VicFirth

FWIW, HPL uses diester (adipate) and not POE.

Guy had 117k on 17 V6 Colorado. Started consuming oil between oil changes after running Mobil 1 and Pennzoil Platinum all its life. Switched to Valvoline Restore and Protect and it stopped. I can't speak on the Mobil 1 Triple Action as that is a new formulation, but some of the Extended Performance oils from the prior version didn't have the solvency to keep piston rings as clean as I would have expected. Valvoline Restore continues to impress. Had this guy used Red Line, Amsoil SS, HPL, the piston rings would have arguably better in better shape. I'm speculating of course. HPL is touted as having the most solvency of any synthetic. No idea if true. It's loaded with a lot of additives though.

I read Mobil 1 ESP 5w30 could be using mPAO and a diblock polymer. https://www.infineuminsight.com/en-gb/articles/the-diblock-advantage/ In this series, the Mobil 1 held its viscosity the best.

A comparison of Mobil 1 0w-40 oils. Notice the 0w40 SP FS has an oxidation value of 8.7. The others are upper 30's. Also, note the before and after shear stability (Viscosity @ 100C). The ESP X3, C40 GT are more shear stable than FS 0w40 and Supercar 0w40. However, three of them have some type of group v while the FS 0w40 does not. The Mobil 1 0w40's with ester look like great oils.

Skip to 10:50 "We do use base oils for sure in this group V area."

If we go by what virgin oxidations show, Red Line followed by Amsoil SS have the highest values. There are so many esters its hard to know which ones they are using. I've seen rumors suggesting Amsoil uses proprietary esters from Croda. I have no way of proving so who knows.

Yeah unfortunately that was his response what I posted above. If Dave G. was there I'd be able to find out. He was the guy that told me some grades of Red Line use up to 40% POE. I think there was a tweak recently. The only main difference is the mg level. There was a 2022 or so FTIR done on the ROC site which showed Noack 4.7% for Red Line 5w30 Euro. Substantial POE

High Performance.

I just received this from Red Line FYI

B/S Labs finally getting with the program. Also, notice in the Red Line UOA that TAN>TBN. Oil is shot and now acidic.

Just based on what I've seen so far I don't think the newer stuff keeps engines as clean. I say this based on miscellaneous photos and videos over the last few years, some from Engineering Explained when they visited XOM. There was an individual that ran nothing but Mobil 1 0w20 EP (SN+) version for 50k miles. He put HPL in and found a lot of carbon in oil filter. That particular iteration of Mobil 1 was mostly PAO and probably had a dash of AN if I had to guess. Not enough to keep engine internals pristine. The modern approach seems to be keep oxidation at bay as long as possible but reduce detergents and solvency.

I remember the days of Bryn Mawr Stereo. My dad was a big audiophile always having the latest and best stereo equipment. I miss that place.

For the longest time the wording Mobil used on their PDS was interesting. For the EP and regular Mobil 1 they would state "high performance base oils". However, for the 0w40 which at the time had a virgin oxidation reading of 36 because of POE, they used the words "Ultra-high performance base oils". In other words, the ULTRA high end base oils are the group V. Mobil 1 0w40 SP now has an oxidation value of 10 while Mobil 1 0w40 GT, ESPx3 and 4 are still mid 30's. But as shown above, Mobil ventured into the cosmetic industry and also started using bio sourced materials for the current Triple Action line. So it's really hard to know what is what and what is best....

I find it interesting that they save the Group V for SS. All of their other oils excluding Dominator, show oxidation values <12. This suggests to me that it's about cost cutting. I could be wrong so don't hold me to that lol.

What I like about Red Line though is they really don't bullshit at all. They state their oils are PAO and Ester and they are. In fact in 2022 or 2023 they switched to an even better PAO. Per MSDS the % of PAO is 60-70% so plenty of room for signficant POE. I also like their response was that basically they use the same PAO and Ester base stock blend across their Euro and HP line with the only differences being additive levels and combinations. They also heavily fortify. Now if sulphated ash is as much of a problem as some say, then maybe HPL and Red Line aren't ideal for all engines but I think that is up for debate.