Motor oil recommendations?

-X- said:

Mobil1 is a group III mineral-based oil and has been shown to cause sludge in this engine, especially if you go past 3000 miles.

The only group III oil I recommend is Pennzoil Ultra Platinum, as it is designed to protect against LSPI.

Ideally you want a group IV (PAO-based) or group V (ester-based) oil with the highest flashpoint possible.

I understand if you are a Mobil1 head from years past. I used to run it in non-GDI vehicles with no issues. However, it just isn't a good oil for this T-GDI engine.

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I was just roaming around, because i finally got back to the "what type of oil to use next oil change," and come across this----
-------------"Mobil 1 is a good example of a high-end Group IV."----- (does group IV = PAO-based?)

So Are you 100% sure it's group lll ?
I also called and spoke to a mobil 1 rep about running it in my son's 2014 VT, and they pointed me to the extended performance syn., because it met Hyundai's requirements. Then told me how to do things to stay under their lifetime limited engine guarantee which includes using their ext. filter. and instead of 15k mile changes, i will change at 7,500.
(also in case your wondering, my son does not drive it very hard. He has to pay for his own gas now, so he is more worried about mpg than anything else! haha! XD)

As for the flash point, Mobil1 looks to be about as good as everything on the chart you provided above, other than the racing oil at the top.

Anyway, with me using the qt of Lucas with the mobil 1, are you still suggesting i should use that racing oil or eq. w/ higher flash point?
(i never hear anyone speak of Lucas additives on these forums? Idk why not? Lucas has proven it's products to me over the past 20 yrs or so!) I also never have had injector/carb problems at all by using their fuel treatments.
Anyway Other than the flash point, what else is the most important characteristic to look for in an oil? Viscosity,? density,? ect....?

Please know i do not want to come across as knowing what i am talking about, because i definitely don't! lol! All i can do is tell you what i read.
Thanks for reading!

Just figured someone other than me may find this helpful?
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I'm looking to set the record straight on that old chestnut: synthetic oil. It's a confusing topic, and there's a lot of rhetoric, largely because some manufacturers and peddlers of synthetics have made a lot of inaccurate and self-serving claims over the years. Some, actually a lot, of this rhetoric is pretty strident and opinionated.

Briefly, there are two types of "synthetic" oils on the market. Group IV oils consist of molecules that are synthesized from simpler chemical compounds. This lets the chemical engineers "tune" the characteristics of a lubricant to exact specifications. These oils flow more freely at extreme low temperatures and don't break down at very high temperatures. As a side benefit, they generally can be specified one or two grades lighter than a mineral oil, which consumes less energy as friction inside the engine and saves fuel. These are superior products, and command a premium price. Mobil 1 is a good example of a high-end Group IV. Group III lubricants are made from reprocessed petroleum products normally left over after making crude oil into gasoline, diesel fuel, heating oil and other products. They're more modestly priced, and have many of the desirable characteristics of the higher-priced spread. In much of the world outside the USA, Group III-based lubricants are not permitted to be marketed as "synthetic." Castrol Syntec is a good example of this type.

Want to use a synthetic--but experiencing sticker shock? You have two options: Hunt for sales and buy a case at a time, or use one of the synthetic "blends." With a substantial proportion of mineral oil in the mix, these are priced more affordably. They also provide only a proportion of the desirable characteristics of full synthetics.

Conventional mineral oils are simply one of the fractional distillation products from a barrel of crude, occasionally cracked from more viscous products in the refining process.

So, should you use synthetic oil? Depends. Some high-performance and high-end cars come factory filled with synthetic, and you should stick with it. If you live where it gets really frigid in the winter, you might be better off with a synthetic for its superior cold-weather starting. If you tow a trailer and your oil temperature is consistently above 200 F, you should use a synthetic oil and install an auxiliary oil cooler. I use mineral oils in my wife's car, but the race car and the motorcycles use synthetics. It's even more complicated than that--the race car gets a race-specific lubricant, with an additive package not intended for more than a few hundred miles between changes and not for very many cold starts. My Ducati, with its carbon-fiber-based dry clutch, uses an automotive-grade synthetic, while my wet-clutch Triumph uses a motorcycle-specific oil without friction modifiers. Wet-clutch bikes share the engine oil sump with the gearbox and clutch, so the friction modifiers used in auto-type oils might make the organic materials on the clutch plates too slippery and prevent good clutch lockup. If your driving cycle or your vehicle is more average, you probably can drive your car well past 200,000 miles without needing major engine work by using the proper grade of conventional mineral oil and appropriate change intervals.

