AmazonBasic motor oil

[HiSpec]

https://jalopnik.com/heres-how-amazo...ame-1832562073

[JfuckinC]

i watched his penetrating oil tests a while back, i like this guy haha

[ExtraSlow]

I don't think they sell that in Canada do they?

[adam c]

I don't see it on amazon

[HiTempguy1]

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https://jalopnik.com/heres-how-amazo...ame-1832562073

I only have one problem with this test, and that is the assumption being made that thinner is absolutely better when comparing Mobil 1 vs AmazonBasics. Any weight oil has a range of acceptable viscosities it can be. 10W30 at XX*C is is not the exact same viscosity across the board depending on numerous factors. There are just performance requirements the oil needs to meet to be 10W30. In certain situations, thin oil could be worse.

At most, what this shows is synthetic oil is better than conventional, which is the major takeaway. People can keep buying Motul and doing $100+ oil changes, but there is no real scientific basis to do so. All of my race cars get 5w40 rotella t6. Never had a problem, and full load continuous racing for 30 minutes is about as abusive as it can get (in mud, dust, +30*C, and all low speeds compared to on a nice clean fast race track).

The most wear your engine sees is a cold start. Oil should be as thin as possible while providing the necessary sheer strength to prevent bearing contact on the rod/crank bearings. Run thicker oils when temperatures can accumulate and take up any spare temperature capacity the oil has (such as high load, long driving times like racing). Run thinner oils if just daily driving (especially in winter time).

In my 2001 Duramax with 520k kms on it, I normally ran 5w40. Summer time was good, and when towing 14k lbs up a hill and hitting 230*f engine temps, you could watch the oil pressure drop from ~65psi to ~50psi. Figured I'd run 0w40 in the winter, no bueano when towing across the country, full throttle up long hills towing 13k lbs, oil pressure would drop markedly (~40psi when I wanted 60psi). Engine had miles on it, but it really highlights how temperature and running conditions affect case-use.