09-21-2007, 01:21 PM
Part of the Mobil 1 issue is the definition of synthetic. Castrol paved the way for using highly refined mineral base stocks and calling them 'synthetic' oils, won a court case, and once the cheaper base stock could legally be used with Synthetic on the label other companies using PAO base stock could not compete price-wise.
The highly refined Group III base stocks are great but slightly less great than 'real' synthetic IMO. I call them 'sorta-syn.' I use a ton of these type of oil, mostly Shell Rotella T Synthetic 5w-40, and I have not had any significant problems. If I had a modded turbo car (more modded than my slightly boosted Saab 9000) I'd probably run something more exotic in that so I felt better about the heat.
I do have a jug or two of M1 15w-50 left over from my old 944 Turbo supplies, I might try it in the 968 one day just to see how it goes. It was a good oil for me when I used it regularly. I have been using the Rotella T in my motorcycle, Audi A8 and 928S4. The price is good and both of the V8s take a lot of oil for a complete change. I just changed the 968 over to it from whatever the PO put in it as well.
Oh, my motorcycle has a dry clutch but with a wet clutch I'd be worried about some of the friction modifiers in some of the newer oils... Rotella I think is not one of those oils but check first and consider using a motorcycle specific formulation if you have a wet clutch. I ran my CBR1000 on Rotella T for a year or so before I sold it, clutch worked fine, but I would hesitate to use a regular car formulation and would double-check Rotella's specs before I pour it into a wet clutch bike.
One thing I like about the Rotella is that it still has a decent amount of ZDP in it. I'm not sure about the cam failures and ZDP problems but since I have used oils with ZDP in them for years and years of enthusiastic driving and riding without oil related problems I'll be one of the last people to abandon it.
-Joel.
The highly refined Group III base stocks are great but slightly less great than 'real' synthetic IMO. I call them 'sorta-syn.' I use a ton of these type of oil, mostly Shell Rotella T Synthetic 5w-40, and I have not had any significant problems. If I had a modded turbo car (more modded than my slightly boosted Saab 9000) I'd probably run something more exotic in that so I felt better about the heat.
I do have a jug or two of M1 15w-50 left over from my old 944 Turbo supplies, I might try it in the 968 one day just to see how it goes. It was a good oil for me when I used it regularly. I have been using the Rotella T in my motorcycle, Audi A8 and 928S4. The price is good and both of the V8s take a lot of oil for a complete change. I just changed the 968 over to it from whatever the PO put in it as well.
Oh, my motorcycle has a dry clutch but with a wet clutch I'd be worried about some of the friction modifiers in some of the newer oils... Rotella I think is not one of those oils but check first and consider using a motorcycle specific formulation if you have a wet clutch. I ran my CBR1000 on Rotella T for a year or so before I sold it, clutch worked fine, but I would hesitate to use a regular car formulation and would double-check Rotella's specs before I pour it into a wet clutch bike.
One thing I like about the Rotella is that it still has a decent amount of ZDP in it. I'm not sure about the cam failures and ZDP problems but since I have used oils with ZDP in them for years and years of enthusiastic driving and riding without oil related problems I'll be one of the last people to abandon it.
-Joel.