But don't assume that if a synthetic is so good (read: very expensive) that you don't need to change it as often. The base lubricant may well be better, but the additive package, which can be as much as 25 percent of the volume of product in the bottle, can still become exhausted. And unburned fuel, partially burned hydrocarbons, atmospheric dirt, metal wear particles and blowby carbon particles will build up just as fast in a synthetic-lubricated engine as in one laved in petroleum-based oil. The only way to remove this stuff is to drain and replace the oil. I've always recommended 3000-mile oil changes, but I'm rethinking that. The air cleaners, the compression and oil-control rings and positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) in modern engines are better than ever. The air cleaners admit less abrasive atmospheric dirt, and closely fitted rings keep blowby and particulates above the piston and out of the oil. Sophisticated PCV systems are better at purging water vapor and partial hydrocarbons from the crankcase and burning them off in the engine, so I'm leaning more toward 5000 miles for most people with cars newer than about 1990 or so. As always, your mileage may vary.

And then Ill head out to kick the shit out of Betsy in the back yard. You will not have an issue running M1 in the car. UOA's to confirm a proper OCI

If you do not want to run a boutique oil (Meaning go to the store and buy your oil)
PUP, Rotella T6, M1 EP, HM, and TDT all have great additive packages

After that you're looking at your Gibbs, Motul, Amsoil, Brad Penn etc...

If I were to run any boutique oil on this platform it would be AMSOIL Euro Formulation 5w-40 Mid SAPS



Do yourself a "REAL" favor and head over to the BITOG forums and read countless VOA's and UOA's of the oils you are interested in and make an informed decision from there

Std M1 is junk and may very well sludge up after a long OCI agreed, however, their EP, HM and TDT as I stated do have very good packages.

My VT will never see a POA/Ester oil and like you said 0FG. If the engine lets go because of it (not going to happen) or the turbo (not going to happen). Hyundai can come pick it up and give me a loaner until my new engine is in and/or turbo is replaced.


Ive pulled motors apart, seen turbos, that have run STD M1 their entire lives and there was no sludge, no scoring, no nothing. As it is a factory fill oil on many performance cars of the early to mid 2000's. I will not use it after they took so much ZDDP out of it. The others though are fine though and always perform well even in dedicated racing engines


As I said you want info on an oil choice head over to BITOG forums and find countless VOA/UOA's on about any oil and platfor you can think of. Bound to be a lot of UOA's from GDI-T motors by now

I did a lot of research on which oil was what when I bought my Veloster turbo, because turbocharged engines will run hotter when running on boost, and therefore will cause more oxidation (thickening and sludge) in anything other than a genuine synthetic oil. I absolutely, 100% guarantee that way back in the dark ages, Mobil 1 was a Group IV synthetic oil, but when the Castrol case went through and it was possible to label mineral oil as synthetic, then Mobil 1 became mineral oil (Group III synthetic). It is mineral oil-based today. I found three genuine synthetic oils: Motul when it's labelled synthetic (rather than techno-synthesis), Amsoil Signature Series which is not readily available in Australia, and Australian-made Penrite Racing.

The main area where synthetic oils are significantly better is oxidation resistance, or the thickening of the oil and it turning to sludge. Even in modestly-powered, normally aspirated engines there is an advantage in running Group IV synthetic in order to minimise oxidation. The other advantage for all engines is better flow when cold which reduces engine wear. In Australia once you sort out the facts of oil base stocks, running Group IV synthetic is a non-decision. Mobil 1 can't be had in the required viscosity of 5W40 so we can rule that out. An equivalent would be Castrol Edge Group III synthetic, 5W40 5 litres costs $59.99. Motul X-cess 5W40 Group IV synthetic costs $75 for 5 litres, sot the cost differential between fake and real is small.

There's a difference between oxidated (thickened) oil circulating in the engine, and sludge forming on components in the engine. ALL oil oxidates, even PAO and ester, and the resulting thickened particles of oil continue to circulate through the engine while degrading lubrication. This can sometimes be felt after an oil change when an engine has marginally better performance: the oxidated and thickened oil has been drained and there is less drag on the oil pump. If this thickened oil is left long enough (that is if oil change intervals are disregarded), this thickened oil can settle on parts like oil pans.

The most we can do in terms of oxidation is to minimise the percentage that forms. A good used oil analysis that measures oxidation is essential to determine if the oil is up to the task and how often it should be changed. I have noticed that most used oil analysis in the USA don't include an oxidation value which makes those UOAs useless. My Motul UOA shows 13% oxidation after about 8,000km which is excellent.

Only European-standard ACEA A3 oils can be run in Veloster turbos and API ratings don't count. As we know Rotella oil (which isn't available in Australia) suffers from foaming at high revs, and I cannot understand why anyone would run any diesel engine oil designed for low-revving diesel engines in high-revving petrol engines. Even more moronic are some who run Rotella in motorcycle engines, some of which will do 18,000rpm. My motorcycle is relatively slow-revving but it still cruises at 4,000 to 5,000rpm with a redline of 8,000rpm, and some morons would attempt to run Rotella diesel oil in this engine.

Anyone can run the wrong oil for a period of time and cause no obvious damage, but when the engine prematurely loses compression or begins to burn oil then the damage has been done. Fred runs Mobil 1 and swears by it, but if you have a turbo engine with excessive wear after 150,00km then it's too late.