Oil Analysis on Pennzoil Ultra
 

Here we go. Pennzoil Ultra is a relatively new product. Supposed to be their top of the line oil. So far, six Ultra Used Oil Analyses have been reported on BITOG.

I've made a chart of the UOA results, which is attached below. To me, the wear metals either look great or vastly improved. The TBN looks strong. Viscosity may be on the thin side, but that's good for MPG.

If you get a UOA on Ultra from your G37, please post it here. Thanks!

Here's the first VQ37 Ultra UOA, thanks to l2awin:

Attachment 171709


The updated Ultra chart is attached. Note that we have engine Universal Averages on 5 of the 7 UOAs to compare against. So far, Ultra is below the Universal Averages in all wear metals except Aluminum, but that result is skewed by a 2010 Genesis which reported 15 Al. Here's the kicker. That Genesis averaged 39 Al in 2 prior non-Ultra UOAs, so 15 Al on Ultra was a real improvement.

Do the low viscosity numbers indicate shearing here?

For reference the Nissan Ester Oil Viscosity numbers hovered around 8.1@100C and 53@210F. Although those were from slightly shorter intervals as well.

I know this is only one report, but can somebody smart translate this?

As Blackstone noted in the comments, viscosity was slightly low, but there's no reason not to try 7500 miles on this oil.

Generally speaking, the thinner oil you run, the better your gas mileage. At normal to short OCIs, you usually want to run the thinnest oil you can that protects your engine.

If you want to run extended drain intervals in an engine that can run hot like ours, you might want to start with a thicker oil. In this regard, the Ultra Euro 5W-30 is much more viscous to start than regular Ultra 5W-30, and is more appropriate for long OCIs (which is what the European car makers specify).

Ultra Euro is hard to come by right now, but it will soon be readily available.

That's not particularly impressive to me for only 5K miles. I wonder what this would look like if it was run another 2K to 5K miles?

Hmmm... maybe 10w-30 in the summer, and 5w-30 for those of us that go through winter?

I've just recently switched from Mobil1 to Penzoil Ultra and the first thing I noticed (I only have ~150 miles on the Ultra) is my MPG went down ~3-4 MPG.

I used to be able to get 24 on the highway without even trying. I could drive it hard on the highway and still pull 24. Now I have to really try to even get 21. If I drive it hard at all it drops to 20. Not a huge deal b/c 20 is still good but compared to the 24 I was getting it feels low

I doubt if changing from Mobile1 to Penzoil Ultra would have any measurable effect on your fuel mileage.

well there is absolutely no difference in the car other than that...I drive the exact same routes the exact same way. The only thing that changed was the oil.

It seems more likely the change in oil had something to do with it than just a random bad tank of gas doesnt it? :rolleyes:

Well, I have around 7K miles on Ultra now after around 13K on Mobil 1, and I have seen no difference in gas mileage. I was just under 21MPG on Mobil 1 and I am just under 21MPG on Ultra.

could be the amount of oil he put in and not the brand? Overfilled could affect gas mileage

I think I might wait to see what its like over a longer period time. With such a short data sample of only 150 miles, there can be NUMEROUS reasons for the fuel mileage decrease. Watch it over a few tanks of gas and see what it does.

3-4 mpg is pretty extreme for oil. Especially going from one synthetic to another and staying at the same 5w-30 weight. Id guess over a 1,000 mile period, you wouldnt see a difference.

Whats not impressive? Im guessing you are talking about the shearing because his particles are all low.

I guess its all relative. And I agree what you are probably going to post in response, that your Eneos looks better. But compare it to the Ester Oil Nissan recommends...... as I posted in the other thread on this UOA:

Considering the Ester which is recommended by Nissan that almost everyone has tested showed shearing down to 53 after 4k miles, the Ultra at 5k at 54.8 could probably go to 7500 miles and be in the same range as the Ester after 4k miles. Ultra is also a thinner oil than the Ester Oil to start with.

While Im not bowing down in awe and declaring this the new nectar of the Gods, I would use this over the Nissan Ester oil in my car..... especially for longer OCI's.

Im still waiting to see UCLA Bruin's new Eneos UOA along with VOA and waiting for another Ultra UOA to pop up. I would prefer to see a few different data sets before making any conclusions. You might get one guy who drives his car hard vs a guy who puts 7k all highway miles on it so seeing numerous data points kinda eliminates the driver to driver variable.

yeah that's what I was thinking about last night...I am usually one to jump on someone for doing what I did and make an assumption after such a small period of time haha I just kind of freaked when it dropped so suddenly lol :rolleyes:

Not to hijack my own thread, but do we have an Eneos UOA TBN yet?

Back to Ultra, if an oil starts as a thin 30-weight and ends as a thick 20-weight, what exactly is the problem IF IT PROTECTS THE ENGINE AND HAS PLENTY OF TBN FOR THE OCI?

In fact, wouldn't your MPG be better with such an oil compared to one that remained thicker?