Premium oil ? What do you use ?

[figbat]

None of this guff goes on with military equipment or aircraft that use oil, the industry accreditation applies absolutely.

My experience with military applications is somewhat dated, but back when I was involved in products for military diesel and turbine use, the military specifications were some of the most drawn-out, gilt-edged demands ever! They certainly weren't simply industry demands. I can believe that they may have taken a reality pill and eased off to enable efficiency and availability.

In defense of the OEMs (a little), the oil is now a significant part of the overall efficiency and emissions capability, so they are becoming increasingly application-specific. This is proliferating the spec demands leading to complicated product ranges with restricted use. Many recent OEM requirements are not backward-compatible for older engines, which is a big departure from previous spec updates that were generally OK to use in older engines. They are all heading for 0W-20/0W-16/0W-12 with low HTHS, which enables reduced fuel consumption but doesn't fare well in engines designed for and expecting thicker oils. For example VW have a dye and a chemical marker in their new(ish) 508 00/509 00 oil specification to both help avoid misapplication (green oil should only go in new engines) but also to detect misapplication should it become important.

I could go all day on this topic. I work for one of the well-known oil companies and have done for my whole career, currently closing in on 28 years. The vast majority of that time has been in the R&D function - I have worked on everything from motorcycles to ships.

 

[rogerzilla]

Cars on variable service intervals need oil with extra base and anti-scuffing agent. Those on annual service regimes can normally use anything of the right grade and API/ACEA rating.

For cars NOT on variable service intervals, I've found Mobil 1 0W40 works for most engines, can be had for under £30 for 5 litres in the right place (Costco) and is good at keeping hydraulic tappets quiet. The UK stuff is, I believe, a proper PAO Group IV full synthetic. Most "synthetic" oils have very little synthetic content.

 

[Milzy]

Unfortunately not
Had many many Japanese cars & the only one that ever needed topping up was a MR2 MK3, with the 1ZZ engine, Toyota got that one very wrong, took them 4 years to realise & it cost them a packet.

I used to use Fuchs or Millers. No sports cars at the moment so I couldn't care less. OEM goes in.

 

[figbat]

Cars on variable service intervals need oil with extra base and anti-scuffing agent. Those on annual service regimes can normally use anything of the right grade and API/ACEA rating.

Yes and no. Long life oils do tend to have more ‘base’ (alkaline content, for neutralising acidic degradation products) but they don’t have more “anti-scuffing agent” - this is usually ZDDP which contains zinc. Zinc forms ash when burnt and long life oils (as said earlier) are usually lower ash products to protect DPFs, hence long life oils tend to be lower in ZDDP.

For cars NOT on variable service intervals, I've found Mobil 1 0W40 works for most engines, can be had for under £30 for 5 litres in the right place (Costco) and is good at keeping hydraulic tappets quiet. The UK stuff is, I believe, a proper PAO Group IV full synthetic. Most "synthetic" oils have very little synthetic content.

I would find it highly unlikely that it is full PAO, few oils are these days as it is expensive and group III oils can do most of what a PAO can for less. And all “synthetic” oils have significant synthetic content, so long as you use the appropriate (and agreed) definition of “synthetic”.