Amsoil vs Mobil 1: Which One Should You Choose

Motor oil is very crucial element for engine as it is used to lubricate the moving parts and internal combustion chamber of the engine. Every vehicle owners aiming for the best engine oil brands that can protect the engine efficiently at a fair price.

Both Amsoil and Mobil 1 lubricant brands ensure the overall best engine performance while keeping its internal components clean and safe.

Amsoil lubricant variants are less viscous and provide better performance at cold condition, while Mobil 1 variants share high heat resistive capability as summer-grade oils and contains better oil film strength.

To be sure, Mobil 1 lubricant obviously leading oil in automotive industry.

But, according to the industry test results, Amsoil is the clear winner by providing 46.5% better fighting against volatility, 31.5% better acid neutralizing properties, 5 times engine cleaning properties.

Depending on your surroundings and OEM manuals, you may have to choose one over the other.

Mobil 1 vs Amsoil: Quick Comparison

Amsoil vs Mobil 1: Which One Perform Better?

Both Mobil 1 and AMSOIL use different ingredients during production of synthetic or synthetic blend oil. Amsoil uses Group IV Base Oil which is 100% synthetic oil.

Now I think they’re telling the truth to their customer because I drove my 99 Chevy vehicle over 1,000,000 miles changing the oil and filter every 20 – 24,000 miles until a valve keeper wore out or damaged that was not oil-related.

Besides AMSOIL has better cold start-up capability and engine cleaner properties also.

AMSOIL synthetic oil provide 46% better viscosity breakdown fight than Mobil 1. Mobil 1 has better heat resistive capability but AMSOIL has almost 46.5% better performance against volatility in NOACK test than its counterpart.

Let’s take a more in-depth look about this two synthetic oil brands.

Overview

In 1972, AMSOIL 10W-40 oil became the first synthetic motor oil in the world to meet the service requirements of API. Till now, Amsoil formulate best synthetic lubricant on the US market.

Currently, Amsoil is considered as one of the leading manufacturers of lubricants, oil filters, additives in US automotive industry.

AMSOIL oil contains ZDDP additive which is the most common zinc-based additive. This additive is used to prevent engine wear and sludge build up as well as to provide protection against corrosion and oxidation.

Mobil 1 is no less than AMSOIL; it is also a leading lubricant supplier in the US market. Many luxury vehicle manufacturers as well as racers preferred to use Mobil 1 oil.

Mobil 1 is a world-renowned engine oil brand that has been producing synthetic motor oils along with conventional oils for over four decades.

This lubricant brand has a wide range of product for all types of vehicles. These products has the ability of premium protection and boost the engine performance by providing wear protection.

Besides, Mobil 1 is well-known to automotive industry for its long-lasting oils which increase engine efficiency, fuel economy and the lifespan of the engine.

In addition, Mobil 1 oil is officially recommended by various manufacturers like Nissan, Toyota, Honda, Porsche, and many motorsport industries.

Key Features

Amsoil

• Long lasting performance
• Ensures better protection against wear, tear & shear
• Fighting against volatility
• Increase the Lifespan of the engine
• Higher MPG Value
• Better cleaning power than its counterparts
• Required less maintenance
• Increase fuel economy, lower emission

Mobil 1

• Provide wide range of operating condition
• Exceptional protection against wear
• Minimize friction in the engine compartment
• Extreme temperature performance
• Make the engine cleaner
• Better acid-neutralizing capability
• Exceptional heat resisting property

Performance

The specific engine performance factors which are taken into consideration before buying an engine oil are wear protection, oil consumption, fuel economy, hot & cold temperature performance, shear stability etc.

AMSOIL synthetic products use Group IV base oils which is 100% synthetic. The molecules are all the same size. When uniform molecules are used, a dramatic reduction is noticeable in friction and a spike is observed in lubrication.

Besides, AMSOIL synthetic oil shows great performance at extreme condition. The operating temperature of the engine always vary depend on load condition.

Under heavy load, temp. of the engine compartment rise and this heat may cause oil breakdown which results in sludge and deposit formation. AMSOIL oil fight against viscosity breakdown and shows 46% better performance than Mobil 1.

It also provides 5 times engine cleaning properties than conventional oil by resisting deposit formation in engine at high temperature.

At cold condition, AMSOIL also ensure better performance. It ensures almost 36% easier and faster cold start-up properties i.e. provide better engine protection by reducing wear.

AMSOIL synthetic oil also increase the fuel economy and the lifespan of the engine. Besides, it reduces the oil consumption of the engine by almost 38%.

On the other hand, Mobil 1 is well-known to automotive industry to control the overheating engine by using modern technology. It also reduces oxidation in the engine compartment and prevents deposit formation.

With its Triple Action Formula, Mobil 1 is able to ensure better performance than any other competitor as well as withstand harsh and extreme temperature conditions. It also able to minimize the friction of the engine by absorbing rising heat.

