Its amazing the amount of venom spat towards various oils on the inter tubes that people just don't like.
Mobil 1 is kind of the Microsoft of the oil world: fun to kick around as being inferior, more marketing then substance.
Its unfortunate because like many companies, Mobil makes some very good blends and some very consumer blends. UOA's show it may break down faster then brand X but its still holding up and engines are not throwing rods left and right.
People that do this for a living (you know, engineering types with degrees and all) know what is good and what is not, and they still produce and use the product.
A Z06 rev's to 7K...not that far from the 370's 7500. Euro spec P cars have run it for years. Some BMWs. I have a combined 350K miles across high output Honda, Mazda, and subaru engines all running M1 5/30, 10/30, or 0/30 at various times with OCI's varying from 5-7500 miles. Not too shabby for something I buy from walmart
My Z is getting PP, partially due to some of the UOA's I read and partially because its something new to try and $2 per 5qt less expensive then the M1. I did put M1 in the first change since I had it on hand, but when driving it 3K every 6 months on the street, you honestly could run walmart blue bottle and it would be just fine. My oil temps were not any different over the summer with M1 vs the PP I put in at the end of the summer.
The more expensive oil gives us peace of mind when we hammer on it. That is the rationalization we use
Some cars do run warmer then others, so if one particular lube shows to work better in your particular car great...doesn't mean another oil can't work equally well in other cars.
- b