Bobby Likis: Is Royal Purple Worth It?

Auto Expert Bobby Likis & caller Pete get down to the apples-to-apples comparison. So is it Mobil 1, Red Line, Amsoil, Royal Purple or Brand X. Take a listen & get a lesson in synthetic oils.

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[joeysways]

I think you should change it every 3000 for sure...

[LieKiller]

@kief4diamonds No Lucas type additive in Royal Purple. Royal Purple is the real deal while Lucas is nothing special. From what I have gathered the magic to Royal Purple is their Synerlec additive, which is simply a sulfurized monoester added in small quantities. The sulfur component boosts the oil's anti-wear performance while the ester component draws it to the metals of the engine through an oxygen-oxygen polar attraction.

[67bird1177]

Afton, Infineum, Lubrizol, & RohMax. I doubt there is ANY motor oil you can buy that doesn't have additives from at least two of those companies in it. As Mr. Likis says, you are buying 3/4 of a base oil (probably sourced from ExxonMobil, Sunoco, or one of the few other refineries) 1/4 of additives (which are blended amounts mostly from the 4 companies mentioned at the first). Most oil "brands" are just blending/packaging facilities.

[waliagovind]

Mobil 1 will run just fine. It is a very good oil. No need for snake oils. Just do regular oil changes as suggested by your car manufacture and you are good to go. My cars have lasted over 400k with plain old oil. It just got regular oil changes. Any major oil manufacture that meets the certification for your car is good enough.

[kief4diamonds]

@LieKiller I like that you get technical....some of us actually know what your talking about and enjoy going a little more in depth. thanks. i will use nothing but until something better comes out......added a catch can and there filter. car should love it. change it ever 3000 on the dot or before like always...valvetrain is quiet as a mouse even after the cam, supercharger and drag racing.

[LieKiller]

@Terry50031 Amsoil's claim as "The First in Synthetics" was handed to them on a silver platter by Hatco, who formulated and produced Amsoil's motor oils for their first 10 years or so. Amsoil's first offering was a Hatco produced diester oil. Amsoil now uses PAO, a cheaper alternative. Red Line uses the best base stocks out there (i.e. polyol ester) and has one of the most robust anti-wear/anti-friction additive packages on the market.

[LieKiller]

@EasternEb58 Only true if you switch to a synthetic oil with poor seal swell characteristics. Any straight group III or group IV (PAO) oil exhibit those tendencies. Synthetic oil's containing an ester or alkylated napthelene (high polarity) component will prevent seal "dehydration".

[LieKiller]

@GTVAlfaMan There's plenty of synthetic oils out there with low viscosity indices and thus poor cold start performance in regularly seen cold start temps (0-100 degrees F).

[LieKiller]

Royal Purple is good stuff. PAO base stocks, group II additive carrier (AFAIK), nice additive package, and a shot of their Synerlec sulfurized ester. It should be noted that Royal Purple's new API SN/ILSAC GF-5 line no longer carries those elevated ZDDP levels or the Synerlec additive due to the lower sulfated ash quantities mandated by GF-5 and the API. Now you have to get Royal Purple's HPS line to get the old school Synerlec containing motor oils.

[LieKiller]

Royal Purple filters are recommended to go 12,000 miles themselves using a "micro-glass" media which is basically identical to Donaldson's Synteq nanofiber wire backed glass media.

There's no point in changing a Royal Purple filter at 6,000 miles other than to add that extra quart of oil for a TBN boost. If that's the concern there's STILL no need to change a $15 filter at half of its design life, just extract a quart and replenish with a new quart.

[kief4diamonds]

the fact that the royal purple made it last for 12k miles up to 200,000 miles.....wow. royal purple has shown why they are better. they basically have a lucas type additive in it i believe.