williamreinecke

What are the general thoughts on Mobil 1 extended performance? Marketing hype or meaningful help?

ltc

rennlist user 'Torags' over in the Cayenne forum recently posted some interesting info regarding this topic, along with some interesting replies from others as well.

ltc

Oops, forgot the link....sorry:

https://rennlist.com/forums/cayenne-955-957-2003-2010/155896-those-devils-at-mobil.html

Brian_77_3.6

If you go by Porsche Factory reccommendation they are specifying Mobil 1 0W-40, not the extended life. They are even making this recomendation for the Air Cooled models. Their sevice advisory indicates that this formula has superior heat exchanging capabilites and that cars will run cooler using this formula. I switched to it in my 3.6 and it does run cooler in 100 degree weather.

robmug

There's a web page somewhere out in cyberspace that has tested Mobil 1 for longevity; they tested the oil every 1000 miles and found, I recall, that it lasted around 18,000 miles before degrading sufficiently.

Bearing in mind that a) we add fresh oil when we top-up and b) most of us change the oil every 12,000 miles, I don't see much need for "extended life" oil...

Euromagination

extended life oil is for lazy people. LOL

i use mobil 1 ext. life 15w-50 in my 911 and I will still change it after 5k miles over to 0w-40 for the colder months. i figure it's not completely a waste considering that even after only 5k miles it hasn't broken down as much as a "regular" synthetic would.

$5.80 a bottle is killer though

ltc

IIRC, I paid something like $22.98 at WallyWorld (WalMart) for a 5 qt container of 15W-50. I tend to buy everything on the shelf and squirrel it away in the basement...yes, the wife loves that little habit!

ltc

Mobil1 0W-40; this is the best price I could find so far online (Autozone):
http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiB...7EMOB%7C%7Etrue

Good news: $4.99/qt with FREE S/H for orders over $50.00 (via UPS GND)

Jerry Garwick

I notice several other brands of synthetic oils now on the market that cost less than Mobile 1. I'm looking at Red Line, Castrol, and Shell, for example. Are they any different than Mobile for cooling, lubrication, and longivity? I suspect that Mobile and Porsche originally got in bed and just have not pulled back the covers as of yet.

Having said all of that, I'm still running Mobile 1.

Indycam

Hiya
I went over to the 928 forum and asked Mr Hillary to have looksee at the questions posted here .

Doug Hillary

Hi,
well I hope the following input is of some assistance - for more information this outdated link may help too:

http://www.landsharkoz.com/tt/ttlubricant.htm

The first principle to remember is that there isn't a magic lubricant that will do all and be all things. In fact there is no evidence that one brand of oil is better than another or that a synthetic oil is better than a mineral oil when compared on an absolute specification basis

The second principle is to remember that Porsche Approved and Listed oils are quite special and while you will pay more for these they are what we should be using IMHO. Porsche's additional test protocols extend to viscosity control, foaming, wear and volatility and overall high temeprature performance

Their minimum specification commences from a Group 3 base

Oils that state in advertising or on the container that they "meet" or "exceed" Porsche requirements but are not on Porsches Approve List IMHO should Not be used in our cars!
There are one or two exceptions - using a "mixed fleet" synthetic CI-4/SL Heavy Duty Engine Oil (HDEO) is OK as these far exceed Porsche requirements but as commercial oils they have never been tested by Porsche. One such oil is Mobil 1 T&SUV 5w-40 which is actually to all intents and purposes the repackaged commercial oil "Delvac 1 5w-40"

The third principle is that some evidence exists that Group 3, Group 4 and Group 5 oils provide progressively extra benefits (and perhaps an operating safety margin) at a progressively increasing purchase price

The fourth principle is that Porsche's recommended oil change interval for the average owner (typically 12k miles or one year) is conservative when using modern Approved lubricants. There is some evidence from on-going studies that more frequent oil changes (say at 3k miles) may actually cause more wear and associated problems

Jerry - Porsche used Shell oils for decades and recommended "mixed fleet" commercial oils for many years. They were one of the first to fill with a synthetic in 1992 - a Shell 10w-30 as I recall. This was later uprated to the more robust 5w-40.
Later they collaborated with Mobil and commenced using M1 - their factory fill now is 0w-40

Now Porsche retrospectively recommend either a 0w-40 viscosity (below -25C and in all Cayenne models) or 5w-40 viscosity (above -25C) vApproved and Listed oil in all Porsche engines back to 1973
The only Approved and Listed SAE50 oil is Mobil 1 5w-50. No 10w-30 oils are Approved

Jerry - to answer your question re Brands;

Redline (and Amsoil) are not on the Approved List

Castrol oils Approved;
0w-40
Formula RS Power & Protection
5w-40
TXT Softec
Syntec
Formula RS Road & Track
GTX 7 Dynatec
Performance

ExxonMobil oils Approved;
M1 0w-40

M1 5w-40
Motor Oil Plus 5w-40
Syst 5w-40
Esso Ultron 5w-40

M1 5w-50

There are many brands are on the official Porsche Approved List and these include specific products from Motul, FUCHs, Kendall, Valvoline, etc

Regards

Jerry Garwick

Indycam

First of all, thanks for sending the link to Doug. What a great response. As a result, I'm going to keep using Mobile 1. The delta in cost is not worth the cost of worrying.

For Doug

I hope you get this message through the forum. Thank you for taking the time to respond with such wonderful information. Just one question. Does the oil run out of your cars since you are upside down? Sorry, I couldn't resist.

I recently met with a friend who took his wife's (and wife) Mercedes 300 gullwing to this years Adelaide (Spelling?) rally. He had nothing but wonderful things to say about the organizers and the support from your hospitable classic car people. I have had the pleasure of serving with quite a few Aussies during my military career. You really make them good, down under.

Thanks a lot.

Doug Hillary

Hi Jerry,
thanks for the comments!

Yes the Adelaide Rally is a great event - Oh to own a Gullwing!

The Australian New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) spirit is a rich one - and respect for the USA is generally very high in both NZ and here in OZ. My two eldest sons are Royal NZ Air Force (RNZAF) trained Avionics Engineers and they have both spent a lot of time in the US. Son No 2 is currently in Canada on holiday

I have visited the US many times from one coast to the other and only have excellent stories of hospitality to tell

Oh by the way, all cars are sold down here with a potato or two in the tool kit
These are inserted into the exhaust pipe(s) when parked to keep the engine's oil in!

Regards

ventoGT

As I recall reading somewhere on the 993 board, Mobil has simply changed the brand name of their fully synthetic [at least in the case of the 15w-50 that is recommended in the 993] to "Extended Performance". Sometime over the past 2 months or so, when I go to AutoZone to get the oil, the design of the bottle changed from grey with the red cap to the gold cap and different shaped, rounder bottle....

Doug Hillary

Hi Cole,
the formulation has been changed too - reading the official "Approvals" and specifications on the label will (usually) tell the story
The Mobil oil Approved, listed and recommended by Porsche for a 993 is M1 0w-40. This is the same as Mobil's official recommendation

The only Porsche Approved and Listed SAE50 oil is M1 5w-50 - not M1 15w-50 although some Porsche people use this product

At 15C M1 5w-50 is about 50% more viscous than M1 0w-40. At the same temperature M1 15w-50 is about twice as viscous as M1 0w-40

Regards