So if one wanted to spend even more money where could the oil be tested?

 

Sounds like you're getting excellent milage out of your oil. How much do you go through between fills?

Would you mind sharing what % of miles (estimate of course) are highway vs. non? And, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, how you'd characterize your driving in the MCS... agressive, non, etc., and whether or not you've participated in track days/autoX.

This isn't to single you out... just to get a better idea about the demands and conditions you place on your oil.

Some folks drive their MINI's REALLY hard. That could be many very short trips in a year or lots of time at the track, or similar. Without knowing what kind of conditions your MINI sees its difficult to compare.

You're about equidistant from Yosimite & Death valley. (How many times your MINI been to Mammoth?) I've driven through Bishop on my way back to Vegas. Very nice country out that way.

I'd hazzard to guess that a MINI which is run all 4 seasons in PA, Northern NY State or MI can't deal with oil the way yours can. Climate, driving style & trip duration have EVERYTHING to do with oil lifespan. Good maintnance & fuel doesn't hurt either. But I bet in CA you're limited in your octane choices.

to your high mileage MINI

 

Don't mind sharing. - For the most part its highway miles (~80 to 90%) Its hard to have alot of stop and go with towns of 3000 people spaced every 15 to 45 miles . I do a 140 mile commute everyday which is pretty non agressive. + I live about 10 miles out of town, so basically every time it gets turned on it gets completly warmed up, that may help some... On weekends some road trips, and more agressive driving, have never autoX'd , maybe someday though. Any agressive driving is very limited compared to the daily commute. If I did autoX or have track time I would expect much shorter lifespan on the oil, but.....

The climate here is variable, summers at 110+ (unless you're tripping thu Death Valley then 120+) degrees, and we had -6 a couple of days ago, so we get alittle of everything.

The best octane I can get is 91.

Mammoth, yes we get up there quite a bit. Actually going this Sat. (not skiing though ......its an aweful year for snow so far .)

Nik

 

If you haven't read it yet, read this http://neptune.spacebears.com/cars/stories/mobil1.html

particularly ...

"Engine wear actually decreases as oil ages. This has also been substantiated in testing conducted by Ford Motor Co. and ConocoPhillips, and reported in SAE Technical Paper 2003-01-3119. What this means is that compulsive oil changers are actually causing more engine wear than the people who let their engine's oil get some age on it."

Read that closely ... for the obssesive compulsive oil changers ... your wearing out your engine early

Then go back to the TTAC comments here.

172 comments and the author writes:

Why is BMW letting their engines go 10-15K between oil changes, when they have warranty costs and their almighty reputation at stake?

AND exactly the question I have been posing here and no one can answer ..."Let me reiterate a key line in my article, and pose it as a challenge to you all: “When was the last time you heard of someone experiencing an engine failure (in normal use) that could be verifiably traced to damage from insufficient lubrication due (directly) to infrequent oil changes?”

I got over a thousand hits to this question at the oil change forum (lots of mechanics, manufacturers reps and motor oil professionals) and not one could come up with an incident. Numerous fried engines from drivers who never changed and topped up their oil (engines ran dry), but not one verifiable incident of engine damage from infrequent oil changes.

Come on, we’re spendind how many millions a year on frequent oil changes, and no one can come up with one incident? [boldface mine]"

I couldn't say it better myself.

 

10,000 KM, castrol syntec 5w30