It also provide guard against oil breakdown and engine failure as well as maximize engine efficiency and power.

Mobil 1 has better heat resisting capability than AMSOIL. It shows great performance at extreme temperature.

If you are looking for a boost in maintaining the catalytic converter performance as well as longer lifespan of the engine, Mobil 1 will be an outstanding option.

Lasting Power

AMSOIL guarantee the vehicle owners of 25,000 mile/1-year drain intervals for the products of AMSOIL 5W-30, 10W-30 or 10W-40 or 35,000 mile/1-year drain intervals like AMSOIL 0W-30.

Mobil 1 ensures 18,000-miles/1-year lasting power which means it only need to be changed once a year.

Engine Compatibility

AMSOIL makes top-quality synthetic oil which are compatible with car, truck, motorcycle, boat, four-wheeler, snowmobile, lawnmower engine etc. These lubricants are mainly focused to run engine at maximum efficiency and last longer.

Mobil 1 engine oil is suitable for almost every gasoline engines including high-performance turbocharged and supercharged gasoline vehicle but not properly matched with diesel engines.

However, Mobil 1 is not recommended by some brands like Audi for their engines.

Working Temperature Range

High-performance additive used in AMSOIL oil provide resistance to heat and ensure better performance through extreme temperature protection up to degree Fahrenheit.

AMSOIL oil is able to withstand its flow characteristics up to -50 degree Fahrenheit i.e. the working temperature range of AMSOIL oil is -50F to 500F

Mobil 1 oil has the ability to withstand high temperature condition as well as low temperature weather. It has outstanding performance to protect the engine up to 500 degree Fahrenheit.

The pour point of Mobil 1 oil is -40 degree Fahrenheit i.e. at this temperature, your car gets oil to start-up immediately. So, the working temperature range of Mobil 1 oil is -40F to 500F.

AMSOIL has better cold start-up ability than Mobil 1 oil.

Wear Protection (Four Ball wear test)

According to ASTM Standard-D4172 testing procedure, four metal balls within sliding contact is used to measure the diameter of wear scar. This test is conducted to ensure the wear protection properties of the lubricants.

During the test procedure, four balls are rotated at 150 degree celsius with the speed of 1800 RPM for 01 hour and measure the wear scar diameter. The smaller the value of the diameter, the better the wear protection provides by the oil.

Test results shows that, the measured value (wear scar dia) for AMSOIL synthetic oil is 0.4 mm and that of for Mobil 1 oil is 0.6 mm. So, what is the winner in terms of four ball wear test, amsoil or Mobil 1?

Here, AMSOIL is the Winner. This synthetic oil provides 33% better wear protection than its counterparts.

Fuel/Oil Economy

The MPG (Miles per gallon) value of your vehicles mainly describes the performance of your engine. MPG is considered as the unit of fuel economy. The higher the MPG value, the efficient the lubricant is.

Both AMSOIL and Mobil 1 variants has the ability to reduce fuel consumption and increase the fuel efficiency by providing wear & tear protection.

According to the MPG test result, AMSOIL oil provides 1.5 to 3 times MPG value than its competitor Mobil 1.

So, if you want to put cost effective & fuel efficient lubricant in your vehicle, AMSOIL is the better option. It gives better mileage as well as increase fuel economy also.

Viscosity Breakdown

Viscosity is one of the most important property of an engine oil. If shearing force start to increase, it causes viscosity loss of the oil. Due to loss of viscosity, oil is subjected to lighter and unable to provide required amount of wear protection.

Shear occurs when one layer of oil moves forward and at a time another layer of oil moves backward. The opposite direction of oil flow causes increase of the shear force which mainly occurs between piston & cylinder wall.

Both oil use additive (like viscosity improver) to provide protection against wear & shear force.

Mobil 1 fight better in terms of viscosity breakdown but AMSOIL ensures almost 46% better viscosity breakdown fight than its counterparts.

Hot & Cold performance (based on Flash and Pour point test)

Flash/Fire Point test:

Another important test of lubricants is Flash point test. This test is conducted to determine the volatile characteristics of an oil. During high temperature oil start to vaporize.

The lowest temperature value at which this lubricant vapor can ignite with the additional help of a flame and this ignite process stay for five seconds is called flash/fire point of this oil.

Lubricants with higher flash point are exhibits more volatile characteristics and considered as safer to transport and use. AMSOIL has higher flash and fire points than does Mobil 1 Synthetic oil.

According to test results, means AMSOIL synthetic oil comes out on top by ensuring better volatile characteristics than that of Mobil 1 oil.

Pour Point test:

It is one of the most important property on an engine oil, as it can be used to determine the temperature range that an engine oil can be used in.

The minimum temperature at which a lubricants able to flow is called the pour point. Below pour point, liquid losses its flow characteristics.

