Ok---I decided to run Mobil one Syntehtic in my wife's new P5. I went today and bought it and had a few choices I wasn't expecting. I wanted to by the 5 quart jug at walmart for $17. However, all they had was 10W30 which was fine. Except the bottle said on the bottom "For higher mileage vehicles." that didn't set well with me. I mean, the 10W30 is fine, but not if Mobil 1's version is geared for higher milage vehicles. So, I had to buy 4 quarts of 5W30 that is for "Newer vehicles."

So, did I fall into marketing's scam and become worried about what they say it's geared for--higer mileage vs. newer vehicles? Or is it true that there 10W30 is really for higher mileage vehicles?

The other thing is that I know that Mobil 1 switched to a blend a few months ago--that's might be why my 5W30 says "NEW SYPERSYN." On the bottom it also says "FULLY SYNTHETIC MOTOR OIL."

Can someone shed light on this? I really want to get that big 5 qyart jug for $17 but they don't seem to make it in anything but 10W30 which Mobil 1 claims is made for older, higher mileage vehicles.


Anyone?

Thanks,
Curt B. Shumaker

 

I had the same little predicament when they changed over to the "SuperSyn" forumla. I had been using 10W30 Mobil 1 for quite some time before then. I just ignored the new reccomendation (if you call it that) and went ahead and bought the 10W30 anyway. That's what the owner's manual says anyway.

If you haven't changed your oil yet, try to exchange it for some 10W30 if you can. If you already put it in, I wouldn't worry too much because the only difference is that 5W30 is not as thick as 10W30.

 

The manual doesn't say to specifically use 10W30---I read it three times and my wife read it twice. It gives you a range. If you operate the car in this temp. range then use this. For 5W30 it's around, or slightly below, 0 degrees all the way up to around 100. It's never above 90 here, so 5W30 will be fine until the next change. Then I'll swap in the 10W30.

Maybe I don't want to do that....because then it will be cold outside--winter. Having a "5" weight vs. a "10" when the car is cold would be nice if it's freezing outside. Maybe I'll keep this batch of 5W30 for the winter and go back and buy the 10W30 to use for now.


Ahhh, it's just god damn oil

Curt B. Shumaker

 

add 10W30 to your list too....I saw it with my own two eyes.

 

i live in texas where summers are SO HOT and my car shows the heat... what could help it run at lower temps? thicker weight oil?

 

My wally world stopped carrying the 5qt jugs.
I miss the $$ saved.
Never payed much attention to the marketing bullshit they print on the label.

 

Actually, one of the benefits of synthetic oil, is that it does not get affected by temperature extremes like 'regular' oils; doesn't thin out when hot and doesn't thicken up in the cold. Therefore it would be fine to run 10W30 Synthetic all year around, with no need to change viscosities.

 

Mobil is a Group IV PAO basestock, though they did reformulate to meet the SL specs.

The claims about 10W-30 vs. 5W-30 and what type of vehicle they are for are all marketing B.S. At operating temperature, the difference between the 5W-30 and 10W-30 is .1 cSt, which is inconsequential.

The oil recomendations in the owners manual are based on conventional oils. Like Sledgehammer said, synthetic oils are much more stable and capable of use over a much wider temperature range. There is nothing wrong with using either a 5W-30 or 10W-30 year round no matter where you live, though if you're up north the 5W-30 will give you better fuel economy over short distances, and would be preferable overall.

 

A high quality synthetic 10W-30 oil would help your car run the coolest in the heat. Anything "thicker" than that, for instance a 15W-50, could be counterproductive. Using a higher viscosity oil in an engine not designed for it, can lead to higher oil pressures, which also means higher oil temperatures. Further complicating the issue, the "thicker" oil does not flow at the same volume as the recommended 30 wt. oil, meaning the oil acts as a heat sink and is slower to move away from the hotter portions of the engine to cooler areas creating a higher overall oil temperature.

All oils that are classed as a 30wt. are not equal, there is an allowable range that the oil must fall into to meet this classification, specifically, 9.3-12.5 cSt. The higher the number, the more viscous the oil is. For your purposes, for maximum protection, you would want to choose the oil that is the thickest 30 wt. out there. Here's how some of the popular brands stack up in this regard:

Amsoil 10W-30 = 11.9
Mobil 1 10W-30 = 9.8
Redline 10W-30 = 11.0
Shell 10W-30 = 10.41
Valvoline Synpower = 11.5

Of course, there's a lot more to what makes a quality oil, but this is a start.

 

The research I have been doing recommends the mobile1 synthetic 10w40 over the 10w30 for our p5's because of viscosity breakdown. I plan on running 10w40 when I get to my first oil change interval.

 

I like using the Synthetic 5W30 in winter as it is a great help when I have to start at -30° C and the car has been sitting all day at work. Gets pretty cold out here in Alberta where I have seen it drop 20° C in a couple of hours. I've been using it in my '88 323 for years now and it's been great. My next oil change in the P5 will be synthetic Mobil 1, 5W30. I'll probably stick with that year round after that.

I'm also changing out the tranny fluid to MT90 after reading all the posts on it on this board.

 

when i did my first oil change in feburary, i did mobil 1 0w30 full syn. i ran it all summer. took two trips from here in NC to florida during the summer, 3 trips to williamsburg virginia, which is about a 5 hour drive, a trip to atlanta, and ran around a few other places. a few oil changes later and about 10,000 miles later, never did my car even reach the middle of the temp gauge. i just did another oil change, and went with 5w30, because i accidently bought it instead of 0w30. so far i see no differences at all. gas milage is the same. temps are the same as before. i see no difference in reving or anything. personally ill probably go back to the 0w30 in the end, because where i go to school at, we have really weird winters. in the middle of the day it can be 50 or 60F, and at night drop down well below 0F. and then sometimes we have days or weeks where with the wind chill it never gets above 0F. and if there is snow on the ground, my car may not move for weeks at a time. with the mixture of cold temps, and my sitting so freakin long some times without moving i really like the idea of having the 0w30 in my car when i finally get around to starting it up.

 

Wow, did not even know that they made a 0W30. How is that possible? A zero weight oil. What's the point? Or does that mean you have no oil

 

The 0W designation just means the oil meets a certain flow criteria at -35C, a 5W has to meet certain criteria at -30, 10W at -25 etc...

 

Where are you finding Mobil 1 10W-40??