. Can't have that happen if this oil is as good in 50% of the tests and that oil is as good in another 50% of the tests.

So don't go to a particular oil companies web site and expect to walk away with unbiases hard core truth about all oils available.

Even opinions from friends/buddies/users of this site are biased in one or more ways. Personality and personal feelings get into every portion of our lives, oil choices are no different. Every one has their favorite(s).

The real truth about oil is that any brand will work well if maintained properly. Please, I'm not comparing quality national brands to private label recycled/filtered cheapo oils. (Although I've had people tell me that's all they've used for years and how wonderful it is) If you don't get too far into to the too light weight or too heavy weight with oil weighs, just about any will work for everyday use.

We get all hyped up over the issues of this oil promises this or that, when the real issue (or at least every bit as important) is PERFORMING REGULAR MAINTENANCE.

I realize I just opened another can of worms, oh well.

 

Sorry BlueRanger, I didn't mean to get your panties ruffled . Your question stated how do the others stack up. My answer was my opinion and experience, and amsoil is another synthetic oil. Now that you have set the playing field; I've run Mobil 1 in my Bronco (my toy) because Its the cheaper and its was more accessible. I've put in Synpower in now and haven't noticed a big difference.

To respond to the "magical cleaning properties", I wasn't reading from a brochure. This was my personal experience. Every time I switch to Amsoil the first few changes are sooner, because the oil darkens faster and I don't like the way it looks. It would loosen up the sludge, I never said anything about varnish.

I never intended this to get out of control, I'm just stating my opinion I'm not a Rep. or Sales person, just a consumer.