Amsoil Saber Professional Oil ?'s

[bwalker]

Lobo, Cost would be a huge issue shipping from europe. Also keep in mind that Exxon-Mobil has as big a pressence in europe as the do here. I am not exagerating in any way when I say mobil controls the markets for certain base oils. Check this out..
http://ilma.enewspress.com/news/default.asp?IID=14
FWIW Amsoil is a member of ILMA and was named in the original complain

 

[Lobo]

Ben their oils are also subjected to API classification, which as you already know means they must be tested to meet the operating requirements of various engines.

 

[bwalker]

Amsoil oils are not tested by the API in any form except the two I mentioned above. Go to www.api.org and you can verify that.

 

[Lobo]

Lobo, Cost would be a huge issue shipping from europe. Also keep in mind that Exxon-Mobil has as big a pressence in europe as the do here. I am not exagerating in any way when I say mobil controls the markets for certain base oils. Check this out..
http://ilma.enewspress.com/news/default.asp?IID=14
FWIW Amsoil is a member of ILMA and was named in the original complain

Ben, I assume you are saying here that Amsoil is a member of ILMA which they should be. However ILMA members are contesting the cost increases on base stocks they are purchasing from Mobil/Exxon as well as their business and marketing pratices.
Which means that just about every non refinerry owned lube manufacturer are going after Exxon/Mobil which is very good by me. Nothing against Mobil/Exxon just the way they are presently conducting business if they are thee major supplier trying to strangle the others out.

This however has nothing to do with the quality or non quality of Amsoil products.

 

[bwalker]

No, just a interesting read and it hints as to how much of the market Mobil controls. I find it funny that these small blenders like amsoil are pissed that Exxon-Mobil wont sell to them cheaply, yet they are always saying how their quality is much better..... All the oils made in the same pace with the differance being the big boys wont sell their best products to Amsoil and the like.

 

[Lobo]

Ben, good old American marketing and its power. It is the land of opportunity for everyone.

Remember the Edsel, the Vega, the Pinto, the Corvair as bad as they were Ford and GM managed to market the he!! out of them and sold a shiat load of them and this when there was big money in manufacturing and selling cars.

Europe is really not as adept at it as we are here.

 

[Lobo]

I contacted Amsoil to inquire about testing of their products, I received this reply.

AMSOIL doesn't rely on independent labs to do their testing. AMSOIL's labs
fully equipped (I've been there myself) and because they are the first and
known in the market to be the highest of quality and performance, other
manufacturers use AMSOIL as the standard to meet. In fact every major
lubricant manufacturer tests our products and AMSOIL does the same to see
what and make sure chemistries are really doing what they say. The only
independent agencies product should be measured by are the actual consumer.
You can look back 32 years and AMSOIL has never been shot of any
specification or caused any damage. Nor can it void any warranty using using
our 100:1 when a 32:1 is recommended.

When AMSOIL changes or updates a product the necessary specifications are
always exceeded. If AMSOIL were to put something on their bottle which was
not really met, you would hear about it from most of our competitors or
through the FTC. Mobil 1 for sure would be suing us like they did Castrol.

Check the FTC site and you will not find anything with AMSOIL.

 

[bwalker]

Sounds like BS to me! Which IMO is quit typical of Amsoil.
Like I said before Amsoil 100:1 has a snowballs chance in hell of passing the JASO-FC test, let alone the tougher ISO EGD test.

 

[bwalker]

BTW Mobil never sued Castrol. the filed a compliant with a industry trade group over Castrols labeling of highly refined mineral oils synthetics(which most tribologist agree they are not). Castrol won the compliant and as such sells a product labeled as synthetic which is in relaity a prduct refined from dino oil. Did I aslo mention that Castrol sells this product at higher costs than Mobil 1 which is a real synthetic in every sense of the term?

 

[Lobo]

Ben I am aware of Mobil's complaint against Castrol and the fact that the industry itself had no clear precise definition and specifications is the reason why Mobil's complaint was basically rejected.

I have never been much of a Castrol fan myself and I think generally there are better products out there.

 

[bwalker]

Castrol makes some very good products, but they tend to be way over priced for what you get.

 

[Lobo]

Castrol makes some very good products, but they tend to be way over priced for what you get.

Pricey yes, as far as the quality of their products I am not sold. Surely no worst than many others out there I guess. I can get Mobil 1 Synthetic here cheaper than Castrol and I know the Mobil Syn. is better, no question.

 

[bwalker]

Castrol's so called synthetics are for the most part a waste. In reality the use a highly refined mineral oil base and a ho hum additive package.
The one exception would be a prodcut dubed German castrol. I dont know the particulars, but it is a real synthetic and has quit a following amongst the sports car guys. Its real hard to find though.
BTW doesnt the first paragraph of the reply Amsoil gave you open your eyes as to how that company opperates? I know it sounds rather scary to me.

 

[Lobo]

Ben, what is referred to German Castrol I guess was developed for European engines and their specific requirements which in general I believe are more demanding that are requirements here. I know that several of the Japanese manufacturers are also going to these types of high quality oils, I can not see the industry here not following shortly. Extended oil change intervals and cleaner engines are now here to stay even with our big 3.

Nope not worried at all by that paragraph. So far their products have worked great for me. I would be surprised that no counter testing does not occur. As you know in many industries today testing competitors products has become more important than ever. Take it apart, break it down and lets see if we can't make ours better from what we learn.

 

[bwalker]

I would really be interesting in knowing what sorts of testing they do besides UOA's. Mobil's tech center in Fairfax is way bigger than Amsoil's whole orginization. The idea that Amsoil is constantly testing new formulations is laughable. They dont have the ability to formulate there own base oils and additives so what would the point be? Basicly from a formulation standpoint Amsoil typicaly buys a decent base oil and combines it with a very robust additive package of the traditional, ZDDP, calcium type. This approach is fine and dandy but it also insures they will never be certified, even if they did submit their oils for testing, which they refuse to. its also avery crude, low tech approach compared to what Mobil , Shell or Chevron do. Off course this is as applys to 4 cycle oils.
A few of Amsoils two cycle oils MIGHT pass some of the standards but that would be only Interceptor for Jaso FC and HP injector for TCW3. None of the rest of their two cycle oils are even remotely close to passing. Imagine what the deposit test would look like after 100:1 was ran through at a 16:1 ratio? Or what about the smoke test ran at the same ratio?

 

[weimedog]

Is Echo Power Blend a cheap alternative? How does it compare to the better true Synthetic Oils on the Market? How about as compared to AMSOIL? For 12 dollars a gallon its worth a look. MX2T is a mail order only item around here since AuroZone dropped the stuff. Might just go back to Bel-Ray H1-R. It has worked well for me for the years prior to using MX2T. And I can find it locally for the same money.

 

[bwalker]

Echo powerblend/Citgo air cooled/Citgo sea and snow is a good alternative and I would much rather use it at 32-40:1 than amsoil at 100:1.. Gander Mountain is selling the Citgo varriant for $8 and change per gallon.
BTW instead of trying to get MX2T from a retailer go straight to the horses mouth and contact your local distributor. In most cases its cheaper through them anyway.