cam 2 synthetic oil?????? a retailer just opened up down the street from me..anyone heard of this oil??? good or bad
jason

 

never heard of it, but im gonna stick with what i know, Royal Purple and Mobile 1

 

also ams oil i have herd of cam 2 before but dont know about it

 

Stick with a group IV/V oil... Mobil 1 = group III??? Amsoil 0w30 SSO = group IV/V. Redline = group V.

I've looked into some of the other "boutique" oils but none are group IV/V except amsoil and redline.

 

what you mean by group

 

never heard of it

 

The Cam 2 brand has been around since the 70's and was usually sold through discount stores. I haven't seen it for sale in a long time and never used it myself. If I remember correctly, it was usually the price point "on sale" oil. Here is the link to the company:

http://www.cam2.com/

 

In order for an oil to be called "full synthetic" in the United States it must be at least a Group III "basestock", meaning a synthetic base with conventional (mineral) oil additives. Mobil 1 is a group IV synthetic with around 20% additive, including conventional oil. Castrol syntec is really a "blend" of Group III basestock (hydrocracked conventional). This is a great (quote) I found via searching that may explain it a bit more fully:

To my knowledge all store bought synthetics here in the US contain primarily groupIII base stocks. These are the base stocks that are criticized the most for being "non synthetic".

Information on the internet indicates that Amsoil, Redline, and other "botique" oils remain "true synthetics" in that they continue to use Group IV/V base stocks in many of their high end motor oils.

There are two sides to the "fully synthetic" argument, one side says that the GroupIV/V base stocks are the only way to go and anything with a lesser base will not have equivalent performance and thus should not be considered a full synthetic. This is primarily true when it comes to extremely cold weather performance where GroupIV/V base stocks generally have superior pour points and cold flow performance.

The other side of the argument says that any oil can be called fully synthetic so long as it continues to stay in a performance range equivalent to previous oils that have been called fully synthetic but contained GroupIV/V base stocks. So basically, groupIII oil is "close enough" and therefore continues to meet many of the fully synthetic requirements in the eyes of the oil manufacturers.

In certain cases, you HAVE TO USE a group IV/V base stock in order to achieve certain weights in oil (0w40, 0w30, 5w50, etc etc.) These wide viscosity swings generally require a more robust base stock and as a result you'll see most oils in this range continue to have a mix of Group IV/V or be entirely based on Group IV/V oils. 0w oils are commonly regarded as having high quality base stocks although, as with anything else, YMMV.

Now, for my 2 cents, anything to follow is JUST MY OPINION so take it for what it's worth:
I don't have a problem with GroupIII oils whatsoever. I tend to lean towards side of the camp that thinks that, so long as the oil performs well, it doesn't matter what base stock it's made out of. It could be yellow corn oil for all I care, if it protects my engine well and can be had at a decent price then I'm happy with it. So basically, it boils down to "what is your definition of performance?". Are you willing to settle for "good enough, I'll go buy M1 and be done with it" or are you one of the people that says "nothing but the absolute best for my car, I will not rest until I own the best that there is, therefore I'm going to buy brand X". I'll just laugh at you and say that you can't prove that one oil is considerably better than any other. wink.gif My definition of performance is a lubricant that has better protection than the base oil recommended in my owners manual, can be easily found almost anywhere, and isn't cost prohibitive. Based on my definition of performance Pennzoil Platinum is the best choice for me. I'm sure everyone else will have different criteria or will feel that their driving environment requires something different. That's the beauty of being able to choose.

Consider this though, Pennzoil Platinum is made from Shell's awesome XHVI base stock. While this is a groupIII base stock it is widely regarded on BITOG as one of THE BEST groupIII base stocks currently in production. Combine this with Platinum's bargain pricing and "good enough" oil is suddenly a pretty attractive option. Because Platinum is readily available and cheap, I can afford to change my oil a little more often. Sure, it's not a super high end Group V oil that costs $9 a quart, but it doesn't cost me $60 to change my oil either. Hell, I can change my oil twice with Pennzoil Platinum and still not be out $60. And with the price of gas over $3 a gallon, that extra $20-$30 that I save on an oil change goes right back in my gas tank

 

I just found this spectacular oil thread from the 350Z forums. this should explain a LOT!

http://my350z.com/forum/engine-drive...ysis-info.html

 

thanks for the info rubrignitz