Dali Racing : Library Article : Synthetic Oil? Myth and legend with Mobil1

Dali Racing Article: Synthetic Oil? Myth and legend with Mobil1

Categories :: [ Reviews, Comparisons, and QA ]

What is the scoop?

Hope your sitting comfortably as this is now the long
reply. This will tell you everything you ever needed
(or didnt need) to know :

OK this must be the ultimate explanation on the choice
of the two kinds of Mobil 1: basically, as I read it,
if you are racing, not bothered about fuel
consumption, don't start the car in cold weather, and
or have an older car with oil consumption problems,
use the heavier 15w-50, for the rest of us, 0w-40 is
best. From Mike Frost of Mobil, again:-
MOTORSPORT Club Letter

_______________________
Mobil 1 Myth and Reality

Over the last year our technical department has been
questioned on numerous occasions by enthusiasts of not
only this marque but others in the same category. That
is: High performance, Turbocharged,Race/Rally etc etc
. The sort of vehicles that readers of this journal
will own and cherish. There appears to have been many
Myths reported so I would like to add a touch of
Reality.

Mobil 1 attained a well earned loyalty from those who
used the Mobil 1 5w-50 engine oil. It was after all,
was the ONLY oil that could be used in the original
high performance Escort Cosworth until they made it
more driveable! Its reputation grew and with our
marketing department working hard, the Mobil 1 name is
seen everywhere.

However Mobil appeared to have made a big mistake in
late 1996, it changed the viscosity to a thin 0w-40
from the thick 5w-50 ? The reasoning for this was
quite simply to stay the Worlds Most Advanced
Engine Oil in the current and future production
arena. Manufacturers latest models now have higher
power output with better fuel economy, with smaller
sumps and better streamlining making oil temperatures
higher. Mobil 1 as it was, could have achieved this
but we felt that we needed to take the next step in
technology. Hence the lower viscosity Tri-synthetic
for wider spectrum of performance and utilising
friction additives for fuel economy amongst other
things.The view from the laboratories was that because
this oil is less volatile, more stable, has better
anti wear and is still an SAE 40 at high temperatures
then it
would not present a problem to any vehicle that used
it. This is basically true of all modern design
vehicles including high performance turbo models. We
have some tremendous good news stories of where the
new 0w-40 is being used and all our sponsored cars use
the new off the shelf Mobil 1 0w-40 (with the
exception of Formula 1). Porsche, Mercedes Benz AMG,
Dodge Viper, AC,
Corvette use it as initial fill and Lotus Esprit, BMW
and TVR as the preferred fill .

What we have found through experience, is that there
are many vehicles out there that are certainly non
production, are of higher mileage, that have engines
with larger clearances either through design or wear
in bearings, pumps and piston areas. The difficulties
experienced by some owners are not caused by Mobil 1,
it is a specific engine problem in respect to new
technology low viscosity oils. These models,
predominantly of around 1987 design and 1990
release often need to have a more viscous lubricant
regardless of the oils performance profile. Mobil
states For whatever car you drive on the Mobil 1
0W-40 label, but the owner must ask the question about
the requirements of his car. After all do one size
socks fit everyone comfortably ? If you have a
specific requirement you buy the product that is
designed for the specific task not the product
designed for the mass market. Having said this most
are more than happy and have excellent results with
Mobil 1 0W-40.

Great you say ! But this has excluded some of the very
people that gave Mobil 1 its reputation. To address
this specific need we recommend a newly released
product called
Mobil 1 Motorsport. Aimed squarely at the enthusiast
and race car driver, this oil
is Mobil 1 but in a 15w-50 viscosity. The product is
the nearest you can get to the oil used in Formula 1
and the Indy car series. The viscosity spread of 15w
to 50 is naturally achieved so the product cannot
shear down with excessive use (this is why bikes with
integral gearboxes and clutches like it) and we are
back to the loved SAE 50 at the top end. You may argue
that 15w is too thick for hydraulic tappets but this
grade still flows down to minus 50 degrees
Centigrade and flows far better than conventional 10w
oils at start up. Additionally the users of this oil
are not concerned with Fuel economy or ice cold starts
as the cars are usually under wraps. Current users of
this grade such as Power + in Uxbridge and Brooklyn
Ford in the Midlands use and sell Mobil1 Motorsport to
a growing clientele. So if your cherished car has high
oil consumption, smokes on turbo overrun, has
hydraulic tappets that clatter or has a flickering oil
light on Mobil 1 0W-40 or other lower viscosity oils
then this may just be the answer to your problems. If
you have a query or want to know your nearest stockist
phone free on: 0800 040111

