Oil testing – interesting read

[Chris Fountain]

One of the members in my other autocross club posted this today. While it’s not specifically autocross info, it’s worth a look IMO.

Some interesting, data backed info including data challenging and clarifing some of the commonly accepted thoughts about oil weights, additives and oil change intervals. Warning, It’s a bit of a slog if you’re not into auto related data and I can’t provide any input on the validity of the data or competency of the researcher.

‘https://540ratblog.wordpress.com/2013/06/20/motor-oil-wear-test-ranking/

[Andy Daniels]

Thanks, Chris! There’s some interesting stuff buried in there. Looks like the Redline we’ve been using rates fairly highly in his tests. Phew! Something I found interesting and a bit surprising is how much variation there can be within a brand.

Too bad the blog reads like a stereotypical crank’s manifesto, complete with repetition and idiosyncratic capitalization. He also uses way too much space defending (rather weakly, I might say) his methods and results with anecdotes, testimonials and appeals to authority.

[Tom Freeman]

Really interesting stuff, and a different tone than what I’m used to reading about oil testing on BITOG.

That guy needs an editor. The aforementioned wacky capitalization, oddball formatting, and other strangeness makes it tough to read his content. He also likely needs a very large room to keep his ego. Any time someone does that much chest beating about how right they are, I’m a bit skeptical.

I will say that there does appear to be lots of real-appearing data. I’m fascinated by the fact that he threw in the test results of numerous oils with third party additive packages. After reading tons of articles about how products like “Slick 50” and “Z-Max” are snake oil, I had written off pretty much all oil additives. I guess I’ll have to do a bit more research on some of the products on the market now.

FWIW, I do care about motor oil, as I’d like the original S52 in my M3 to last for a while. It has 158K, and I drive it like I stole it almost every time I get in the car (after the oil gets up to temp, of course).

I’m running Liqui Moly RaceTech GT1 10W-60 based off of the recommendation of the car’s previous owner (Adrian Radu). Yeah, I know…that’s S54 oil, but I’ve read some good things about using it in S52s that are driven hard. I’m hoping it is my “ounce of prevention.”

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