Yeah, that's mostly my reason why I like Mobil 1 better; the lying by
incomplete information of Castrol.

Thanks,

mike

On 2/23/07 3:23 AM, "Mike S" <mikes@flatsurface.com> wrote:

> At 02:33 AM 2/23/2007, mike . wrote...
>> I like Mobil 1 better, a true synthetic. Castrol is, I believe,
>> formulated
>> from a natural base, much cheaper to do, but costs the same.
>
> Yes, and no. The article is talking about Castrol GTX, which has always
> been a petroleum based oil. You're thinking of Syntec, which used to be
> a Group IV (polyalpha olefin-PAO) basestock (same as original Mobil1).
>
> Several years ago, Castrol changed to a Group III (hydrocracked
> petroleum) basestock, without any notice, and without any decrease in
> price. They did it because it's much cheaper, so they make more profit.
> Mobil complained to an industry advertising arbitration board (not, as
> is frequently told, a court of law) that Castrol should not be able to
> call it a "synthetic." The industry arbitrators, marketeers all, saw an
> opportunity and took it. Now the public has no easy way of knowing what
> is truly a synthetic oil (i.e. started out as something which isn't
> oil), and the industry can make greater profit by selling cheaper
> basestocks as "synthetic."
>
> Group III oils are very, very good. But they're also much cheaper to
> produce than Group IV synthetics. At equivalent cost, I'd stick with a
> true synthetic. I simply won't buy Castrol anything anymore, due to
> their disingenuous marketing. Shell Rotella T Synthetic 5W-40 is about
> $15/gallon at Wally world. It's a diesel/gasoline rated Group III oil,
> at a reasonable price.
>