Laymaster

Many many moons ago I remember the oil of choice being Mobil 1 synthetic 5w-30 and the place to get the 5 quart jug was Walmart for like $25. I remember over time reading that Mobil 1 synthetic 'lost its luster' and was not as good as it used to be.

What's the current oil of choice to get these days? I also remember that getting the PF35 Purolater filter was the way to go because the 25 series was the size for the LT1 but the 35 was a larger filter so you had more filtering material.

JakeRobb

I still use Mobil 1 synthetic.

Laymaster

I picked up a 5 quart jug of that from Walmart last week. I remember reading a while back that Mobil 1 was not as good as it used to be? I just wound up staying with a proven winner. I'm surprised no one else replied?

Injuneer

There was a guy on this site who was totally into used oil analysis (UOA), and very active on bobistheoilguy site. He determined that the specs for Mobil 1 5W-30 had a viscosity on the hot end (30) that was on the low side of the band that comprised the "30" rating. He found some German-made synthetic Castrol 5W-30 that was supposed to provide superior results, based on UOA.

But all this was at least 10 years ago, and I'd suspect things have changed a lot. I would do some investigation on:

Used Oil Analysis - Bob is the Oil Guy - Bob is the Oil Guy

Not Dave

At least on the motorcycle forums everyone hates oil threads because there's so many and everyone has an opinion.

For the most part Shell Rotella T6 is used by a majority of motorcyclists and I use it in both my BMW K1200GT and Suzuki DR650. It's designed as a diesel truck oil and works marvelously in motorcycles. You can get it at Walmart, Tractor Supply and other places fairly cheap for a synthetic.

Many years ago when Royal Purple came out they made claims of HP gains and such that seemed fantastic. Then someone did a breakdown of what's in RP oil and said it contains things that actually help wear your engine down faster. AMSOIL was the way to go. Mobil1 has apparently lost its luster though it's still a good seller and I used it for a long time too. Recently stopped doing my own oil changes and just let the Chevy dealer put dino in my truck with no ill effects. It has the 5.3 liter with 105,000 miles on it. Doesn't burn a drop.

Oils have gotten pretty good nowadays, even dino oil. Just change it and the filter regularly and you should be good. Synthetics will go longer before breaking down, so they say. If you're in the hard core racing group where thousandths of a second matter then I suppose Red Line or some other expensive racing oil will be the only way to go.