unbiased oil data
I'm not a huge fan of these "performance tests" put on by oil manufacturers and their sponsered magazines. I do like independent analyses performed by third party labs. The website
www.bobistheoilguy.com has a good oil forum filled with excellent studies on extended drain intervals and oil quality. Does anyone know of other oil forums/independent oil studies?
The site mentioned by central_mo is amazing. To get the most out of it, you need to click forums, go to used oil analysis - gas engine or
here. It contains actual oil analysis results from hundreds of people over a period of a few years. People post their oil analysis results, and then results are discussed by some very knowledgeable individuals.
This is an excellent site because you get real world data. I care about how a motor oil performs (effects wear) in my Pilot after 3750/7500 miles of use, not that Joe trucker went 400k miles without an oil change and a bypass filter, or stock car dyno results, or the length of a scar on a ball. I'm not anti-AMSoil by any means, but you would be hard pressed to conclude that any of the top synthetics (AMSoil, Mobile 1, Royal Purple, etc.) are the "best" from the posted results. In addition, it would be difficult to conclude that a synthetic motor oil was worthwhile if changed every 3750 miles.
Search on MXD and Pilot and you will even find a few reports for our engines.
By the way, used oil analysis (UOA) not only indicate how your engine or transmission is wearing, but it will also detect fuel, coolant, and intake leaks as well as several other engine problems. I plan to do oil changes very 7500 after the first with synthetic due our driving conditions. The results on Bob's site make me question going 7500 miles on dino oil and especially on the break-in oil. I would be very interested to hear what others conclude after studying the data.