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<blockquote data-quote="Schwepps" data-source="post: 329075" data-attributes="member: 3592"><p>astro, I did some research into lube oils a couple of months back and it was very interesting. I know you're a Torco fan, and there are many other fans in this forum, so I'll just lay out the facts for you and you can form your own judgements, ok?</p><p></p><p>1. Lube oil is classified into Group 1 to 5. G-3 oil is the highest level of hydrocracked mineral oil (refined from crude) and G-4 and G-5 oils are the true synthetics, manufactured at molecular level in chemical plants.</p><p></p><p>2. Years back, Exxon Mobil sued Castrol for calling G-3 oils as synthetics. They lost the arbitration case, and since then, US blenders can advertise G-3 oils as '100% synthetic'. G-3 oils cannot be called synthetics in Europe.</p><p></p><p>3. Torco's own product description says "SR-1 is a selective cross blend of highly advanced 100% synthetic base oils..." and "SR-5 utilizes Group IV/V synthetic base oil chemistries..." So only SR-5 is acknowledged to be G-4/5. 'Cross blend' sounds like marketing-speak for a G-3/4 blend. The rest of the world would call that a semi-synthetic.</p><p></p><p>4. By their own admission in a debate among US blenders, Torco said they're exempt from API testing. For what reason they didn't say. So their compliance to their own API SM standard is not independently tested. So what then of compliance to other countries' standards such as ACEA, BMW LL-04, etc?</p><p></p><p>5. Torco is not on the BMW approved list of oils. In fact very few US blenders are on the list besides Mobil 1. Even approved Castrols are from Castrol Limited, Jet from ConocoPhilips GmbH, etc, not from their US outfits.</p><p></p><p>As an aside, Torco SR-5 is a racing oil and is not recommended for street cars. Racing oils have higher-than-approved levels of additives like zinc and liquid-moly to make them more 'slippery', and these additives will destroy your catalytic-converter fast. Race cars do not have cats. </p><p></p><p>I'm sorry, I didn't retain the URLs of the many things I read, but you can easily Google the subject yourself. Here are a few to kick you off:</p><p></p><p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_oils" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_oils</a></p><p>Excerpt: The American Petroleum Institute (API) sets minimum performance standards for lubricants. Lubricant base stocks are categorized into five groups by the API. Group I base stocks are composed of fractionally distilled petroleum which is further refined with solvent extraction processes to improve certain properties such as oxidation resistance and to remove wax. Group II base stocks are composed of fractionally distilled petroleum that has been hydrocracked to further refine and purify it. Group III base stocks have similar characteristics to Group II base stocks, except that Group III base stocks have higher viscosity indexes. Group III base stocks are produced by further hydrocracking of Group II base stocks, or of hydroisomerized slack wax, (a byproduct of the dewaxing process). Group IV base stock are polyalphaolefins (PAOs). Group V is a catch-all group for any base stock not described by Groups I to IV. Examples of group V base stocks include polyol esters, polyalkylene glycols (PAG oils), and perfluoropolyalkylethers (PFPAEs). Groups I and II are commonly referred to as mineral oils, group III is typically referred to as synthetic <span style="color: Red">(except in Germany and Japan, where they must not be called synthetic) </span>and Group IV is a synthetic oil. Group V base oils are so diverse that there is no catch-all description.</p><p></p><p>A good read on mineral vs synthetic oils</p><p><a href="http://www.mobil.com/Australia-English/LCW/Audiences/Synthetic_V_Mineral.asp" target="_blank">http://www.mobil.com/Australia-English/LCW/Audiences/Synthetic_V_Mineral.asp</a></p><p></p><p>Beware of marketing-speak in American oils <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p><a href="http://www.twoguysgarage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7284" target="_blank">http://www.twoguysgarage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7284</a></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Schwepps, post: 329075, member: 3592"] astro, I did some research into lube oils a couple of months back and it was very interesting. I know you're a Torco fan, and there are many other fans in this forum, so I'll just lay out the facts for you and you can form your own judgements, ok? 1. Lube oil is classified into Group 1 to 5. G-3 oil is the highest level of hydrocracked mineral oil (refined from crude) and G-4 and G-5 oils are the true synthetics, manufactured at molecular level in chemical plants. 2. Years back, Exxon Mobil sued Castrol for calling G-3 oils as synthetics. They lost the arbitration case, and since then, US blenders can advertise G-3 oils as '100% synthetic'. G-3 oils cannot be called synthetics in Europe. 3. Torco's own product description says "SR-1 is a selective cross blend of highly advanced 100% synthetic base oils..." and "SR-5 utilizes Group IV/V synthetic base oil chemistries..." So only SR-5 is acknowledged to be G-4/5. 'Cross blend' sounds like marketing-speak for a G-3/4 blend. The rest of the world would call that a semi-synthetic. 4. By their own admission in a debate among US blenders, Torco said they're exempt from API testing. For what reason they didn't say. So their compliance to their own API SM standard is not independently tested. So what then of compliance to other countries' standards such as ACEA, BMW LL-04, etc? 5. Torco is not on the BMW approved list of oils. In fact very few US blenders are on the list besides Mobil 1. Even approved Castrols are from Castrol Limited, Jet from ConocoPhilips GmbH, etc, not from their US outfits. As an aside, Torco SR-5 is a racing oil and is not recommended for street cars. Racing oils have higher-than-approved levels of additives like zinc and liquid-moly to make them more 'slippery', and these additives will destroy your catalytic-converter fast. Race cars do not have cats. I'm sorry, I didn't retain the URLs of the many things I read, but you can easily Google the subject yourself. Here are a few to kick you off: [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_oils[/url] Excerpt: The American Petroleum Institute (API) sets minimum performance standards for lubricants. Lubricant base stocks are categorized into five groups by the API. Group I base stocks are composed of fractionally distilled petroleum which is further refined with solvent extraction processes to improve certain properties such as oxidation resistance and to remove wax. Group II base stocks are composed of fractionally distilled petroleum that has been hydrocracked to further refine and purify it. Group III base stocks have similar characteristics to Group II base stocks, except that Group III base stocks have higher viscosity indexes. Group III base stocks are produced by further hydrocracking of Group II base stocks, or of hydroisomerized slack wax, (a byproduct of the dewaxing process). Group IV base stock are polyalphaolefins (PAOs). Group V is a catch-all group for any base stock not described by Groups I to IV. Examples of group V base stocks include polyol esters, polyalkylene glycols (PAG oils), and perfluoropolyalkylethers (PFPAEs). Groups I and II are commonly referred to as mineral oils, group III is typically referred to as synthetic [COLOR="Red"](except in Germany and Japan, where they must not be called synthetic) [/COLOR]and Group IV is a synthetic oil. Group V base oils are so diverse that there is no catch-all description. A good read on mineral vs synthetic oils [url]http://www.mobil.com/Australia-English/LCW/Audiences/Synthetic_V_Mineral.asp[/url] Beware of marketing-speak in American oils :-) [url]http://www.twoguysgarage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7284[/url] [/QUOTE]
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