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Why are people hating on Royal Purple as engine oil?

59K views 50 replies 29 participants last post by  Mud Yapster 
#1 ·
Just curious, I've noticed a lot of people saying they don't trust RP in their engine, and others just calling it flat out bad but I can't find any proof of their product being bad, test wise it's quite the contrary, I was wanting to put in some RP next oil-change as I've heard it can eliminate the famous lifter noise, but I want to see if anyone actually has legit reasons\proof that RP is bad?

This is a comparison of a ton of oils, including our M1 0w_40, Mobile 1 is actually the worst out of almost all of them, including the half priced ones, Royal Purple does incredibly well.
http://www.animegame.com/cars/Oil%20Tests.pdf
 
#2 ·
Changing your oil regularly is probably more important than the brand of oil you use.

I have always thought Royal Purple is good stuff. Lots of people swear by it, and say it gives them power. (not sure if I believe that part).

That said I use the dealer synthetic which is Pennzoil.
 
#3 ·
I normally would use what the dealer uses, as before I could get 0w_40 Mobile 1 7 quarts for about 50-55$, however, with Pennzoil ULTRA 0w_40, NO store has it, it's too new, and if you buy it from DODGE it's about 13-14$ a quart, as the oil change is about 100$, I could have put AMSOIL or REDLINE in for that much o_O
 
#4 ·
I use the best RP WOOT.


People get scared because it is not "authorized" by dealers.

Run it no one will ever notice or care.

I think it helps, it runs quiet. It is 10 dollars a bottle though. Good for 10k miles.
 
#5 ·
I have been running RP and love it. I feel Mobil 1 is a fine synthetic also yet often hear people bashing it saying it's "the best" only because they advertise so much... Yet I have used it in my last 3-4 vehicles and loved it.
 
#9 ·
Only thing I know about it is why my buddy won't use it anymore in his Super Stock class car.

He mentioned it was good for a few hundredths, but said it drains off the motor so cleanly that after a week it looks like the there was never any oil in it. That it looks like the heads were run through a parts cleaner. And he didn't want anything rusting. He said they usually run regular oil though the motor when it's going to sit for a bit, just to keep a good oil coating on the internal surfaces... but not from day to day during an event. Not that they run the same oil for more than a few passes anyway.

So if your running it... maybe pull a valve cover after its been sitting a while and see how it looks.
Not that we have to worry about surface rust on aluminum heads... but still something to check.

I don't personally use it, so I don't have any 1st hand knowledge, but I trust him as he's been racing and building motors for 30years.
 
#10 ·
I use to have a 2002 HD Heritage. The 88B's were famous for the cam chain tensioners to get eaten up. A small Teflon coated slider with a spring behind to keep tension on the cam chain.

After 50,000 I sold it to a friend of mine. After 70K he decided to do some work including gear driven cams. We were both pretty shocked that the tensioner was barely worn when we took it apart. Most others were garbage at 40,000.

Not saying that an air cooled HD motor can be compared to the engine in our Challengers, but what I've seen from the product has been pretty impressive.

That being said, I am currently getting the oil changes done by the dealerships for the warranty documentation part, but once that's up, RP will be my oil of choice.

Just my personal opinion. Not much wrong with the others. They have to have the SAE label. Castrol use to leave an ash deposit. Red Ram use to have a detergent in them. Just comes down to what you like.
 
#12 ·
That is a pretty old test...not to mention you always have to question, WHO paid for the test and could have shown the results they wanted to show? Never know...
 
#14 · (Edited)
? I thought it was from 2011, at least thats what the forum I found it on stated :p I could be wrong though, I can't really find ANY other good comparisons, but I know for damn sure I can't find anything proving anywhere that RP is bad, just people on these forums and LS forums saying they don't trust it because it's not proven and \ or it actually breaks down metal quicker, just a ton of stuff that I was wondering why the heck people were disliking it so much when I could find no backup lol
 
#15 ·
Royal Purple wasn't on the approved list of oils for Chrysler/Dodge last time I looked. Not saying it's bad, just not on the DC list. As for the Amsoil fanboys, I always see rave reviews by folks that just happen to be a distributor, just saying.
 
