This is a repost of some stuff going on in an oil change thread, but it didn't get a response from Tom there so rather than hijack that one, here's the question:
I have been told that the standards and measures for qualifying/defining synthetic oils has changed. E.g. certain additives like zinc have been eliminated or reduced. My sources (none of whom are petrochemists so they're probably just repeating stuff told to them) say that most brands (including Mobil 1) have reformulated over the past 2-3 years to comply with the new specs and that the reformulated stuff meets the spec but isn't as protective as it once was.
They also tell the story that the Joe Gibbs oil has been formulated with these additives and more....somewhat like the European-spec Mobil 1 but - again allegedly - even more. Its stupid expensive but was the attribution for Joe Gibbs Racing's success a few years back.....their motors just held up better at the end of the races and they won a disproportionate number of events until everyone caught on.
Tom, if you're out there please let us know what you know. It could be all part of the Gibb's Oil propaganda machine or it could be that some things shifted (e..g for environmental reasons) covertly and none of us really know about the changes.
I have been told that the standards and measures for qualifying/defining synthetic oils has changed. E.g. certain additives like zinc have been eliminated or reduced. My sources (none of whom are petrochemists so they're probably just repeating stuff told to them) say that most brands (including Mobil 1) have reformulated over the past 2-3 years to comply with the new specs and that the reformulated stuff meets the spec but isn't as protective as it once was.
They also tell the story that the Joe Gibbs oil has been formulated with these additives and more....somewhat like the European-spec Mobil 1 but - again allegedly - even more. Its stupid expensive but was the attribution for Joe Gibbs Racing's success a few years back.....their motors just held up better at the end of the races and they won a disproportionate number of events until everyone caught on.
Tom, if you're out there please let us know what you know. It could be all part of the Gibb's Oil propaganda machine or it could be that some things shifted (e..g for environmental reasons) covertly and none of us really know about the changes.