Two other areas of concern are transmission oils and
greases. Using the same technology as Mobil 1 with
fully synthetic base oils we can offer fantastic
protection and durability by comparison to
conventional lubricants.
Mobilube 1 SHC is a gearoil with good synchromesh
performance and it gives great performance in rear
hypoid axles. It has an API GL4 and GL5
classification.
This is used by McLaren F 1 race team Mobil ATF SHC is
a fully synthetic ATF with Mercon, Dexron and ZF
approval.This has shown to give 5 to 6 times product
life in severe applications and is used by both TVR
and Viper for race transmissions. Mobilith SHC 220
Grease is a fully synthetic heavy duty product with a
base oil of a good viscosity to lubricate highly
loaded and high temperature bearings. It is of a
thickness which is suitable for wheel bearing
application and has other attributes such as tackiness
and water repellence which also class it as a good
candidate for automotive applications. Think of grease
as a sponge which holds the oil which lubricates the
bearings. The sponge must stay absorbent to
release and retain the oil . If the sponge breaks down
or an inferior oil is used the component will fail !
This particular grade is used in BTCC and many other
race arenas. To give an indication of its performance
it is also used in bearings which roll molten steel
billets and is used as a bearing grease for
continental 44 tonne truck wheel bearings. A grease is
not just about a single high load test otherwise we
would just use Copperslip with loads of metallic anti
seize addition . A grease must be judged by how
durable it is in extended life, How it reacts
with water, How it affects the seals, The quality of
the base oil used and the working performance of the
soap which holds the oil.

Mike Frost
Mobil / Duckhams Automotive Technical Manager

What should you look for in a Can of Oil ?

Who makes the oil you are using ?
Reputable manufacturers have control of the whole
production process for their lubes. They know what
base oils are being used, whey know the performance of
the additive package and most important of all they
test their own product and can produce the data to
back up any claim they make. The majors also spend
many years developing grades and work closely with the
manufacturers. Cheap and cheerfull grades may stop the
engine from seizing up but just cant compete with the
performance of major oil company grades, even though
the brochures sometimes glow by comparison.
Specifications ?
These nearly all read the same to the untrained eye
and will probably difficult to
interpret. Basically there are three to be concerned
with :
SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) International
standard of Viscosity
API (Association of Petroleum Engineers) Quality level
ACEA (Association of Constructors of European
Automobiles) European quality
level

SAE is alphabetically rated. SG is OK, SH is most
common and of a good level,
SJ is latest spec which preferred grades will be
accredited to.
API is viscosity, I could write an article on this
alone ! Basically the first number
is cold start viscosity and the W means winter
rating. The high number is the
hot viscosity. The trend is to lower viscosities for
both the cold and hot temperatures. The most common
grade at this time is 10w-40. This gives reasonable
cold starts in the British climate and offers good
protection at the hot end of the scale.
ACEA: A is Petrol B is Diesel and E is truck. The A
category goes from 1 to 3.
1=Fuel economy 2= same performance as 1 with no fuel
economy 3=higher viscosity at higher temperature for
performance.

The VITAL consideration is the Base oil. This is the
ingredient that determines the main quality of the
lubricant and some of its major qualities i.e.
sustained high temperature, cold temperature
performance, volatility (evaporative loss),and
resistance to degradation.
Mineral oil is made to a base performance at an
acceptable price.
Semi-synthetic is mineral oil with some re-worked
mineral or a synthetic component added to improve
performance of one or some of the above. There are no
industry standards as to what the makeup of a
semi-synthetic should be.
So beware, are you getting value for all the hype that
surrounds this middle grade oil. In fact many
synthetic oils are just Semi-synthetic with spurious
wording.
Fully Synthetic, usually means just that and the price
is usually a good indicator of the quality of the
synthetic element. Yes there are different synthetics
with varying attributes. The most respected are PAO
(Polyalphaolefin) with Ester, but lets not confuse
you.

Right, what oil do I want for my high performance car
? :
Base Oil : Fully Synthetic for high temperature and
high performance
SAE: They dont like low viscosity so 10w or 15w atcold and 50 when hot
API: SJ
ACEA: A3-96
SOUNDS A LOT LIKE MOBIL 1 MOTORSPORT !

Mike Frost
Mobil / Duckhams Automotive Technical Manager.

I warned you it was long . So top it all off Harvey I
wouls stick some Mobil1 0w/40 in your MR2 . I use it
in my Clio Willy until I turn it into a prdominantly
track day car when I will stick the motorsport stuff
in .