#16 ·
The 08-10 V8 Challengers require a SM / GF4 rated oil. The 11-12 V8 Challengers require a SN / GF5 rated oil (supersedes SM / GF4). The 6.1 engines require an oil meeting / exceeding the MB-229.5 spec. Your owners manual will state the spec your specific engine requires on top of the SM / GF4 or SN / GF5. RP does not advertise, or if they do I have not been able to find it, that their 0W40 or 5W40 meet the MB-229.3 or 229.5 spec. Again, in your owners manual there is a specific spec for your engine besides the SM / GF4 or SN GF5.... call RP's toll free # and ask if they specifically meet that spec. If they say they do and it is documented, use it with confidence.
 
#17 · (Edited)
This article floats around the net.. Here's some more info...

"Hi Ben. My name is Roger Miller. I do work for Red Line Oil in Victoria. One of my clients passed on your enquiry. In a rough sense this test is used for grease not oil. It is like using a quarter mile drag strip to find the "best four wheel drive on the market." A real test but totally irrelevent to what happens in the real world.The addition of friction modifiers to the test bears this out. You can take the nastiest oil on the market, add friction modifier to it and it will out-perform the best oil on the market. If you add friction modifier to a GL1 oil in this falex test you can make it exceed the results for a GL5 oil. Most general use oils contain friction modifiers to a greater or lesser degree depending on the recipe the oil manufacturer is using that particular day. So what does the falex test really test...???

To answer all your questions satifactiorally is beyond what this forum is designed for. Please feel free to contact me via redlineoil@redlineoil.com.au"

Source:Oil Testing Procedures - Topic




Great video from Amsoil about the "One Arm Bandit" aka the Falex Wear Tester.
 
#21 · (Edited)
I cannot find that original post anywhere, just people that post up that analysis, but we don't know if he had other engine problems, there are no follow ups at all, it's like a ghost topic, they even said they found no contaminants meaning RP was cleaning well, and I know RP is supposed to lubricate incredibly well as demonstrated in a lot of tests, so it's just strange to me personally, then again I have no clue why the heck you would use a high performance oil like RP in the friggin' 3.5l...
 
#23 ·
My point is simple, the 3.5l is an economy engine (though...really not efficient), not a performance engine, facts are facts, I still feel silly for running RP in my FJ Cruiser's V6, as I mean come on, it's just not a performance engine lol. Mobile-1 is def the cheapest I can find in 0w_40, just wondering it's the "best" for the engine.
 
#24 ·
It appears that the OP really wants to use RP and is maybe looking for a documented reason to do, or not to do, so. As was noted by hizootiemizark, you can go to bobistheoilguy and look at used oil analysis for days and see how different oils have performed in different engines. The posters are usually pretty honest about the condition of their vehicles so that helps.

Oils do not work universally. For an example, Mobil 1 5W30 is probably the best selling synthetic oil in the US and generally produces satisfactory results in whatever it is put in. However, a GM 3.6L direct injection V6 will trash Mobil 1 5W30 in short order while other bands do much better in that engine. In fact conventional Valvoline 5W30 produces better results in the 3.6L direct injection V6 than Mobil1 following a 5K to 6K oil change interval. The new Ford eco-boost engines are giving oils a work out as well.

You will be hard pressed to find a bad UOA for Mobil1 0W40 used in vehicles calling for 0W or 5W 40. Unlike other Mobil1 flavors, the 0W40 formula is very stout and performs extremely well in street and track conditions. I have not seen any 0W40 UOAs for Pennzoil as yet but I keep looking.

Bottom line, oil debates can go on forever and I am surprised Red Line is typically not in the conversations on this board. However, the only way to know how a specific oil performs in your specific engine under you specific driving style, in your climate is having UOAs done. If that is not desired then find UOAs for your engine type and see how different oils are doing in other vehicles like yours. Use that information to decide the brand you want to use.
 
#37 · (Edited)
It appears that the OP really wants to use RP and is maybe looking for a documented reason to do, or not to do, so. As was noted by hizootiemizark, you can go to bobistheoilguy and look at used oil analysis for days and see how different oils have performed in different engines. The posters are usually pretty honest about the condition of their vehicles so that helps.

