Ok, read the Excel spreadsheet on the whole oil analysis but like I said, I'm not an oil analyst. So in 2nd grade english terms, can someone explain to me exactly what am I looking for when shopping for the right oil? Can I conclude that the more additives (calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, etc... the better?) If so, does this mean Amsoil would be the best? It does have the highest amounts of such additives.

If it matters, I have 86k on my 98 SE.

Thanks.

 

I've been trying to get a healthy debabte about this for a while now. Everybody's got a theory

 

In a nutshell:
The additives are what helps the oil safely go the longer drains, keep your engine clean and provide barrier lubrication on startup and extreme temperatures. Lower numbers aren't so hot.

When looking at the used samples and you're reading wear numbers (iron, aluminum, lead, etc.) you need to look at wear rates. That is look at the number in the box (example iron=13) and then look at the mileage interval the oil was in use, (example 8000 miles). Now divide wear metal (13) by the milege per thousand (8). In this example, the wear rate for iron was 1.62ppm/1000 miles. Higher numbers = more wear.

You can also look at the insolubles %, fuel content and viscosity at 100c. You can compare the viscosity at the end of your interval to the baseline viscosity to have a better understanding of how well the oil held up in your particular engine. If you look at the examples, you'll notice that Mobil 1 tends to get thinner with use (sometimes to a 20 wt. oil) and Amsoil tends to thicken a little after running it 10K.

Again, this is all just scratching the surface, but it should help a little.

 

You name me a 2nd grader that can understand that!

Thanks for the post!