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Oils Tested

Car Quest

Castrol

Liqui Moly

Lucas

Mobil-1

Pennzoil

Quaker State

Royal Purple

Shell

Valvoline


To have your oil or oil mix tested, please email [email protected]!

Recommendations by Weight

Top 2 or 3 oil recommendations by weight. These are mostly placeholders for now. Expect recommendations to change as more oils are tested!

20

30

  1. Lucas Fuel Saving
  2. Shell Rotella Gas Truck
  3. GTX Ultraclean

40

50

  1. Valvoline VR1

60

Introduction

What is SQUID INK?

SQUID INK is a line of specially developed engine oil additives using cutting edge materials and research. It is revolutionary in performance and purpose.

The SQUID INK line contains over 15 different blends, so nearly every oil on the market will have a matching additive blend designed and tested to work with it. Please consult your oil's information page for recommendations on which SQUID INK blend to choose!

While SQUID INK works right away, it also coats the components in your engine with nano-scale lubricators that prevent dry-starts, the #1 cause of wear in many engines. The longer it's used, the stronger the protection becomes as the INK coats the moving parts of your engine. SQUID INK reduces wear as much as 55% in lab testing!

Where can I buy SQUID INK?!

Right HERE (put link here!)

Testing Method

The machine used in lubricity testing is a weighted multiple-fulcrum cylinder-against-wheel system with a constant RPM control. Measurements were taken at 30, 60, and 120 minute intervals of things such as cylinder weight, oil temperature, scar size, and power required to move the wheel.

20 milliliters (mL) of total oil is used per test. When no additives (N/A) were used, 20 mL of the base oil was used. When additives were used, 18 mL of the base oil and 2 mL of the additive were used. This would translate to 0.5 quarts (qt) additive per 4.5 qt base.

Power was measured as both total full-weight load power and base power of the machine (measured at same time). Therefore the "Watt required" data is not a “total power used”, but a differential statistic. This is a measurement that better takes into consideration the base power required to move the motor and other components of the machine, as the Wattage would fluctuate depending on a number of environmental variables.

Wear is caused to a cylinder as a rotating wheel moves against it at the end of the load-bearing arm. This system applies more pressure (load) against these items than most engines will observe -- an equivalent of 50 Kg, or 110 Lb. With a scar length of 1 mm, this translates to 355,583 psi. With a scar length of 8mm, this translates to a significantly lower 2,844 psi. The point at which the scar stops significantly increasing in size is considered the maximum load of the oil. The maximum load is calculated based on data recorded at 120 minutes.

When wear scars sub-2 mm were observed they proved difficult, if not nearly impossible to align exactly perpendicular against the wheel after removing the cylinder for weight measurement. Furthermore, scars under 2mm would remove less than 0.001 gram (g) of material from the cylinder -- this exceeds the granularity of our measurement equipment (0.001 g increments). For those two reasons, it was decided if a scar was sub-2 mm during the 30 or 60 minute checks, the cylinder weight was not recorded and only scar size measured. Scar sizes 2-2.5mm were given a gratuitous 0.001 g weight reduction total, while scar sizes under 2 mm were allowed nil (0.000) gram reduction ratings as they did not register a difference on the scale.

Temperatures were equivalent to extended high load operating oil temperatures in many vehicles, although our temperatures were achieved through high loads and not through combustion heat. The recorded temperatures were between 120-180’ C, 250-360’ F. (Why Fahrenheit? Fahrenheit allows easier comparison of finer differences without using more decimal places.)

Expect a 10% error margin with most measurements. There are invariably variations between each test such as ambient temperature, residual machine temperature, atmospheric humidity, and the tiny variations in how metal is worn. While the same metal cylinder is used for each variation using the same oil base, the metal is not perfectly uniform throughout. The imperfections may be larger or smaller on any side of the same cylinder, and especially between each different cylinder. Therefore, comparison between different oils using different cylinders should be considered like dynamometer testing ("dyno" testing) with before and after testing of the same vehicle (or in this case oil) being weighed with more value on your mind's balance scale. The tiny yet pervasive web of interconnected variables that lead to each result should be taken into consideration.

