SVTPerformance Oil Futures Index : Royal Purple HPS Review

[SID297]

SVTPerformance Oil Futures Index : Royal Purple HPS Review

Is the oil you buy now as good as it used to be? Surprisingly it may not be. For several years, the American Petroleum Institute (“API”) has been reducing the maximum limits of common zinc/phosphorus anti-wear additives in motor oils via their self-governed licensing program. Those of you familiar with oil standards may have noticed the current API certification on the back of oil containers.

Notice the API logo.

The newest oil specifications are now more focused on emissions equipment compatibility than valve train and bearing protection. Knowing that those of us in the high-performance scene would find that unacceptable Royal Purple decided to release a new line of motor oil aimed at the street/performance enthusiast market. Royal Purple High Performance Street (“HPS”) motor oil is made for consumers with performance/modified engines and vehicles that have exceeded the factory warranty period. HPS is formulated with Royal Purple’s proprietary Synerlec® additive technology and utilizes a more robust zinc/phosphorous anti-wear package than the API standards currently allow.

Royal Purple claims Synerlec provides exceptional oil film strength and the load carrying capability needed by flat tappet and/or high lift camshafts, as well as outstanding oxidation resistance as compared to common mineral or synthetic API-licensed engine oils. What does this mean to SVTP members? Put simply, Royal Purple HPS is better capable of withstanding the temperatures and physical forces inside of a high power engine. Oil film strength and load carrying capability become crucially important in supercharged applications (think Terminator, Lightning, and GT500) and high RPM (5.0L Coyote) engines.

Royal Purple still sells API licensed motor oils for owners with cars under warranty who are fearful that using a non-API approved oil may put their warranty in jeopardy. For those of us wanting more performance and wear protection, without resulting to buying the expensive XPR racing oils, and are either no longer under warranty or are not concerned with the implications of selecting a non-API certified oil we can select HPS. Royal Purple HPS is currently available in several grades: 5W20, 5W30, 10W30, 10W40 and 20W50.

We decided that with about 1,000 miles on the 2012 SVTP GT Mustang it was about time to get the factory fill oil out of it. Naturally, we are not really all that concerned with warranty issues on this car since it’s going to be modded to Asgard and back, so we decided to go with Royal Purple HPS. Not only that, be we deviated from the factory recommendation of 5W20 and went with 5W30 instead. I felt that the higher viscosity oil would provide more protection under the extreme conditions the 5.0 under the hood is likely to see. We’ll be doing a used oil analysis on the factory oil and this HPS when we drain it sometime in the future.

We finished off our oil change with a Royal Purple oil filter. For those of you unfamiliar with Royal Purple’s oil filters you may be interested to know that they feature: a 100% screen-backed,100% synthetic micro-glass media for superior particle removal with 99% filtration efficiency at 25 microns; a silicone anti-drain back valve that prevents dry starts; and an ultra-strength filter housing enabling higher burst strength than conventional filters. In my opinion it is one of the finest oil filters available on the market. The only downfall to this filter, other than being a bit expensive, is that it can be tough to find. Royal Purple should try to get some more shelf space for it in auto parts stores. Until then, I’m sure we can continue having a discussion every three days or so about which oil and filter someone should use. I can almost feel a noob posting another thread about it right now.

Out with the old.

In with the new.

Wouldn't be finished without a Royal Purple oil filter.

Ubiquitous product glory shot.

This should make it pretty clear that we have a lot more plans that involve Royal Purple in the near future.

-SID297:beer:

 

[flyfaster1]

Im a big fan of their oil and have actually ran a bench test, comparing Royal Purple and several others against each other- out of curiousity. Not shocking but RP faired 20-30% better than the competitors. I havent compared it to redline or some of the other higher ends oils, but compared it to all the other popular synthetics, non synthetics. Im interested to see how the new HPS line compares to the previous one and all the other oils as well.

 

[Black*Death]

Summit carries most of RP's products. My local pep boys has RP oil filters. $15.00! But with a 10% discount and extended use I bought one.

