RI A6

and knows how to read the analysis signatures based on his experience and correlation with engine tear down. And already has considerable experience with the same oil in multiple engine types.

You really don't think that every RS4 engine is that different, do you?

Dave, the difference between M1 and our custom oil is like night and day. M1 is not even in the same league. Their additives are inferior for engines with extreme stress in the cam and chain drive areas. They may be using PAO, but their additive package has problems, even when compared to many other commercial competing oils.

In our current analysis set, M1 stands out like a badly beaten sore thumb. But, I'll keep an open mind. There may be another reason besides oil. If another sample in another engine shows up and has the same signature, then it will point to the root cause.

smashtheqube

I use Mobile-1, and so does the dealer.

daveak05

about that, Mobil 1 and some others, based on the analysis oif what goes into the oil. i can accept this.

the problem is with the UOA's. too many other factors(discussed before many times) that skew results. it's unavoidable. the changes any oil goes under inside an engine based on so many variables is a very hard thing to draw any absolute conclusions from. very hard. i would suggest you advise on the quality and makeup of the different oils, and not so much what any given one is doing inside any number of car engines.

the reason i and others(well, one other) keep harping on this, i believe, is because it sets a bad precendent(i.e. don't use this oil, use this one...based on some sampling). might as well believe the oil companies, verbatim...they do a helluva alot of sampling under much more precise and controlled conditions. maybe not the RS4, but last i checked, it's still from this planet.

oh well.

RI A6

The two most important, least understood, and most technologically advanced parts of our cars are the tires, and the oil. I care, because I want to keep my engine running a good long life at 8000 rpm.

RI A6

There really are not that many variables, and each variable has a different signature. It's pretty easy to see who has an air filter problem, who drives their car hard, who drives it gently, who has put additives into their fuel ... etc. But this ride on top of the basic chemistry of the oil and the metallurgy of the engine.

Different oils react differently with different metallurgies. That's why you just cannot say one oil is better than another, without understanding the application. Precisely controlled controlled conditions in specifications and testing, do not always equate to real world performance. If they did, the 502 and 504 specs would be the be all and end all in oil.

daveak05

it was a request to keep things in perspective, not go aganist your beliefs or stop what you're doing(which i still think is good). anyway, it's all in the context of discussion, and questions remain unanswered...they probably always will.

daveak05

you can find indications of external variables affecting any used oil sample, sure.

but at what point and exactly how to you crunch that down to not blaming the oil, but the car, driver, condition of the engine, driving conditions? you can't.

you can't say that M1 doesn't work well in the engine with 17k miles and wear, and then say the Elf(whatever) works better than the M1, based on it being in an engine with 3k miles, almost positively driven differently and under different conditions.

you need to run the 3-4 diff oils in the same RS4, under very controlled mileage, bam, bam, bam...to get a meaningful result. i don't see that being done. i don't see how it could be, taking privately owned vehicles driven who knows how at any given point in time. get it yet?

SteveRS4

Don't listen to that Loon from RI

Terry Dyson of Dyson oil analysis www.dysonanalysis.com will make a believer out of you all by himself. Protect your RS4 unless you are just leasing it for three years and then its gone. Some of us LOVE or RS4's

2007 RS4
Sprint Blue

RI A6

Of course some things will remain unanswered. This is an exploration. Quite frankly, if someone is interested in knowing about the oil in there engine and it's performance, they'll go out and get an analysis done from time to time.

If someone is going to keep there car for only a few years, who cares. But if someone plans on putting 70K, 100K + miles on, then I think it would be good to know what might work best and worst.

Here's a good direct comparison for you.


One engine - unknown driving style
Castrol Syntec 5W-40
12100 miles on the engine
7000 miles on the oil
46 ppm iron in the oil
6.6 ppm/K miles iron wear rate

Another engine - driven gently
Mobil 1 0W-40
17000 miles on the engine
4500 miles on the oil
37 ppm iron in the oil
8.2 ppm/K miles iron wear rate

My engine - driven hard and tracked
Custom Oil
19500 miles on the engine
4300 miles on the oil
12 ppm iron in the oil
2.8 ppm/K miles iron wear rate

RI A6

You don't need to run in the same engine, although I have bam, bam, bam as you suggested, yet you continue to say my results are invalid. I have sequential results with my engine and different oils, along with comparable test results on different engines at the same mileage with different oils, and comparisons of different engines with the same mileage and the same oil. The results are consistent and do make sense.