KJ wrote:
Some of this was given away at the recent Vic Mini Club end of year function. I'll be interested to see feedback from the 8 members who scored the stuff.
Unfortunately the only things we as mini drivers can see from an oil is the length of time it stays relatively clean, and the oil pressure it gives us through different temperatures and loads.
This isn't the entire story however. The additives (like zinc for example as an extreme pressure agent or friction modifier) provide shear lubrication on sliding surfaces like our camshaft lifters which are out in the breeze halfway up the side of the block. There are many other additives and detergents which adjust for pH total base number,(to prevent acidic buildup), anti organics (bugs live in our oil when in bulk eating sulphur and respirating on oxides), visosity, friction modifiers, pour point, etc etc.
The only way we can truly test an oil in our engines is to run the engine on the oil exclusively for a very long time, pull it down and look at how the engine has worn in that time. A common example of this wear is through worn out camshafts at low kilometers.
The environmental viewpoint is that now lead is gone from our fuel, the next source of heavy metals is through the additives in our engine oils. The additives also have an impact on the operation of the catalytic converters as engines burn a little oil as they get older. So they have been reduced in modern oils over a long period of time.
Manufacturers have moved hand in hand with these reductions by designing out potential sources of wear in modern designs. Camshafts run in oil baths for example to keep the lifters and cam soaked in oil. We don't have that benefit in our old design engines, and as the older cars have disappeared from our roads, so have the older tech oils in the most part.