Very heavy filters? May give the HPS a try as well..using Mobil one now..

 

[Cuco5.0]

Whats the part number on the filter?

 

[mooch29]

Interesting article, curious to hear the results! I lol'd at the noob posting part :lol1:. I just picked up some Royal Purple for the first time from my local Pep Boys. They had a deal, 5 qts and a filter for 40 dollars . Got that and an extra quart. Tempted to go in there before the end of the sale and pick some up for my next oil change.

 

[Bruha]

All this RP talk has me convinced to switch over. I used to run it in my bike, but not my cobra. Time to make the change. Can't wait to see the results of the of test.

 

[SID297]

whats the part number on the filter?

20-2005

 

[UnleashedBeast]

Good post Sid, and very nice pictures. You are correct about the RP filter being top notch, as I would choose it over any Mobil 1 EP or K&N oil filter every time. The newer evolution of synthetic media/fibers being utilized in top tier filters allow for a much better filtration without inhibiting oil flow.

 

[WhiTriCobra]

I've heard tons of horror stories of guys using RP in their engines, hopefully this one is better.

 

[TVSCobra]

I've heard tons of horror stories of guys using RP in their engines, hopefully this one is better.

:dw:

 

[TVSCobra]

Plans for a UOA?

 

[Scuba-Matt]

So what are the zinc & phosphorus Numbers (PPM) compared to the regular royal purple PPM?

 

[NasteeNate]

I would love to see a comparison with the Amsoil Signature Series oils and filter because they hold extremely high standards. Amsoil filters are like 12-15 bucks depending on the car probably more for some models so it would be a good caparison. Other than that I heard very good stuff with Royal Purple. Never heard how good there oil filters are until now.

 

[nickstang545]

My dad, uncle and the rest of my family are firm believers in RP. My 99 F250 SD 5.4L had 282,000 miles when i switched from Mobil 1 to RP. Less then a 1000 miles later it was smoking and I had to replace the engine. Not blaming RP at all as the truck had a lot of miles but needless to say it made me a non-believer. I have had several vehicles with 200-300k miles and never had a engine problem and i ran Mobil 1 so i believe i will stick with what i know has done me well until someone proves me wrong. I try to run Amsoil in all of my power equipment and motorcycles. But with Mobil 1 i have put ridiculous amounts of hard miles on my vehicles.

 

[JB2012]

Is the HPS line a group IV or group V stock?

 

[NateTermi]

My dad, uncle and the rest of my family are firm believers in RP. My 99 F250 SD 5.4L had 282,000 miles when i switched from Mobil 1 to RP. Less then a 1000 miles later it was smoking and I had to replace the engine. Not blaming RP at all as the truck had a lot of miles but needless to say it made me a non-believer. I have had several vehicles with 200-300k miles and never had a engine problem and i ran Mobil 1 so i believe i will stick with what i know has done me well until someone proves me wrong. I try to run Amsoil in all of my power equipment and motorcycles. But with Mobil 1 i have put ridiculous amounts of hard miles on my vehicles.

RP seems to clean a high mileage engine very well, sometimes causing it to "unseal" itself. I had all kinds of oil leaks in a '92 z28 I had after I switched from Mobil 1 to RP. So I would be kinda leery of switching to RP in a higher mileage vehicle. I used the regular RP in my '92, I didn't know about the HPS series if it was even out then.

 

[SID297]

My dad, uncle and the rest of my family are firm believers in RP. My 99 F250 SD 5.4L had 282,000 miles when i switched from Mobil 1 to RP. Less then a 1000 miles later it was smoking and I had to replace the engine. Not blaming RP at all as the truck had a lot of miles but needless to say it made me a non-believer. I have had several vehicles with 200-300k miles and never had a engine problem and i ran Mobil 1 so i believe i will stick with what i know has done me well until someone proves me wrong. I try to run Amsoil in all of my power equipment and motorcycles. But with Mobil 1 i have put ridiculous amounts of hard miles on my vehicles.