This test also provide a good indication of temperature at which lubricants become more viscous and resist the engine from start-up.

The lower the pour point test value, the better the low temperature service protection ensures by the lubricants.

Once again, AMSOIL synthetic oil outperform the Mobil 1 in this test.

Synthetic Oil Test-1: (NOACK Volatility Test)

This test is conducted to measure the evaporation loss of lubricating oils by NOACK method. The test is done by following ASTM (American Society of Testing & Materials)- D5800 Standard Test method.

During test procedure, the oil is continuously heated for 01 hour (60 min) at 250 degree celsius. After 01 hour the oil is weighed and measure the difference to calculate weight loss due to evaporation.

This test is important to ensure the motor oil performance properly. If oil start to vaporize, the light molecule start to lose and make the oil more viscous (thicker).

Increased viscosity making the oil difficult to circulate means poor circulating, reduce fuel economy, increase oil consumption, wear & emissions.

The lower the test value, the higher the performance of oil. To meet the API SL and ILSAC GF-3 specifications, the highest value of NOACK test will be maximum of 15%.

With Amsoil vs Mobil 1 test result, AMSOIL synthetic oil losses 4.9% of weight compare to Mobil 1 oil which lost almost 9.17% of its original weight.

That means AMSOIL synthetic oil shows almost 46.5% better performance than competitor Mobil 1.

Synthetic Oil Test-2: (Total Base Number (TBN) test)

According to the ASTM-D2896 standard method, this test is performed to measure the existence of alkalinity within lubricant.

When vehicle run, fuel combustion occurs in the engine compartment and different types of contaminant and acid byproduct exist in engine chamber.

To reduce the corrosive effect of this acid byproducts and minimize the effect of contaminants, almost every lubricant manufacturer add alkalinity to every synthetic products.

TBN test measure the value of reserve alkalinity within oil. The greater the TBN Value, the higher the effectiveness of the oil. AMSOIL synthetic oil has a higher TBN Value than its competitor Mobil 1.

According to test results, AMSOIL synthetic oil has 31.5% higher acid neutralizing power than Mobil 1 to keep your engine clean.

Synthetic Oil Test-3: (Cold Cranking Viscosity test)

Cold cranking (viscosity) simulator is used to determine the apparent viscosity of oil in crankshaft bearings at high shear rates and low temperature i.e. cold temperature start-up performance of the engine.

This viscosity is directly related to low temperature engine cracking issue and CCS viscosity helps to define “W” part of the multi-grade oil.

According to ASTM-D5293 standard procedure, the test was conducted at -30 degree celsius (for 5W oil) and the simulator (CCS) shows the value at centipoise (cP) unit.

The lower the test value, the better the cold start-up performance and reduce the stress of battery.

As per API requirements, the highest value of Cold crank viscosity for 5W oil is 6600 cP @ -30, 0W oil is 6200 cP @ -35, 10W oil is 7000 cP @ -25, 20W oil is 9500 cP @ -15.

Cold crank viscosity value of AMSOIL 5W-30 synthetic oil is 3,727 cP @ -30 whereas Mobil 1 5W-30 oil has a value of that parameter is near 4000 cP @ -30.

According to test results, AMSOIL synthetic oil has better cold engine start-up capability than its competitor.

Synthetic Oil Test-4: Thermo-Oxidation Engine Oil Simulation Test (TEOST) 

This is considered as bench test. This test is performed to measure the deposit form inside the engine compartment due to poor fuel efficiency, increase heat etc.

When vehicle in running condition, temp. In engine compartment vary due to harsh condition or parasitic load. This test mainly focused on high temperature deposit forming characteristics of an engine oil.

To meet the API SN and ILSAC GF-5 requirements, the total deposit form value for any 5W-30 oil must be 30 mg or less.

AMSOIL synthetic oil limits this deposit form weight to 5 mg or less. On the contrary, Mobil 1 Extended performance oil has that parameter value of deposit form weight to 23 mg or less.

According to test results, AMSOIL synthetic oil has 78% better deposit form protection than Mobil 1 oil.

Conclusion

The above is the comprehensive comparison of amsoil vs Mobil 1. Response from vehicle owners can differ for each engine oil and make the decision about which one works best for your vehicle cannot be certain.

Mobil 1 is more popular at racing circle for its long lasting engine protection performance under extreme temperature condition. Whether AMSOIL gain popularity at colder region due to its cold start-up capability and better pour point value.

But according to the various test results, Amsoil undoubtedly outperforms Mobil 1. Because it provides high MPG value and better engine protection from wear, tear, shear and volatility.

On the other hand, Mobil 1 has superior heat-resisting capability and shows better performance with extreme temperatures.

However, the majority of vehicle owner considered AMSOIL as best synthetic oil for its premium protection.

But the choice is yours at the end of the day. You should check car’s manual before taking the decision- be it Mobil 1 or AMSOIL.