No funding outside of SSSQUID, or support in any way from any other company was provided. While we are selling a product, we don’t care which oil you use it with.

Rating System

Please expect this to change as the rating system is refined. The current iteration is SLR-3, or Squid Lubricity Rating version 3.

SLR-3

Currently our rating system works on a scale of 0-100 and is based on time-aggregated data from 5 categories: Scar Size, Operating Temperature, Required Power, Maximum Load, and Dry Start.

The equation for all scoring works as follows:

Rating equation.png

Where:

  • P = Points
  • i = "Ideal" result
  • c = Category
  • R = Scalar
  • and 100 is the point offset (a maximum of 100 points available)

The 5 categories have a different scalar (R) to determine their offset from an "ideal" score.

R_c values are:

i_c values are:

  • Scar Size = 1.0 mm (all scores below 1.0 mm receive 100 pts.)
  • Operating Temperature = 260' F
  • Required Power = 25 W (all scores below 20 W receive 100 pts.)
  • Maximum Load = 8,333 kg/cm^2; 120,000 psi (all scores above 120,000 psi receive 100 pts.)
  • Dry Start = 1,406 kg/cm^2; 20,000 psi (all scores above 20,000 psi receive 100 pts.)

Why Pounds per Square Inch (psi) when other measurements are metric? Similarly to Fahrenheit, psi has more convenient scaling for our uses than kg/cm^2 (kg per square centimeter). Numbers will be offered in both formats as often as possible.

The final point score is calculated using the following equation:

Rating equation points.png

Where:

  • P = Points
  • W = Weighting value
  • c = Category
  • n = Variation number
  • t = Total
  • a = refers to the category number. SLR-3 having 5 total scoring categories.

In SRL-3, the weighting values are:

As you can quickly tell, there's a greater chance to evenly microwave a slice of cold pizza than there is to score a perfect 100.

SLR-2

SLR-2 for the most part is the same as SLR-3, except it only used Scar Size, Operating Temperature, and Required Power. The equations and scalars are otherwise identical.

Oil basics

Oil is the life-blood of any vehicle. It's one of the most important regular maintenance items that you will purchase. Everyone has their own opinion about which oil is best and why. Through standardized tribological testing, our goal is to show data on how different oils prevent or expedite wear of parts differently. Wear characteristic testing is not 100% definitive in a complex system, it is only one of many important considerations when choosing an oil.

While there are many things to consider when choosing an oil, the three most important areas are: compatibility with your oiling system, compatibility with your engine's moving components, and wear characteristics. A brief overview of these is below.

Compatibility with Your Oiling System

There is a reason that your oil cap says "5W30" or "10W40" or something along those lines. Your engine's oil pump needs to move oil through all journals and out of the ports at specific rates and pressures. Increasing or decreasing the weight, or viscosity, of oil increases or decreases how quickly oil moves. A slower moving - higher weight - oil is harder to pump and often results in higher oil system pressure. A quicker moving oil does not require as much effort to move and often results in lower oil pressure.

There is a not much error margin with oil pressure before increased wear or premature damage. Too low pressures means that oil will not be distributed correctly/evenly throughout your engine, but too much pressure means not only increased effort (more energy needed from the engine to power the pump) but also the possibility of oil distribution issues. In extreme cases, too heavy an oil can lead to gasket oil leaks from high pressures. Conversely, too light an oil can lead to oil seepage through gaskets.

It is best to equip your vehicle with an oil pressure and oil temperature sensor, and to verify the oil you are using is within manufacturer specification for pressure and temperature. If you cannot do this, it's a good idea to use the oil weight combination suggested by the manufacturer of your engine. Often small changes will not cause an issue, such as using 10W30 in an engine that specifies 5W30. However, larger changes, such as 20W60 in an engine that specifies 0W16 (used in a few Toyota engines) will almost certainly result in improper oil system pressure and/or poor engine lubrication. Use what the manufacturer recommends unless you have the proper monitoring tools!

