AAA Testing Affirms Superiority of Synthetic Motor Oils

AMSOIL introduced the world to synthetic motor oil in 1972, and we’ve been extolling the benefits ever since. While we’ve been joined by many vehicle and equipment manufacturers and competing motor oil companies over the years, the American Automobile Association (AAA) is the most recent company to promote the benefits of using synthetics. The popular club recently conducted in-depth testing to determine if it’s worth paying more for synthetic oil over conventional oil.

The answer is a resounding “yes.”

“Oil protects critical engine components from damage and AAA found that synthetic engine oils performed an average of 47 percent better than conventional oils in a variety of industry-standard tests,” said John Nielsen, AAA’s managing director of Automotive Engineering and Repair. “With its superior resistance to deterioration, AAA’s findings indicate that synthetic oil is particularly beneficial to newer vehicles with turbo-charged engines and for vehicles that frequently drive in stop-and-go traffic, tow heavy loads or operate in extreme hot or cold conditions.”

AAA’s research included eight industry-standard ASTM tests focusing on shear stability, deposit formation, volatility, cold-temperature pumpability, oxidation resistance and oxidation-induced rheological changes. Each test was performed on five synthetic and five conventional oils. The results of this study by a reputable, third-party organization reaffirm what we’ve been saying for more than 45 years and give you one more reference point to back up your claims in the buy-sell process.

Click here to see the full AAA report.

Gone is the adage, “As long as you change your oil at 3000 mile intervals, I don’t care what oil you use, it will be just fine. Synthetics are a waste of money.”

The above ignores many issues which this test and AMSOIL has outlined for decades. Not only that but it totally ignores the #1 reason for our brand which is performance.
An unscientific approach can also explain. If you imaging all the cars in the junkyard that are there because of an engine that failed I bet the majority of them did get their oil changed at 3000 miles. At least that is true if we go back to the 70’s. So changing oil too frequently didn’t prevent a seized engine due to loss of coolant or a lose oil drain bolt. Yes – Synthetics (true ones at least) could have very well prevented that breakdown.

Also severe wear due to fuel and acids in the crankcase which AMSOIL addresses but a conventional Group II base stock cannot. At least when considering their price point which limits the quality of the additives.

Synthetics as you see in this report excel in viscosity retention and oxidation resistance. Federal Mogul published a study years ago showing the majority of engine failures (I think the figure was greater than 85%) were not because of contaminants but because of a lack of lubrication, excess heat or corrosion. AMSOIL products address all these and their sub-categories.  Even if the subject changed the bargain brand every 50 miles, it won’t address viscosity loss when there is a overheating event causing deposits or metal fatigue.

Again the above are all features and insurance of Synthetics but the real draw is performance and is why I was sold on AMSOIL and later became a dealer thanks to it’s performance in 1960’s cars which I was told “It ain’t gonna work in them old cars!!” Lol!