quote:

---

AMSOIL is proven to be the best! In fact up until about 10-15 years ago many of these manufacturers never even had a synthetic (except Mobil1). They were too busy trying to debunk the benefits of synthetics to the average consumer! Now, technology and competition has forced every major oil manufacturer to have a synthetic, but yet not a single one even comes close to offering the protection that AMSOIL does. In fact, the Castrol Syntec isn't even a 100% pure synthetic. That's right...read on........

CASTROL AND MOBIL GO TO COURT TO BATTLE IT OUT:

Recently, Mobil accused Castrol of reformulating its synthetic by substituting other basestocks in place of its synthetic polyalphaolefins (PAO's). Castrol Syntec is a hydrocracked oil. That's right, Castrol has replaced the PAO synthetic base stock with hydroisomerized petroleum base stock. Hydrocracking, as it's called, is the highest level of petroleum refining. Castrol isn't even a true synthetic yet Castrol ended up winning the battle when the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus ruled that Castrol could still market its oil as "synthetic" despite their new formulation. Basically, they expanded the definition of synthetics to include Group III hydroprocessed petroleum oil. This high profile case took place because synthetics are recognized as the market's best hope for growth. Synthetic oil sales have outpaced petroleum oil sales by a wide margin and the gap continues to widen every year. Consumers are getting smarter and demand the best for their vehicles! Read the full story on the Castrol debacle in our informative articles section. Additionally, just as soon as Castrol won this battle, several other major oil companies jumped in and came up with hydroprocessed motor oils of their own and labeled these products to be "100% synthetic", when they still are primarily Group III hydroprocessed petroleum oils!

---

said by No_Strings :

I can't argue any of this based on a detailed understanding of the molecular structure of complex hydrocarbons, but ...

quote:

---

Synthetic oil is a lubricant consisting of chemical compounds which are artificially made (synthesized) from compounds other than crude oil (petroleum). Synthetic oil is used as a substitute for lubricant refined from petroleum, because it generally provides superior mechanical and chemical properties than those found in traditional mineral oils.

---

quote:

---

A Synthetic or Synthesized material is one that is produced by combining or building individual units into a unified entry. Synthetic base stocks as described above are man-made and tailored to have a controlled molecular structure with predictable properties, unlike mineral base oils which are complex mixtures of naturally occurring hydrocarbons

---

quote:

---

Group III based lubricants are not allowed to be marketed as "synthetic" in any market outside of the USA.

---

quote:

---

Petroleum is a mixture of a very large number of different hydrocarbons; the most commonly found molecules are alkanes (linear or branched), cycloalkanes, aromatic hydrocarbons, or more complicated chemicals like asphaltenes. Each petroleum variety has a unique mix of molecules, which define its physical and chemical properties, like color and viscosity.

---

said by No_Strings :

The last link (on Amsoil's site, so no surprise) compares its product against syn blends and dino oil. Seems like a pretty useless comparison.

quote:

---

AMSOIL Synthetic 10W-30 Motor Oil (ATM) and 10 competing conventional, synthetic and synthetic blend 10W-30 motor oils were subjected to a series of motor oil tests. The competing oils included petroleum-based Castrol GTX, Chevron Supreme, Havoline, Formula Shell and Pennzoil, as well as synthetic-blends Trop Artic and Motorcraft, and full-synthetic Pennzoil Platinum, Quaker State Advanced Full Synthetic and Mobil 1 Extended Performance.

---

said by No_Strings :

Castrol GTX is not advertised as synthetic on their web site. Why not compare against Syntec as an example?

said by The Motor Oil Bible :

---

BASE FLUIDS (BASESTOCKS)

There are two main types of basestocks, petroleum and synthetic. Petroleum basestocks are a purified form of crude oil and have been used as the base for automotive lubricants since motor oils were first being developed.

Synthetic basestocks, on the other hand, are chemically engineered in a lab specifically for the purpose of lubrication. They are engineered from pure compounds that contain no contaminants which must be removed via purification. Synthetic basestocks have been around since the early 1900's but were not widely used in automotive type applications until the 70's.

