I have been in several threads disccusing oil so I felt I needed to make a post for M1 users. I am not bashing M1 just hoping to educate my fellow VQ people.


After I started to track my car, I began looking into information about the best oil to use. During my research I found several examples of M1 showing high lead content (bearing wear) in used oil analysis on Vq35 engines.

I know M1 is considered to be the best oil, but it never was a good oil for the Vq35 engine. Another reason to not use M1 would be that it is no longer a true synthetic. Several months ago they changed their formula.

Mobile1 is no longer a true synthetic

Mobil sued Castrol for calling their oil a full synthetic. Which according to Mobil it wasnt a full synthetic like M1 since its not made from a Group IV base stock.

They lost the case, so they decided to start using the cheaper base stock just like Castrol,pennzoil etc. Why make a real synthetic that costs you more money to make then the competition who is charging the same price for their fake synthetic?

German Castrol Syntec 0w-30, Amsoil, redline are some of the few remaining TRUE synthetics( Group IV). The other Castrol syntecs, penzzoil platinum and now Mobile 1 are not TRUE synthetics. They are hydrolocked Group III oils.

Here is an example of how even yellow bottled Pennzoil Dino outperformed M1 in our engine.



M1 used to be a great oil, now its an overpriced fake synthetic. My current fill is German Castrol Syntec 0w-30 (auto-zone only). Unlike the other castrol syntecs it is a true Group IV oil, here is an oil analysis on a G35 coupe. As you can see this oil shows very little wear after 7500 miles.

It is still a full synthetic. This is a matter of playing telephone, where the facts get changed as they are passed along until the truth is complete obscured.

I believe Mobil's site, and the bottles of oil which say full synthetic, before an unknown guy on a BMW quoting another unknown guy on a Nissan forum who is pushing AMSOIL. AMSOIL is always trying to discredit Mobil in one way or another, which is funny since AMSOIL used to buy their base stocks from Mobil.

If you read other posts on that forum, you'll see numerous BMW 3 series owners etc that have "beat" and shamed every c6 and Z06 they came across. I don't believe that either.

Here is the true story about the lawsuit:

Mobil 1 uses a 100% completely synthetic PAO (Poly Alpha Olephin) Group-V base stock. Mobil invented this technology back in the fifties, and they have always used the 'true' synthetic formula.
Castrol 'Syntec', as originally sold in America back in the late eighties/early nineties, was NOT a true synthetic, even though it was advertised as such.
The Castrol product used a group-III/IV base stock which is derived from natural petroleum/crude oil sources.
The lawsuit brought by Mobil against Castrol resulted in the decision that Castrol was indeed allowed to call thier product 'full synthetic' based on the fact that Castrol claimed it's base stocks recieved further refining processes, at the molecular level, than did 'normal' conventional base stocks.
This very, very refined base stock very closely approched the performance of a full PAO synthetic, so the courts decided that "If it does the same thing, whats the difference"?, and allowed Castrol to call it synthetic.
The European government does not allow Castrol to sell this product as synthetic there...it carries a different name.
In ExxonMobil in-house tests, the Castrol product is very close to the Mobil 1 product in all areas except:
1)Phosphorous and Sulfer content, which are the main contributors to sludge formation. It comes from the crude oil, and is extremely difficult to remove completely. Mobil 1 has ZERO of these components, making it almost 100% resistant to sludge formation.
2)Mineral-oil is very susceptibale to high-temperature oxidation, creating...sludge and varnish. It also reatins heat and reduces lubricity. Mobil's PAO technology is almost 100% resistant to high-temperature oxidation. Once again, no sludge formation...with better gas mileage to boot!
3) Mobil 1 uses less additives overall (by percentage), meaning more actual oil 'in the mix', creating a cooler running engine, and producing better gas mileage.

Castrol does not, and never has operated a refinery, a blending or a packaging facility.They are simply a bottler of product.
They buy their base stocks from an outside vendor or vendors, two of which are or have been 'Louisiana Specialty Lubricants" and 'Coastal/Unilube'. There are, of course others.
They order their custom-blended additive package from a seperate additive manufacturer. In the past they used Texaco, but the Texaco Additive and research facility in the Catskills has since been closed. In fact, today, 'Texaco' is nothing more than a brand name. I don't know where Castrol gets their additives today, but I suspect it is from Chevron or one of its many subsidiaries.
This is then all put together in bottles with a label by a packager, and drop-shipped to their warehouse facility.

Amsoil has quite an interesting story behind it: In the fifties, military-man Al Amatuzio was quite impressed with the performance of the synthetic grease used in landing gear of carrier-bound aircraft.
Mobil corp was commissioned by the US to come up with a grease that would not freeze at the extreme temperatures encountered by aircraft landing gear, and Mobil came up with synthetic grease. Made it only for the military, as they felt no consumer would be willing to pay the exorbitant price for synthetic lubricants for their cars and trucks.
After leaving the military, Amatuzio contracted Mobil to manufacture synthetic motor oil base stocks for his new company, 'Amzoil'(original spelling).
Having his own additive package installed, he marketed this as the 'World's first synthetic motor oil' in 1971(maybe 1972).
The following year, Mobil introduced thier Mobil 1 product, made with their own additive package.
The difference is that Mobil had (and still has) the ability to make thier additive packages in any fashion they please.
Amatuzio was limited to buying his 'off the shelf' additives from one of the industrial additive marketers. Not a bad thing, just not 'exclusive'.
Amatuzio, quite the entrepreneur, still runs the company. He is also the same guy who started AAMCO transmissions, MAACO paint and body, and several other lesser-known companies. Quite a brilliant business man, actually.
Flash-forward to today: Amsoil (current spelling) no longer buys their base stocks from Mobil, but that doesn't mean they get them from the same place as Castrol.


Interestingly, Amsoil, who used to buy their base stocks exclusively from Mobil, now buys their base stocks from the lowest bidder, and are consequently now using G-III/IV base stocks in their 'synthetic' oil. Group-III/IV base stocks, are a step below group V PAO base stocks used by Mobil 1. They claim they perform the same. I disagree, and so do most other non-partial lubricant engineers.