engine and drivetrain Kendall GT-1 20W-50: any good?

[KFunk]

I love Valvoline VR1, which is on sale right now, but my local Autozone is sold out. They sold me 2 quarts, but some jerk asked them to hold 48 quarts for him

I need to change oil quick, and be ready for an autocross next weekend.

Autozone did have Kendall GT1 20W-50, which is in a fancy looking bottle. It says high ZDDP content and other stuff for racing. I don't like that it says 'Liquid Titanium,' since that sounds like unnecessary marketing hype, and adding titanium to my engine doesn't sound pleasant.

Anyways, is the stuff decent? I might mix it with my 2 quarts of VR1 and just use it that way. It's $3.69/quart regular price, and might be a decent alternative to Valvoline VR1 for zddp content.

[gracer]

In my opinion, Kendall is the best non synthetic out there. G

[roadhog0]

I have been using Kendall SHP Grease out of the same can for probably 15 years and the can is older than that since it's my dads. I just bought a can of the blue stuff and use it. I love Kendall products!

[02for2]

There's just waay too much obsessing about Motor Oils on Car Forums, and this suits the Oil companys just fine, in fact they promote it - it's good for sales!

A quality brand name oil, whether Dino Juice or Synthetic, if changed at the proper interval, will keep your engine 'new' for the same duration until the amount of wear exceeds the ability of ANY oil.

The real key is the proper change interval, and these are deceptive. All Owners Manuals state a recommended change interval. There are two issues with these; First, these intervals are often determined as Marketing Tools to induce buyers. They are artificially extended to give the perception of lower operating costs vs. their competition - given the average length of new car ownership, they are on fairly safe ground. The second is that all service intervals are based on 'Ideal Conditions', conditions which few, if any, actual owners experience.

Drive with an increased load (such as passengers and groceries), shorten the interval. Drive in Stop&Go traffic, shorten the interval. Drive short trips of less than 10 miles, shorten the interval. Drive the car 'Hard', shorten the interval. Live in a wet climate, shorten the interval. Live in a Hot climate, shorten the interval. Drive in 'Dusty' conditions (such as a regular Expressway trip, where lots of particulates from the pulverized concrete (aka dust) enter the air intake), shorten the interval. Use a Carb Cleaner, Fuel Treatment, shorten the interval. Experience any elevation changes (hills), shorten the interval. AX OR TRACK THE CAR, SHORTEN THE INTERVAL!

If AXing or Tracking the car, due to the excess fuel which migrates into the oil because of extended periods at WOT, the additive pkg. will breakdown almost immediately - gasolene is a powerful solvent. In fact, an oil change before and after a Track day is really an absolute.

No oil loses it's lubricating properties for the stated durations. That's not why you change your oil. You change your oil to remove contaminants (such as silcates - read Sand, that pass through the airfilter into the engine) and combustion by-products and metal particles from the motor - they are held in suspension in the oil, and come out when you drain it.

Oil is Life! Oil preserves engines! Oil is cheaper than engine work!

Concentrate much more on the proper change interval than the actual brand and you'll go a lot further to protecting and preserving your motor. Realize there is no one set interval - no static number of miles or months. Alter your driving style for a couple hundred miles, and you need to also alter your change interval.

Cheers!

[Guest]

Old Kendall "green" is now Brad Penn 20w-50. Brad Penn bought the refinery but not the name.

[flyingjolly]

in my opinion: as long as it's 20W50, non-synthetic and a brand with a known name, theres nothing that could go wrong

as 02for2 said - oil is much overhyped

[eastsidebimmer]

KFunk: I think the final day for the 2.50 VR1 sale at Autozone is today. If you don't have another Autozone nearby, you might see if one of their competitors will honor the price--you might need to bring in the ad or show your receipt from the two quarts you did purchase.

I did an oil service on my brother-in-law's high mileage E36 last week and used the Kendall oil you described. Looked like regular oil to me and the price was right.

Good luck!

[jrhone]

There's just waay too much obsessing about Motor Oils on Car Forums, and this suits the Oil companys just fine, in fact they promote it - it's good for sales!

A quality brand name oil, whether Dino Juice or Synthetic, if changed at the proper interval, will keep your engine 'new' for the same duration until the amount of wear exceeds the ability of ANY oil.

The real key is the proper change interval, and these are deceptive. All Owners Manuals state a recommended change interval. There are two issues with these; First, these intervals are often determined as Marketing Tools to induce buyers. They are artificially extended to give the perception of lower operating costs vs. their competition - given the average length of new car ownership, they are on fairly safe ground. The second is that all service intervals are based on 'Ideal Conditions', conditions which few, if any, actual owners experience.