---

said by The Motor Oil Bible :

---

PSEUDO-SYNTHETIC BASESTOCKS

There are some petroleum lubricants available on the market that are so pure and refined, they can now be passed off as synthetics. They are not made from true synthetic basestocks (at least not in the way that synthetics have traditionally been defined), but they have so little in common with traditional petroleum basestocks, it is really somewhat silly to classify them as merely petroleum lubricants.

Petroleum lubricant basestocks can be put through a super-extreme refining process called hydrocracking. In some cases, as in the case of one particular name-brand "synthetic" oil, these highly refined petroleum basestocks can actually be termed and sold as "synthetic" (Only in the USA). It is completely legal for lubricants manufacturers to label these oils as "synthetic".

These are extremely high performance petroleum basestocks, but they are not truly synthetic the way that most people understand the term and will not necessarily perform to the same level as a premium synthetic oil.

Hydrocracking involves changing the actual structure of many of the lubricant basestock molecules by breaking and fragmenting different molecular structures into far more stable ones.

---

said by The Motor Oil Bible :

---

SYNTHETIC BASESTOCKS

Synthetic lubricant basestocks have very little in common with their petroleum "cousins". They are used for a similar purpose. But, while one is designed specifically for the purpose of lubrication, the other has been simply transformed into something that will adequately do the job.

In fact, the relationship between these two basestock types would be similar to the relationship between a big rock and a hammer. Both can be used to drive nails, but one will be far more effective than the other. A hammer which is designed for driving nails will do so much more efficiently than will a rock.

In addition, the hammer will be able to drive nail after nail without any significant loss in its integrity. The quality of the hammer will degrade very little over time. However, the rock will easily be chipped and cracked when used to pound nails. In fact, you would probably find that after only a few dozen nails, you would need to go find a new rock to pound nails with.

You see, the rock was not designed to pound nails. Of course, you could fashion it into something that looked like a hammer if you like, but it's still a rock. It will work in a pinch, but it is not the right tool for the job. But, along comes "Nail Drivers Inc." with a novel idea. They decide to first determine what the qualities of a good "nail driver" would be. Then they fashion a tool that is specifically designed to have these qualities.

Doesn't it make sense that the new tool will accomplish the job far better than the old rock? The same is true of a synthetic oil when compared to a petroleum oil.

---

said by The Motor Oil Bible :

---

Synthetic vs. Petroleum

Oil is the lifeblood of your vehicle's engine. Without motor oil, there is little likelihood that any of your vehicles would make it past the end of your street each morning. For decades conventional petroleum oils have been providing adequate protection for all of our vehicles.

Notice the key word here: adequate. Petroleum oils, for the most part, have done an adequate job of protecting our engines from break down. If you change it often enough, you can be relatively sure that your car will last 100,000 to 150,000 miles without a serious engine problem - maybe even longer.

My question is this: Why are you settling for adequate when something better has been available for about 30 years? Do you ask your mechanic to simply keep your vehicle from breaking down, or do you want him/her to keep it running in tip-top shape? The fact that you are reading this book suggests the latter.

It is perfectly reasonable to expect top performance from your vehicles. You are certainly paying for it. It's tough to buy a vehicle for less than $15,000 to $20,000 anymore. That's a great deal of money to shell out for adequate performance.

Today's engines are built for better performance, and, although petroleum oils are designed for better protection and performance today than they were 10 or 20 years ago, there is only so much that can be done. Today's engines need high performance lubricants, and synthetics are the only ones that fit the bill.

WHY PETROLEUM OILS ARE INSUFFICIENT

Conventional petroleum oils are insufficient for use in today's vehicles primarily because they are manufactured from a refined substance, as was discussed in Chapter 2. Petroleum oil basestocks contain paraffins (wax), sulfur, nitrogen, oxygen, water, salts and certain metals. All of these contaminants must be refined out of the basestock in order for it to be useful for use within a lubricant.

Unfortunately, no refining process is perfect. Impurities will always remain when any refining process is done. It simply isn't economical to continue to refine the oil again and again to remove more impurities. If this was done, petroleum oils would cost as much as synthetic oils do.

Thus, there are many components of petroleum oil basestocks which are completely unnecessary for protecting your engine. They do absolutely nothing to enhance the lubrication properties of the oil. In fact, most of these contaminants are actually harmful to your oil AND your engine.

---

said by No_Strings :

Again, it all looks like card-stacking - a tried and true propaganda technique, but not science.