<After 35 years of car ownership, I couldn't demonstrate convincingly that
there's any difference whatsoever between oils, >

I agree. I know folks who swear Castrol will destroy a VW engine, yet I've
run Castrol in my VW's for years, and have never had an oil related
failure. I know a guy who swears he had two engine failures (in a Mustang)
caused by Quaker State oil. When I asked why he thought it was the oil, he
said when both engines seized he found there was no oil in the crankcase-I
think he's searching (desperately) for something other than his own
stupidity to blame it on.  My current '84 Westy was purchased with a seized
engine, run with no oil, but I doubt it had anything to do with what BRAND
of oil WASN'T there! I'm sure the engine would have been happy to have ANY
oil in it at all.
Jeff Stewart
fonman4277@earthlink.net
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/vwcampersmidatlantic/
http://home.earthlink.net/~fonman4277/vanagon%5b1%5d?200712