Oils do not work universally. For an example, Mobil 1 5W30 is probably the best selling synthetic oil in the US and generally produces satisfactory results in whatever it is put in. However, a GM 3.6L direct injection V6 will trash Mobil 1 5W30 in short order while other bands do much better in that engine. In fact conventional Valvoline 5W30 produces better results in the 3.6L direct injection V6 than Mobil1 following a 5K to 6K oil change interval. The new Ford eco-boost engines are giving oils a work out as well.

You will be hard pressed to find a bad UOA for Mobil1 0W40 used in vehicles calling for 0W or 5W 40. Unlike other Mobil1 flavors, the 0W40 formula is very stout and performs extremely well in street and track conditions. I have not seen any 0W40 UOAs for Pennzoil as yet but I keep looking.

Bottom line, oil debates can go on forever and I am surprised Red Line is typically not in the conversations on this board. However, the only way to know how a specific oil performs in your specific engine under you specific driving style, in your climate is having UOAs done. If that is not desired then find UOAs for your engine type and see how different oils are doing in other vehicles like yours. Use that information to decide the brand you want to use.

Thanks for that, people forget that the SRT engineers actually helped Mobil 1 develop that blend back in 2003-2004 or when ever they were developing the 6.1 engine. Now that formula has changed from the original brew due to environmental regulations, but it's still good, and it is about the cheapest you can find. For that reason, I don't feel bad at all about doing 4 month 3-4k mile change intervals. My SRT hemis have always seemed plenty happy running it. My car is 4 years old, has 33k miles on it, and I have changed the oil 13 times, with the next change coming up in early April.
 
#26 ·
I used RP in my 350z, whis is a 3.5 v6. It worked amazing. I swore by it. But the consumption was crazy. But the 350z consumed any oil like crazy. But I could tell a big difference if i used regular oil or another brand of synthetic, RP just seemed to work best. So i stuck with it. Im debating using RP for my challenger 3.5l. But According to this dude my engine is crappy so maybe RP is too good for us v6 guys? LOL
 
#27 · (Edited)
Does the 3.5L in the Challenger call for 5W20, 5W30, or other? The reason I ask is that a few years ago a friend of mine inherited a 95 Concord that had 75K and maintenance neglected but, the body and interior were in good shape. My friend would not be caught dead in this car and ask me if I wanted it (free). I detailed the car and started running Amsoil 5W30 with Amsoil filter. Amsoil worked great in this engine. Engine was quite, smooth, and got darn near 27MPG on the highway after plugs and wires.
 
#28 ·
it says on the dodge website that 10w30 is reccomended for the 3.5v6 im not 100% sure though
 
#31 ·
Iran Royal purple in multiple vehicles and I have never had any negative experiences with it. Humorously enough, I first came to know of the brand through the robot boxing movie featuring Hugh Jackman. Cannot remember the name of it. I run the gear oil in my rear differential, I run the oil in my engine. and the next time I can afford a transmission flush, I'm going to run nothing but RP in my transmission. The only negative thing I would say about Royal purple is that you need to add some sort of conditioner with each coil change because Royal purple despite being one of the best on the market does not contain the same level of conditioners that normal petroleum-based oil does which means that it's lubricity tends to not last so long without adding something like motor honey.
 
#32 ·
Well, I would say that the fact that you need to add additional "stuff" to the oil to get it to last long enough is one reason one people may not use it! :)

Sometimes, products have a cult-like following for no reason other than it's a unique name or was is some movie or some star recommended it. But that doesn't mean that it's a great product.

I'm not saying that it's not a great product (I don't use it), but just the fact that I would have to add other "stuff" to my oil is reason enough for me to stay away from it.

Are there any tests out there that prove that it's a superior product? I know that Mobile 1, Pennzoil and Quaker State are usually near the top of most tests that I've seen. Don't remember seeing Royal Purple up there. Will have to look into that a little more.

Also - is Royal Purple Dexos certified? For a lot of cars, Dexos certified oil is recommended - if Royal Purple doesn't pay the $$ to get the certification, that is another reason people may stay away from it....

Oil brands are like a religon for some people. :)
 
#33 ·
Oil is like shoe brands. One doesn’t make you feel as comfortable as the other. Use what you like. I use red line. Spendy stuff but that is what I like. I used to use Mobil. There is somethings I don’t like about it so I switched. Pretty easy.

It is a trial and error situation. I comes down to your car your choice. Just make sure you get what you want.


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