V10SpeedLuvr
Enthusiast
I just saw a commercial for Mobil 1 Extended Performance oil. "Guaranteed" to last for 15,000 miles. Anyone use this or have any opinions if itd be ok for our Vipers? Thats more miles than almost any Viper sees in a year 
15,000 mile Mobil 1 Oil?
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Joseph Dell
Enthusiast
Regular mobil-1 10-30 will last this long. but it is the filter that needs to be changed every 3-5k. there are numerous sites on the internet that talk about this (and Tom will hopefully pipe up on this one as well) but it isn't the oil you need worry about...
JD
JD
SylvanSRT
Enthusiast
agreed with Joseph, the oil(being the cars life blood) may not degrade to industry standards but it is cheap insurance, especially with a $15,000 engine in these cars or at least a $7,000-8,000 rebuild price. the oil change price even at a dealer of $70-80 is cheap piece of mind as far as i'm concerned.
Tom F&L GoR
Enthusiast
>on soap box< There are many sites that comment on extended drain and I think 75% of the contributors are not technically knowledgeable. Having been at an oil company for 20+ years didn't necessarily make me smarter, but I did get the advantage of seeing thousands of engine and vehicle tests. Although most people have very good intentions, unless you are a fleet owner or oil/additive company employee, you cannot collect the amount of data needed for a sound conclusion. >off soap box<
Changing the filter - next time cut it up and see how plugged it is. Odds are it wasn't. The secret reason for changing the filter to extend oil drains is that it replaces one dirty quart with a clean quart of oil.
Think of oil changes as prescriptions. Do them when you're supposed to and everything is fine. In Europe, 15-18,000 mile oil drains are prescribed by the car company using very specific oil types and done in conjunction with strict service intervals by industry professionals. People buying used cars can see the documented maintenance logs. In the US, you buy a second hand car from Joe Yahoo that changed the air filter once at 112,000 miles and used whatever oil was on sale when the red light came on. How many lease car owners change the oil if they are returning the car? Unfortunately there isn't a good system to instill a greater responsibility for maintenance.
Diesel engine oils are designed (under heavy duty, tractor-trailer situations) to last 40,000-80,000 miles, so 15,000 miles in passenger car use isn't unobtainable. While diesel service is fairly consistent (turn on, drive 60mph for 8 hours, turn off) and fleets have pretty good maintenance practices, gasoline service and care of the vehicle is hugely varied. Therein lies the risk - is the additive formulation robust enough to cover 15,000 miles of *any* kind of service? For ExxonMobil the answer is yes, after assessing the product performance, the risk and cost of failure, the odds of being challenged for insurance claims, and the competitive pressure.
IMHO I think it's still in the "marketing ploy" stage. If an oil company were serious about it they would tie their extended drain into some measure of the vehicle service. I personally like the idea of an oil change every fixed amount of fuel. If you pick 500 gallons, then it's 5000 miles with your 10MPG pickup truck or 15000 miles with your 30 mpg commuter car. The stress on the oil comes from heat, exposure to exhaust, and time - all related to fuel consumed.
You can see I'm twisting this from a technical question into something else. Document what oil you used (brand and specific product) with maintenance logs well enough for someone in the future to feel comfortable to buy your car. I suppose that's the best test.
Changing the filter - next time cut it up and see how plugged it is. Odds are it wasn't. The secret reason for changing the filter to extend oil drains is that it replaces one dirty quart with a clean quart of oil.
Think of oil changes as prescriptions. Do them when you're supposed to and everything is fine. In Europe, 15-18,000 mile oil drains are prescribed by the car company using very specific oil types and done in conjunction with strict service intervals by industry professionals. People buying used cars can see the documented maintenance logs. In the US, you buy a second hand car from Joe Yahoo that changed the air filter once at 112,000 miles and used whatever oil was on sale when the red light came on. How many lease car owners change the oil if they are returning the car? Unfortunately there isn't a good system to instill a greater responsibility for maintenance.
Diesel engine oils are designed (under heavy duty, tractor-trailer situations) to last 40,000-80,000 miles, so 15,000 miles in passenger car use isn't unobtainable. While diesel service is fairly consistent (turn on, drive 60mph for 8 hours, turn off) and fleets have pretty good maintenance practices, gasoline service and care of the vehicle is hugely varied. Therein lies the risk - is the additive formulation robust enough to cover 15,000 miles of *any* kind of service? For ExxonMobil the answer is yes, after assessing the product performance, the risk and cost of failure, the odds of being challenged for insurance claims, and the competitive pressure.
