Which Engine Oil Additive Brand Wins?
We compared 2 engine oil additive options head to head. Lucas Synthetic Oil Stabilizer came out on top. See the measured results, the runner-up, the budget pick, and a link to the full test video.
Lucas Synthetic Oil Stabilizer
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The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Scroll sideways to see all measurements. Products are listed in the order they finished.
| Product | Lubricity test at 100% concentration | Engine self destruct test | MSDS flash point | MSDS boiling point | Lubricity test, oil mix ratio (1 part ZMAX to 10 parts oil) | 24 hour pretreat and soak lubricity retest | MSDS composition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Lucas Synthetic Oil Stabilizer | seems to have equal lubricity to plain 10W-30 conventional oil | ran 28 minutes before failing; engine not seized, piston not stuck, only a small amount of scoring on the piston, camshaft has no abnormal wear | 425 F | 500 F | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 2ZMAX | a lot of damage done to the bearing, described as the most damage seen in any testing to date | ran only 17 minutes before failing; engine seized up, connecting rod destroyed, piston has score marks and is badly damaged | 270 F | not tested | does very little for film strength, does not appear to enhance the oil at all | bearing damage the same as an untreated bearing | 99% white mineral oil per the MSDS |
How it was tested
- cold flow test (products chilled ~6 hours, checked how they flow when cold)
- lubricity tester bearing wear test at 100% product concentration
- lubricity tester bearing wear test at manufacturer mix ratio with oil
- lubricity retest after 24 hour high heat (200+ F) pretreat soak
- engine run-to-self-destruction test after 3 hour break-in with each additive in the oil
- post-failure teardown inspection (piston, cylinder wall, connecting rod, camshaft)
- MSDS comparison (flash point, boiling point, composition)
“I sort of think that Lucas did a better job”
Data notes and caveats
Two-product head-to-head; runnerUp is ZMAX by elimination rather than an explicit second-place declaration. Lucas synthetic engine ran 28 minutes to failure versus ZMAX at 17 minutes, and ZMAX also lost badly on the lubricity tester at both room temperature and after a 24 hour heat soak. No prices were mentioned in the transcript or description for either product.