Drive with an increased load (such as passengers and groceries), shorten the interval. Drive in Stop&Go traffic, shorten the interval. Drive short trips of less than 10 miles, shorten the interval. Drive the car 'Hard', shorten the interval. Live in a wet climate, shorten the interval. Live in a Hot climate, shorten the interval. Drive in 'Dusty' conditions (such as a regular Expressway trip, where lots of particulates from the pulverized concrete (aka dust) enter the air intake), shorten the interval. Use a Carb Cleaner, Fuel Treatment, shorten the interval. Experience any elevation changes (hills), shorten the interval. AX OR TRACK THE CAR, SHORTEN THE INTERVAL!

If AXing or Tracking the car, due to the excess fuel which migrates into the oil because of extended periods at WOT, the additive pkg. will breakdown almost immediately - gasolene is a powerful solvent. In fact, an oil change before and after a Track day is really an absolute.

No oil loses it's lubricating properties for the stated durations. That's not why you change your oil. You change your oil to remove contaminants (such as silcates - read Sand, that pass through the airfilter into the engine) and combustion by-products and metal particles from the motor - they are held in suspension in the oil, and come out when you drain it.

Oil is Life! Oil preserves engines! Oil is cheaper than engine work!

Concentrate much more on the proper change interval than the actual brand and you'll go a lot further to protecting and preserving your motor. Realize there is no one set interval - no static number of miles or months. Alter your driving style for a couple hundred miles, and you need to also alter your change interval.

Cheers!

So....what of zinc in the oil for our older cars? Is that not a concern? Newer oils have little or no zince...and our valvetrain like the zinc. Newer cars dont like it because it clogs catalytic converters...so most oil companies dont put zinc in modern oils...thats why Valvoline VR1 race oil is liked, its racing oil so its got zinc in it...What of the engine failures that have been attributed to lack of zinc in freshly rebuilt motors?

[rtheriaque]

I'm not trying to start any wars here, but I've long felt the need to ask (and perhaps this deserves its own thread).

I understand BMW recommended 20W-50. I also understand that was 40 years ago and oil has improved by leaps and bounds since then, as has the understanding of the physics behind lubrication.

My gut feeling based on research and analysis, is that 20W-50 is wholly inappropriate in these cars. The lubrication and flow offered by a modern lighter weight oil is maintained in ways a 20W-50 circa 1970 couldn't dream of. We apply modern technology to these cars in a number of different ways (disk brake upgrades, electronic ignition, computerized fuel injection, etc), why does the community stick to 20W-50?

[KFunk]

I ignored most of 02for2's post, since its common knowledge combined with misinformation. Sorry man.

Yeah, I do horrible, unspeakable things to my engine. I've never paid attention to mileage, and just change it when its time to change it. I know when its ready for a lot of reasons. If I use Castrol20W-50 or other brands it goes to crap real quick. The VR1 holds on for a lot longer.

And yeah, I tried the competition yesterday and nobody had it. It's a fairly small town...

[Chamonix72]

The recommendations are 40 years old, but so are the engines. My car had 5W30 Mobil1 in it when I bought it. When I changed to the 20W50 the car immediately ran better and acted much more happy.

[Guest Anonymous]

The zinc stuff is anti wear additive. It is almost non existent in the thinner oils sold for cars 10W30 etc. It is however put into heavier oils like 10W40, 20W50 with more in the 50 weight. Reason is it supposedly hurts the emissions and the cars are a soft target (read suckers) while trucks are a better lobby and avoid the controls through CASH to the lawmakers.

If you use 20W50 you should get the zinc additive. Just to be sure I use 20W50 ynthetic and a slug of STP with loads of zinc.

A lubrication engineer told me years ago to only buy oil from companies that don't make gasoline. Gas companies he said consider oil as an after thought and don't spend the engineering to get it right. Kendall does not make gas, Royal Purple does not make gas, Castro does not make gas.

Have fun

[roadhog0]

The big difference I noticed from 10w40 and 20w50 was how much oil my car burned. It was drinking a quart every 500 miles and smoked nicely on decel. The 20w50 burns a quart every 1000-1500 miles and there is no visual smoke on decel. Right now im running some Quaker State since I got it cheap, I run redline sometimes too. Synthetic all the way!

[Richard]

My understanding as to new cars using lighter weight oil is that new car engines are machined in clearances that manufaturers 30-40 years ago could only dream of. Tighter machined tolerances mean you can run a thinner oil.

[Napes]

Just to add to the discussion, I use BradPenn 20W/50, change at 3K miles, and never have to add any between changes, though this may be because my Eric Kerman engine has only 8K miles on it.

Bob Napier