Motor Oil Sep 2019 Test: Which Brand Wins?
This Sep 2019 head-to-head test of 2 motor oil options has the measured results for each. See how they ranked and watch the full test video.
10 Oil Mix Blend
Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Products are listed in the order they finished.
All measurements (13 more)+
Cold Flow Race Test
- 110 Oil Mix Blend
four-lane race at 15 below zero Fahrenheit for 24 hours comparing new/used Amazon Basics against new/used 10-oil blend; both used oils lost a little viscosity compared to their new counterparts; final stated result: 'used Amazon finishes first and new Amazon narrowly edges out the used blended oil' (narrator's phrasing self-corrects mid-sentence about the middle finishers, so the exact 2nd/3rd order and where new blended oil finished is not fully unambiguous; kept as stated, described overall as 'great performance by both oils')
- 2Amazon Basics High Mileage Full Synthetic 10W30
used Amazon Basics finished first in the four-lane cold-flow race; new Amazon Basics narrowly edged out the used blended oil for the next position
Oil Analysis Wear Metals
- 110 Oil Mix Blend
aluminum (piston/bearing wear indicator): average to below average, same as the Amazon Basics comparison sample. Iron (cylinder/valvetrain/rotating-parts wear indicator): around half of universal average, called 'actually pretty good' for a 220,000-plus mile V8 under hard use
- 2Amazon Basics High Mileage Full Synthetic 10W30
aluminum average to below average; iron around half of universal average, called 'actually pretty good'; copper and lead levels elevated due to a prior Engine Restorer additive, explicitly noted by narrator as declining with each subsequent oil change as it wears off, not attributed to the oil brand
Oil Analysis Anti Wear Additives
- 110 Oil Mix Blend
molybdenum slightly lower than average (narrator notes this is fine, some oils contain none); zinc slightly higher than universal average for the 10-oil mix (Amazon Basics was slightly lower than average); phosphorus slightly higher than average for the 10-oil mix (Amazon Basics was exactly average); potassium, silicon, and sodium all came back 'very good' or better than average
- 2Amazon Basics High Mileage Full Synthetic 10W30
molybdenum slightly lower than average; zinc slightly lower than universal average; phosphorus exactly average; titanium slightly higher than average, 'not a concern'; potassium, silicon, and sodium all came back very good
Oil Analysis Detergents Dispersants
- 110 Oil Mix Blend
calcium slightly higher in the 10-oil mix than in Amazon Basics, but both below the universal average; magnesium higher than universal average for both; boron reported as 'a little higher in Amazon and the 10 oil mixed [close to] an average' (phrasing is ambiguous about the exact comparison, kept as stated)
- 2Amazon Basics High Mileage Full Synthetic 10W30
calcium below universal average; magnesium higher than universal average; boron reported as 'a little higher in Amazon' (comparison basis ambiguous in the transcript, kept as stated)
Oil Analysis Viscosity And Flashpoint
- 110 Oil Mix Blend
viscosity described as 'just fine'; flashpoint good
- 2Amazon Basics High Mileage Full Synthetic 10W30
viscosity slightly lower than normal but still acceptable; flashpoint good
Ingredients
- 110 Oil Mix Blend
Red Line full synthetic 5W30 ester-based oil, Pennzoil SAE 5W30 conventional oil, Amazon Basics High Mileage full synthetic 10W30, Super Tech 5W30 full synthetic, Super Tech 5W30 conventional, AMSOIL Dominator Racing Oil 100 percent synthetic 10W30, Mobil 1 Extended Performance 5W30 (claimed 15,000 mile protection), Castrol GTX 10W30 conventional, Shell Rotella T4 15W30 (a diesel-engine oil used here in a gasoline engine), and Max Life high mileage synthetic blend 10W30 - one quart of each mixed together in a single container
- 2Amazon Basics High Mileage Full Synthetic 10W30not tested
Vehicle And Test Duration
- 110 Oil Mix Blend
installed in a 2003 Chevrolet Suburban V8 with over 225,000 miles (225,354 at the start of this oil change) and run for about 4,500 miles to 229,000-plus miles before being drained again
- 2Amazon Basics High Mileage Full Synthetic 10W30not tested
Film Strength Lubricity Test New
- 110 Oil Mix Blend
did fairly well, described by narrator as 'surprisingly well'; did not perform quite as well as most of the synthetic oils he has tested previously, but performed just about as well overall
- 2Amazon Basics High Mileage Full Synthetic 10W30not tested
Oil Level After 4500 Miles
- 110 Oil Mix Blend
dipstick down to the second hole, about a quart low, which narrator says is 'pretty normal' for this high-mileage engine
- 2Amazon Basics High Mileage Full Synthetic 10W30not tested
Oil Filter Inspection
- 110 Oil Mix Blend
picked up 'all types of things that did not belong in the oil'; described as 'pretty dirty'
- 2Amazon Basics High Mileage Full Synthetic 10W30not tested
Lubricity Test Used Oil
- 110 Oil Mix Blend
amount of scoring on the bearing after 4,500 miles was 'almost identical to the new oil', indicating little degradation in film strength
- 2Amazon Basics High Mileage Full Synthetic 10W30not tested
Oil Analysis TBN
- 110 Oil Mix Blend
lab comments noted the Total Base Number (acid-neutralizing capacity) was 'still good' and that the oil could have been used for longer than the 4,500-mile test interval
- 2Amazon Basics High Mileage Full Synthetic 10W30not tested
Role
- 2Amazon Basics High Mileage Full Synthetic 10W30
used in this video as the single-brand baseline comparison against the 10-oil mix, following up on a prior standalone video the narrator did testing Amazon Basics full synthetic oil alone
- 110 Oil Mix Blendnot tested
How it was tested
- film strength / lubricity test on new oil (bearing wear-scar measurement)
- real-world engine run of about 4,500 miles in a high-mileage V8 (2003 Chevrolet Suburban)
- oil level check via dipstick after the run
- oil filter inspection for contamination
- film strength / lubricity test on used oil after the run
- cold flow race test at 15 below zero Fahrenheit for 24 hours, comparing new and used samples of both oils
- independent oil analysis lab report (wear metals, anti-wear additives, detergents/dispersants, viscosity, flashpoint, TBN) benchmarked against universal averages
Data notes and caveats
Myth-test, not a brand competition: the question being tested is whether mixing 10 different motor oils together damages an engine. Result: both the 10-oil mix and the single-brand Amazon Basics comparison oil performed well and showed normal wear after 4,500 miles, so no engine damage was observed from the mixing itself. However, narrator explicitly does NOT recommend deliberately mixing oils in practice: 'so i recommend adding 10 different types of engine oil to your vehicle absolutely not... only use the type of engine oil called for in the owner's manual,' while noting that topping off with a different compatible brand that meets the manufacturer's requirements is fine. No winner/runnerUp/budgetPick applies since this is not a competitive ranking.
