I am a skeptical engineer and I have some key questions about Royal Purple Motor Oil
. Before I go pouring something into my engine I want to be sure I am not creating an engine calamity in my fear of a catastrophic tossing of rod from a piston seizure. I want to make sure my engine is going to be #1 safe and protected #2 performing at the highest possible level with high horsepower output and the best fuel economy available.
Knowing engine protection is my first priority I have some important questions about royal purple oil.
First... why is the oil purple! What I have heard is the purple dye used does not provide any benefit but also does not cause any harm. I hope that is the case. Just so you know the oil does not stay purple in your engine and does not turn your engine purple.
If Royal Purple's #1 priority is to provide the best performance and protection for my engine I would expect the purple dye to be left out.
So why is the purple dye in there? Marketing and the almighty dollar! I have nothing against savvy marketing or against companies being successful from groundbreaking marketing but my interest is my engine protection and performance. Let's keep my engine safe and drop the purple dye.
Is this going to protect my everyday driver as well as my drag racer? If you search Google on Royal Purple Moly you will find a bunch of claims on the web and some documentation on their website that the oils do have Moly. Moly is a dry graphite like lubricant and can work great by itself and as an additive to liquid oils. The problem is for extended time in an engine it is prone to balling up and fouling filters (so I am told). This may be why royal purple is popular in some racing circles but that does not mean you can extend drain intervals for everyday use (in fact you might want to shorten them). If you can't run a synthetic for a little bit longer without losing protection then it is going to be hard to justify $6-$8 per quart.
Bottom line is this skeptical engineer needs to see some more info to make an educated decision on what is best. I get worried when I see the really high levels of Moly being added and purple dye being added as a gimmick. I admit that I am a bit of preventative maintenance junkie but I don't want the misapplication of a racing tactic to cause long term damage to my engine.
Let's remember we want the best engine protection first and then, and only then, the extra few horsepower.
You know Mobil 1 and Pennzoil and Royal Purple all say they are the best motor oil... but where is the real proof?