I got some great news. After sending Mobil an email a couple of days ago, I just received word that 0w20 is making a comeback:

Glen,

We will re-launch Mobil 1 0W-20 (new ILSAC GF-4 formula) in early October
2005. At that time the product will be made available to our distributors
for sale to car dealers, quick lubes and other installers. Retailers
typically reset their shelves during Spring, so retail distribution will
not likely occur until 1Q-2Q '06.

Mobil 1 will be relaunching a 0W-20 viscosity which is an excellent choice
for many of today's newer vehicles including hybrids.

 

Oh well Kevin

 

Whoa... you mean I won't have to boycott mobil 1 products? Yippeeee!

 

Uh oh.. a NEW formula! Wayne is going to be holding a garage sale real quick here to blow out his current stock to make room for the new stuff.

 

Hi AZCivic:

___Maybe I will drop back to a more std. 7.5K mile change instead of pushing 10 - 12.5K like now

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net

 

I'm just curious since we're on the topic of oil here anyway, has anyone else here ever sent oil off for analysis? I got a sample kit from Blackstone Labs a few months ago after I did my previous oil change. I'm using Mobil 1 0W-20 and a 7500 mile change interval. I've read plenty on the "Bob the oil guy" site, but that seems to mainly be truck guys and people who beat on their cars.

What I'm more curious about is if hypermilers get better life out of their oil. If the results come back that my oil is still in fantastic shape, maybe I'll go for a 10k interval next time? It would only make sense that if you're never pushing the car very hard and typically running minimum engine RPM, minimum load then the oil should be in great shape, assuming you don't have any air filtration or blowby problems with your engine.

 

Later this week I'm going to send off a 7500~ mile sample of 0W-20 from an Insight that averaged 65mpg during those miles. I've had a Blackstone Labs sample kit sitting around for months too.

If the results are interesting, I'll consider doing it every oil change with this newer Insight. It could be useful to see how well the engine does with a 5 years stash of the M1 0W-20.

 

Hi AZCivic:

___Honda’s - Break In oil in GreenAndBlue’s AH earlier this year:



___When I sent Blackstone Lab’s a 7,500 mile sample of my Accord’s 0W-20, they accused me of sending them an unused sample right out of the bottle … Just kidding

___Romir, what do you mean 5 years worth? Were you anticipating a possible shortage perhaps

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net

 

It didn't seem like a bad idea at the time with all the fuel savings piling up. It just seems fitting for the car to use such a thin oil that amazes almost every car guy I've talked to.

 

Just ordered 12 quarts of M1 0w20 to hold me over until the new stuff arrives.

Amazing that we have known for over a month now the old stuff was discontinued and you can still buy it out of inventory. And the price seems to be dropping too. :-)

I guess this forum isn't enough to cause a panic run on the stuff. :-)