After the Eagles split in 1980, Glen Fry was asked if the band would ever get back together. His reply, "...when Hell freezes over." is one of the most famous quotes in rock-and-roll history. In 1994, the Eagles reformed and released the CD "Hell Freezes Over." It topped the Billboard 100 and eventually sold over 6,000,000 copies.

Never say, "'Till hell freezes.".

For the seven years I've been a Chevy HHR.net member and even way before that, I have advocated 10W30 engine oils rather than the 5W30 GM suggests we use. My reasoning? While petroleum-based and even some highly-refined "synthetic" 5W30s and a 10W30s may all be 30-weight oils when rated at 100°C (212°F), at higher temperatures–say the 250-300°F an oil might see in an engine which is run hard–the greater propotion of "viscosity index improvers" (aka: "viscosity modifiers" or "VMs") in some 5W30s will compromise performance and protection compared to a 10W30 having less viscosity index improvers.

Viscosity modifiers are good and they're bad. They contribute to a 5W30's wide viscosity range–SAE5W at low temperature and SAE30 at high temperature–but make no contribution to the oil's lubricity, ie: the more VMs there are, the less oil there is to lubricate. Additionally, VI improvers may break-down at high oil temperatures. While the 5W30 and the 10W30 might be SAE30s at 212°F, at 300,° the 5W30, if it has a lot of VI improvers, may have lower high-temperature viscosity than does the 10W30. Additionally, oil with a lot of VMs deteriorates more quickly because the long-chain molecules characteristic of VMs are sheared by stress and pressure applied by the metal parts they lubricate. Once these molocules are mechanically sheared, they don't regenerate, i.e.: once the oil "shears down", it has a lower viscosity at high temperatures than it did when it was poured out of the bottle.

One attractive feature of synthetic enigne oils–and I mean real synthetics, not synthesized or "highly-refined" hydrocarbon oils, "semi-synthetics" or "synthetic blends"–is that the good stuff, Group IV (PAO/mPAO) based synthetics and Group V (ester-based) synthetics, has natural, multi-viscosity properties and need less viscosity index improvers to achieve wide viscosity ranges. With less VMs, Group IV and Group V synthetics are more stable when subjected to high-temperature/high-shear (HTHS) environments. In fact, the 10W30 I have been using in my HHR, one of Red Line's ester-based products, has no VMs at all in its formulation. I've been using it in all my engines since the early 1990s, had no intention to swtich–until Hell freezes over.

Late in 2008, I was researching a technical article about engine oil for the Corvette Action Center web site. I interviewed several people working for high-end oil brands. One of them was Lake Speed Jr. the General Manager at Driven Racing Oil, the oil blending operation started by NASCAR's Joe Gibbs Racing.

Since doing that article, Speed Jr. and I stayed in touch. In late 2013 we began an email dialog about 5W30 vs 10W30 and about engine oils using mPAO vs engine oils using ester base stocks. The mPAO (stands for–tongue twister alert–metallocene catalyst polyalphaolephin) base stock is the cutting-edge technology in high performance engine oil today. It was introduced to the market in 2012 by Exxon-Mobil and Chevron-Phillips Chemical and the first to blend it into an engine oil was Driven Racing Oil. The first point Lake Speed Jr. drove home was that a key characteristic of an engine oil using an mPAO base stock is that, from a practical standpoint, with respect to HTHS conditions, an mPAO based oil and an ester-based oil can be blended to perform equally well.

Most of us know that a significant proportion of engine wear takes place during start-up. The longer the engine has been stopped, the temperature at which the engine is started and how quickly oil reaches key engine parts all affect the amount of start-up wear. The second lesson I got from Speed Jr. was that, even in climates here one would not think a 5W30's cold start protection would be a practical advantage, it may still be a better choice. My belief about this start-up wear issue was that, since I use my vehicles in mild climates, there'd be little difference in start-up oil performance between a 5W30 and a 10W30. Up until now, I had put faith in the idea that engine oils "cling" to engine parts when the engine is not running and that offered the adequate margin of protection against engine wear on start-up that I need in a place like Southern California.

Well, Speed Jr. pulled no punches in refuting that idea. "Regarding the questions about start-up," he emailed, "there is a false notion that oil should 'cling' to all the surfaces of the engine, even after it is shut down. Some companies have done a great job of marketing this cling concept because it is an easy visual to 'sell'. However, technically, it is a load of poop. The rotating and sliding speed of engine and gear parts easily overcome any 'cling'”.