IMHO I think it's still in the "marketing ploy" stage. If an oil company were serious about it they would tie their extended drain into some measure of the vehicle service. I personally like the idea of an oil change every fixed amount of fuel. If you pick 500 gallons, then it's 5000 miles with your 10MPG pickup truck or 15000 miles with your 30 mpg commuter car. The stress on the oil comes from heat, exposure to exhaust, and time - all related to fuel consumed.
You can see I'm twisting this from a technical question into something else. Document what oil you used (brand and specific product) with maintenance logs well enough for someone in the future to feel comfortable to buy your car. I suppose that's the best test.
2000gtsgsxr1000
Enthusiast
Oil gets dirty regardless of how good it is.I wouldn't run 15,000 on any motor.
Finally got it !
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You guys are going to laugh but 240k on my daily driver. Plymouth Breeze. Started using mobil 1 extended about 130k miles ago. All original parts on the motor. Runs like it was new. Oil is never sludged nor is the filter and I go 15k between changes.................
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Joseph Dell
Enthusiast
Not laughing at all. You're actually supporting waht Tom said... it isn't as much about the mileage.
well done!
well done!
VENOMAHOLIC
Enthusiast
IMHO, the 3000 mile rule of thumb was a ploy to sell more motor oil in the first place. I'd bet the 15k mile oil is virtually identical to oil that has been around for years. I do agree with previous posts that on an expensive or racing car that frequent changes are cheap insurance.
On a side note, I have noticed that synthetic oil will work better in cars I have had. The engine lubed up quicker after startup as noticed by quicker time to normal idle speed and smoother running.
On a side note, I have noticed that synthetic oil will work better in cars I have had. The engine lubed up quicker after startup as noticed by quicker time to normal idle speed and smoother running.
I'll give my (never worked for an oil company, but broke a lot of chit) $.02
Oil changes are VERY climate dependant. If your car sits for months at a time during the winter you should change it and filter before you put her up. Start the car and let it get up to full operating temp every week or two. Then come spring change the oil again. It can accumulate a lot of water (reduced by the weekly startups) but still not good for it. Living in SoCal and our fairly tame climate I change it every 4k miles or 4 months, which ever comes first.
Now to really peeve everyone. I think Mobil 1 is a joke. As a synthetic it's mediocre at best with really good marketing. As many tests have shown it's slightly better than a good dino oil. If you REALLY want to do your motor a favor run GOOD synthetic. Be that Royal Purple, Redline, or if you can stomach the price Motul- but way overkill). Use whatever helps you sleep at night, but given the near identical price i'd skip M1 for the good stuff.
Oh and Don't EVER EVER EVER use a fram filter, they are absolute crap.
Oil changes are VERY climate dependant. If your car sits for months at a time during the winter you should change it and filter before you put her up. Start the car and let it get up to full operating temp every week or two. Then come spring change the oil again. It can accumulate a lot of water (reduced by the weekly startups) but still not good for it. Living in SoCal and our fairly tame climate I change it every 4k miles or 4 months, which ever comes first.
Now to really peeve everyone. I think Mobil 1 is a joke. As a synthetic it's mediocre at best with really good marketing. As many tests have shown it's slightly better than a good dino oil. If you REALLY want to do your motor a favor run GOOD synthetic. Be that Royal Purple, Redline, or if you can stomach the price Motul- but way overkill). Use whatever helps you sleep at night, but given the near identical price i'd skip M1 for the good stuff.
Oh and Don't EVER EVER EVER use a fram filter, they are absolute crap.
DanAuito
Enthusiast
I've always used Castrol Syntec full synthetic in previous cars but went with Mobile 1 and a mobile 1 filter as well in the Viper as per factory recommendations. Hey if they filled it from birth with Mobile 1 I think I'll keep doing that!
I agree with Rogue on the quality of Mobil 1. Most versions of Mobil 1 do not even meet the New European oil requirements for HTHS (high temp high shear). The 0W-40 barely makes (3.6 with 3.5 a requirment). All Redline oils make it with room to spare (all in the low to mid 4's). Dino oils don't make the cut. I don't think Royal purple tests to this specification yet but probably will soon. Most big oil companies make a certain synthetic oil that meets this requirement due to many European car warranty requirements but don't widely distribute the oil. Check every oil companies websites and look at the oil Spec sheets. I personally use Redline as the stuff coming out of the Jug is the same as many racers use unlike where Mobil supplies special blends to sponsered racers which have very little in common with the cheaper stuff in the store. Mobil is much cheaper than Redline but is probably good enough for our needs but I guess for the amount I drive my car I would prefer to get the extra insurance of Redline. MGH