As a rule of thumb, heavier oils offer better wear protection and heat dispersion. This is not a law, and some thinner oils can easily out perform heavier.

Compatibility with Your Engine's Components

In some circumstances engine components require specific weights or blends to not cause operational issues such as valve operation, metals incompatibility (mostly older vehicles), and gaskets.

Using oils that are too heavy, or even too slick, can result in retainer/valve unseating. This mostly happens in high manifold pressure situations (such as turbocharged vehicles running high boost), but can happen in naturally aspirated (N/A) vehicles as well. A similar issue is that oil ideally creates a friction layer between two (or more) components. Using too thick or too thin an oil will change the active operating clearance between components like rockers, valves, and even piston rings.

Some engine's have small areas that oil need to reach well and easily; the heavier the oil, the more difficult it will be for it to move into smaller areas. You can compare this to mixing pancakes. Watch your spatula move through the batter. The thicker the batter, the slower the batter closes behind the moving spatula.

Many older vehicles had higher levels of zinc (Zn) and phosphorus (P) in the form of ZnDDP (Zinc Dialkyl Dithiophosphate; ZDP; ZDDP) added to engine oils to help take care of oxidation and corrosion (treating metals with Zn to prevent oxidation is known as galvanization). In the 1940's and 50's it was shown to help reduce wear to a degree, but increasing the level beyond a certain threshold would in-fact increase wear. Zn and P, specifically ZnDDP has been removed from more modern oils for numerous reasons. The first is that it is not environmentally friendly. The next is that Zn actually performs rather poorly as a proper lubricant for modern vehicles in comparison to newer additives. Furthermore, moderns engines do not have issues with oxidation and corrosion that older metals and alloys were plagued with. Every test we did with added ZnDDP (Zinc Dialkyl Dithiophosphate) or fine, sub-5 micron pure Zn, resulted in worse wear characteristics than without. Though it's a hotly debated topic, many believe that using modern high detergent (relatively) oils can also increase wear in some older engines. Some consider this a myth, but unfortunately none of the internet experts that haughtily argue this point seem to have any actual data to back this up one way or another. One issues which is an irrefutable fact is that higher levels of ZnDDP can and will wear your catalytic converter quickly. Avoid high ZnDDP oils or additives if your vehicle has a catalytic converter. All SQUID INK blends are ZnDDP-free (they contain no Zn, P, or ZnDDP).

In extreme cases, too heavy an oil can lead to gasket oil leaks from high pressures. Conversely, too light an oil can lead to oil seepage through gaskets.

Wear Characteristics

As you can see, there are many considerations when choosing the correct oil for your vehicle. Possibly the most important of all aspects is the oil's wear characteristic. While not definitive, it's very important. You can purchase the exact oil recommended by a manufacturer, but if it wears your components quickly, you're going to be in for an expensive repair bill sooner rather than later with decreasing performance on the journey there.

Wear characteristics deal with how the oil lubricates two or more components moving against each other. Oils with poor lubricating ability (lubricity) will wear your components quicker. Picking an oil with the best wear characteristics within the other needs of your engine will lead to an engine that lives long and prospers. This wiki is dedicated to the testing of various oils, and how their wear characteristics can be improved with various additives.

Have your favorite oil tested

DO NOT SHIP BOTTLES THAT HAVE BROKEN SEALS, OR ARE NOT PROPERLY SEALED FOR SHIPPING. IF YOU THINK TO YOURSELF "THIS IS PROBABLY FINE", IT ISN'T. PLEASE STOP SENDING LEAKING BOTTLES OF OIL TO US!

Testing one oil through all mixture combinations takes 3-6 days. Naturally, theres only so much testing we can do. If you have a specific oil you’d like tested, we accept sealed bottles of oil, and/or sealed bottles of a specific additive. If you're not literally insane, please email [email protected] for more information!