Regular Royal Purple is not the right stuff you need the racing blend.

Mobil 1 15w50 in 914's and 911.

But will go to Brad Penn when I can afford a Raby engine.

I would agree that different brands of oils are better than others. I dont know if this type of test has been done but it would be interesting to see the wear on an engine with oil changes every 1500 miles with oil that costs half the money of a more expensive oil done every 3000 miles. End result is same cost but you have a cleaner oil inside you engine....

I did an oil change on my ??? 1.7 with FI, I used Brad Penn 20/50 from GPR. The car runs better with the Penn than it ever has.

.............well this survey is an all or nothing , eighter or...dino. or synthitic...NOT what I do......many years ago I did some dynomenter testing with oils of different brands. What was reveled thru these tests was: VALVOLINE OIL 20-w -50....allowed the engine to produce 1.5 MORE H.P. than any other brand.(this was on a 150 h.p. mule engine which we used for practice-and we had a lot of time on it even before the tests were performed.).None the less VALVOLINE gave us a free 1.5 H.P.....MY PERSONAL PREFERENCE is; VALVOLINE 20-w-50, then add 1/2 Quart pure silicone engine oil, and then 1/2 quart of molybelium disulfide-motorcycle racing oil (20-w-50)..I have used this combination for MANY MANY years on every car I have owned., AND with complete success. The silicone engine oil will soften the engine seals, preventing them from cooking , and leaking.keeps them soft. The moly engine oil coats and impregnates soft metal(the bearings) as well as other moving parts, and high load parts , such as rocker arm shafts etc. I believe it,s especially good on hydrolic lifters in street cars.(never had a lifter problem). I do not recommend a pure synthetic-only-engine oil use.(except possably in a race engine application only)., You need the dino -oil to clean and absorb the by-products of the combustion processes. Pure synthetic however can lower the engine temperature by as much as 10 degrees...A Pure synthetic only use can cause internal parts to RUST if left , without use for a long period of time. Valvoline 20-w-50 is my choise.

...and guess what? Every one of those oils has changed since 2002.

What worked for years all of a sudden became the worst possible choice, the oil companies didn't have to tell us what they changed or when they changed it.

Huh? Synthetic cleans way better than DINO, that was the whole point of it really. It has a higher flash point, and won't turn to sludge like dino will if over heated. I've always used Valvolene as well, don't get me wrong, but since the ZDDP is gone out of it, it's no longer safe for pushrod motors. I use a high mileage blend now, but my motor is old and tired and not worth spending the extra for brad penn or Royal purple. The Valvolene racing 20/50 has ZDDP, but that stuff sure didn't stay very clean.

.............well as you said , you have an older engine....and the reason the oil didn't stay very clean (for very long) is ....it was cleaning the combustion residue out of the engine. In an engine with piston rings that are sealing properly,good valve guides, etc...VALVOLINE oil will stay "clear for a reasonable period of time. Humidity, and water accumulation in the engine also causes oil to turn darker.I would disagree that synthetic oils clean better.

I know some folks that swear by the Valvoline racing oil, which I believe still have the zinc content. But the packaging on it used to state "not for street use" and it was just as hard to find as the Brad Penn. So I just use the Brad Penn.

Zach

No, its cause valvoline racing does not have enough detergent in it. The syn blend valvoline stays clear for a long time.

Interesting thread I've learned a lot.Just found a Brad Penn vendor 1/2 hr away.Picking up a case tomorrow.Why argue the reasearch just buy it and be happy.Go with what is known to work best and be thankful someone told you about it.

bradpenn 20W-50 for my car. has high ZDDP levels and it is semisynthetic (need to add semi-synthetic to the poll options)

gets good oil pressure even when hot. good stuff per many test results



failing that, i use regular oil in a pinch, but add stp red bottle for teh ZDDP content. but usually the air cooled cars in my care get brad penn.

I went to all the local area auto parts places looking for the STP Red bottled oil treatment...guess what? all said "we no longer carry that, we had to return alll we had on hand and can no longer sell it" Finally the last place I looked had a guy working there that said "modern engines no longer need ZDDP for wear protection" I explained why I wanted it and he informed me the only place I could get it would be at a closeout store called BIG LOTs but that I should hurry because it would be the last. I found a Big Lots and they had 16 bottles of the STP Red for $1.50 each. I, of course, bought it all