Ok. I’ll eat that crow–I had way too much faith in “cling”. Is it getting cold in here, or is it just me?

Driven Racing Oil's 5W30 is branded "LS30". I compared LS30's viscosity ratings at different temperatures to the 10W30 I was currently using in my HHR's mildly modified 2.4. The viscosity numbers at 212°F and 300°F were virtually the same but, at 100°, the LS30 had somewhat lower viscosity and in the cold, it was noticeably lower. Under HTHS conditions, LS-30, as well as Red Line's 5W30, remain an SAE30, but at cooler and cold temperatures they have lower viscosity so, oil pressure will build quicker and oil will flow more quickly to bearings and other key engine parts–the same parts to which I thought oil was clinging. Presumably, over the long-haul, using a premium synthetic 5w30, engine wear at start-up might be just a little less and–I won't have to worry about high temperature or high shear conditions degrading oil performance and protection.

For the first time, ever, I'm going to use a 5W30 and, deciding to give the mPAO idea a try, when doing a regular oil-and-filter change on my HHR last week, I used Driven Racing Oil's "LS30".

What is that music? I can barely hear it. Sounds like, ah...is that the Eagles?

Anybody seen my ice skates?

 

Nice post well done Some times it's not easy accepting new technology.

 

Nicely done with some interesting info.

Old habits and technological beliefs are hard to break, and I have to admit that there are days when the "Alphabet Soup" of modern control systems and vehicle electronics gets a bit old.

Re-flashing an ECM just lacks the Zen-like satisfaction of re-jetting a carb, or tweaking the timing with the old strobe light.

 

nice write!! I still miss oil changes every 3,000 miles or 3 months and using a quart in between was normal in my '56 210 Chevy (no not Datsun) with a 67 327 SBC with a mild cam and a 650 Holley carb. the front clip and doors weighed almost as much as my HHR if you included the front bumper , to coin another artist quote, Glory Days.... Bruce Springsteen

 

As always, it's a good read Hib!!!!!

 

Just thought I'd check in, here.

We been running Driven LS30 5W30 engine oil in our 2.4 for over a month now. The primary driver of the truck is my Wife and she drives a lot of miles both for work and caring for her elderly Mom.

So far oil use has remained about 1 Qt of oil every 1000-1300 miles. Engine noises, at operating temperature, haven't changed at all. Engine start-up noise is about the same, but my perception is the brief period I hear anything is just a tiny bit shorter but, again, that's my subjective judgement. I really don't have any way to measure if oil pressure is coming up any quicker with a 5W rather than a 10W, however, in theory, it should come up just a tiny bit quicker.

At the next filter change the Driven Racing Oil folks have asked that I take an oil sample and send it to them for analysis.

I'll post back here after I see the oil analysis data.

 

Great write up, love the info.

 

great post Hib, love to read stuff where the author knows what he's talking about. I've just been following GM's recommendation to use 5w-30. I change it according to the computer.

As for "clinging" and noises, 65 Chevy Van is a good example. It has a 292 I-6 built for towing. Been using 10-30 Valvoline VR-1 (for the zinc), friend told me that 10-30 is too thin to protect a heavy duty truck engine. Tried 20-50 w/Lucas Oil Conditioner which was supposed to cling, mistake, the noises at start up (bearings waiting for oil) lasted twice as long as normal and the valve train got real noisy. Went back to 10-30 right away, the thinner stuff gets to the bearings quicker, valve train's quiet again and the engine runs better. Last time I listen to anybody but Hib.

 

I've run Gibbs Driven LS30 4295 miles, so it was time for an oil filter change and to take an oil sample for spectrographic analysis.

I sent the sample to the Gibbs people who get it analyzed by Carolina Cat, the Caterpillar Tractor dealer in Charlotte which has is own lab.

The results came back "normal", ie: typical for a premium synthetic oil which was run 4300 miles. Wear metals were very low. Other results such as viscosity at 100°C (212°F, oxidation, nitration, fuel content and sulfur were all low.

This round of oil analysis is mainly to establish a drain interval. I suspect it will end up being about the same as it was with the Red Line 10W30 I used before (which was 150% of the OLM or about 15,000-18,000 miles between changes with a filter every 4000 miles or so) but I want to make sure.

I'll be back here with a report at my next filter change in another 4000 miles or so.

In the meantime, it appears that Gibbs Driven 5W30 is working very well.

 

Hib.....

Can you post a copy of your oil analysis? I like to use it for a comparison, just for S***s sakes.