Pretty good stuff a year later.

Yeah, I just got a Mobil1 0w30 oil change in The Beast just the other day. Its still available here in the DC area. It may not be giving me any measurable gains in economy over Mobil1 5w30, but it doesn't cost me anything extra, so why not.

i didn't see the need to start a new thread...

NAPA has a $15 rebate on their adaptive 1 brake pads(hybrid ceramic) right now. i HIGHLY recommend them as both of my cars have had them for more than 2 years and the rotors still look brand new.

also they have NGK platinum spark plugs on sale for $2.49. the going rate that i've seen is 2.99. www.napaonline.com

This is "vanilla" M 1,The EP is more advanced. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfMHOkZYt2Q

[yt]SfMHOkZYt2Q[/yt]

I switched over to 0w-30 on my dodge stratus(1999 2.4L) gradually after I had purchased it used with 90,000 miles or so. I did the SeaFoam in the crankcase and used MaxLife 5w-30 for two or three oil changes, treating my last 100-150 miles with the crankcase applicaition of SeaFoam.

Once I switched over to Mobil 1 0w-30 my MPG went up by about 1-2 over the highway. I used to get 24-25ish on the highway. Then, on a road trip from ATL to Mississippi, I was getting right at 27 MPG after the complete conversion.

Probably it was just the full synthetic and the different base of oil, but other than that, I probably would pull the same MPG with regular 5w-30 Mobil 1. I do like the AFE 0w products though.

My comment is about the video-
I run Mobil 1 in my vx, and change it every 10k. It does in fact look better at 10k than any conventional oil at 3k.
However, I have two quibbles with the video; one is that they used a luxury car for the test. I would have liked to see a working man's car like the ford escort or something. It would have been more realistic.
Two- This car was not driven under normal circumstances with dust, dirt, etc. It saw no contamination of any kind to that oil throughout the test. That is far from the reality of modern cars. Every oil change the oil is full of contaminates from dust, debris, moisture, etc.

That said, I still run it happily.
B

How much dust and debris really gets into a modern engine, and how does it enter?

Well, I suppose it depends on your region. Say you live in the "dust bowl" area or the like, for instance. Inevitably some dust makes it past the air filter. Further, as a car ages, vacuum leaks develop. Such leaks allow unmetered air and feasably dirt/debris. This car never saw 15 year old rubber vacuum lines.
I suppose moisture is the concern where I live. All of those temperature changes and extremes all year round could easily allow moisture to accumulate. The engine never reaches the boiling point thus none of the moisture has an opportunity to get out in the form of vapor.
Lastly is contamination from engine gasses.
I found a good article on this topic here:
https://www.carjunky.com/news/motor_oil/mom4.shtml

My point was that the test car was not driven outside under varying conditions. It was dyno tested under controlled conditions.
B

Though I agree with the 'realism' being left out, its still one of the best synthetics on the market. At least, can be said to be better than anything petroleum based at the molecular level, since its a group IV oil PAO base; instead of a group III synthetic petro base. Then again, if you use conventional or even a synthetic like Valvoline or Pennzoil, as long as you treat your car right and change before it gets down to the bare bones in oil life...you'll be just fine. =) i.e. take care of your car! lol.

For me? I'm going to use a PAO based synthetic, if possible. Especially, not having had a car from day 1 of its use. Its hard to know without breaking down the engine and knowing for sure what is in there. Perhaps oil lab test? I'm not going to want to push for "EP", but if I need to I don't have to stress if I let it slip an extra 1k miles or so. With a conventional, its 3k a must on a car you don't know about.

I'd slide to 4k max with a conventional, if I took care of the car from its first few miles of life. No more, but that still is somewhat brave.

Good oil filter means a lot, too. Which is why if you DO an EP oil, or even push the AFE version here for a while, you could save yourself more worry by just changing the oil filter in between. Like buy 2 Napa gold's for example for the life of the oil change. Say 8-10k miles...and replace the oil filter at 5/6k or so. Since the last of the oil's life will be 'dirtier'.

One question I've always wondered.

Is it really true Mobil1 has markedly less wear protection that other oils?

I've seen reports on Amsoil's website. I know Mobil1 is good for sludge prevention, but is it leaving the engine open to more wear compared to others?