Originally Posted by
dls11b8
Can you provide a source to support that statement? I'm genuinely curious, not trying to call you out.
Calling M1 products not 100% synthetic is an old argument that dates back at least 10 years ago when M1 apparently filed suit against Castrol for using the fully synthetic terminology when they were using some Group III.
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums...Number=1029178
http://www.machinerylubrication.com/...ase-oil-groups
I believe the courts ruled this was fine to do and it opened the doors for most all the major synthetic companies like M1, Castrol, Pennzoil, Valvoline, etc to indeed blend in some Group III basestocks and still call their oils fully synthetic.
So yes, they all still are considered under the US Law as fully synthetic (M1, Castrol, etc).
There are different kinds of synthetic base stocks such as Group III, Group IV, and Group V. Oil companies can uses blends of any of them to get the exact properties they are after. There is nothing inherently wrong with this. You want to look at what specs the oil can meet or was tested against. Oils like M1 0w-40 (euro formulation) sold in the US and the Castrol 0w-40 euro formulation (sold in the US) are able to meet some very stringent long life oil specifications that many/most 5w-30 and 0w-30 oils sold in US Stores cannot meet. They are two very decent quality oils. There are even Motul oils that use similar base stocks. You'd need to step up to Redline, certain Motul oils, and other boutique oils to get "100% pure" group 4 or Group 5 base stocks but there isnt alot of proof that they are going to make your daily driver last a mile longer than any other VW502 approved oil.
Bottom line is go with the specs the oil can meet, not what some guess what the base stocks are (since actual oil formulations are propriety). You can spend over $20 per quart on a super high quality base stock with very little additive package and meet incredible high temp high sheer targets but you may have to change the oil every 3K miles due to not having the proper additive package. This is the case with Motul 300v. It uses proprietary "double ester" base stocks that are all Group 5 ultra premium base stocks but you cant use this oil for extended drains so you may think you're getting this "totally awesome" high quality oil for your daily driver that will make it last forever but the truth is that you would be using it in an application in which that oil was not designed. Its designed to hold up extremely well in race conditions. Its not designed for stop and go traffic for 10K miles. In that case your $2 per quart VW502 oil would actually be more appropriate.
Mike
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