Basically any modern engine can make it to 300,000 miles, without much drama, with any oil as long as it's changed regularly. My Jeep is at 195,000 miles with zero build-up on the valve spring, rockers, or head and all it has ever had in it is 10w30 Castrol GTX.

I wouldn't recommend an expensive synthetic if all you're looking for is longevity in an average vehicle. The advantages of a synthetic are best realized in a high performance engine where the downward force of the connecting rod can exceed the film strength of a conventional oil that's tasked with maintaining a film between the crankshaft and rod bearing.

Is the HPS line a group IV or group V stock?

I can't say with 100% certainty, but I will get someone in here who will be able to tell you.

RP seems to clean a high mileage engine very well, sometimes causing it to "unseal" itself. I had all kinds of oil leaks in a '92 z28 I had after I switched from Mobil 1 to RP. So I would be kinda leery of switching to RP in a higher mileage vehicle. I used the regular RP in my '92, I didn't know about the HPS series if it was even out then.

This can happen with any high detergent oil. I changed the oil in a friend's high mileage (and poorly maintained) Jeep with Wal-Mart's house brand synthetic and it's started leaking from a few different spots. This happens because the new oil is cleaning out the sludge and build up than is actually helping to seal the engine. In a properly maintained engine, again even with a conventional oil, the seals won't typically dry out enough for you to notice this phenomenon.

 

[Jimmysidecarr]

My dad, uncle and the rest of my family are firm believers in RP. My 99 F250 SD 5.4L had 282,000 miles when i switched from Mobil 1 to RP. Less then a 1000 miles later it was smoking and I had to replace the engine. Not blaming RP at all as the truck had a lot of miles but needless to say it made me a non-believer. I have had several vehicles with 200-300k miles and never had a engine problem and i ran Mobil 1 so i believe i will stick with what i know has done me well until someone proves me wrong. I try to run Amsoil in all of my power equipment and motorcycles. But with Mobil 1 i have put ridiculous amounts of hard miles on my vehicles.

I'm not sure how you can allow an oil that is verifiable one of the absolute best oils you can buy anywhere, make you a non-believer in it's effectiveness because of a truck which had 282,000 miles of possibly unknown usage, and possibly unknown maintenance(if bought used by you). That's just not very logical or analytical thinking in this scenario, and certainly is not very fair.

A poorly maintained truck that this one most likely was, would have probably started smoking with any high quality synthetic oil, once all the coking caked around the rings and pistons started to be cleaned off. It just happens a little faster with Royal Purple and a few others.
I'm not trying to say that anyone is a bad person, but physics is physics. I suspect this truck was purchased used with bunch of miles already on it. So it was most likely someone else who did (or didn't do) the bulk of the maintenance. No oil on the planet can remove metal from rings , pistons or cylinder bores, but dirt laden, used up oil can have a mighty hard time preventing wear and it will allow deposits to build up.
Lots of the higher quality synthetic oils will de-coke and clean up junked up, poorly cared for engines. Unfortunately the new owners of said vehicles very shortly after doing the right thing for their engines, find out that they have bought a poorly cared for vehicle. Is it the oils fault? I'm sorry you had a bad experience with Royal Purple, however there is a high probability it would have happened with any number of high quality oils once regular maintenance was introduced to this high mile truck.

If it was the oils fault there would be literally 10s of thousands of vehicles smoking all across the world, and a huge out cry against us. Cleaning an engine and keeping it clean is normally thought of as a very good thing.

Is the HPS line a group IV or group V stock?

There are certain characteristics about group V base stocks that makes them very desirable to use in a very high quality oil, but this is also true of group IV base stocks. There are also certain characteristics of each when alone, that are not that desirable. That's why we use both. It allows us to formulate a better overall product, since both have some very beneficial properties.

RP seems to clean a high mileage engine very well, sometimes causing it to "unseal" itself. I had all kinds of oil leaks in a '92 z28 I had after I switched from Mobil 1 to RP. So I would be kinda leery of switching to RP in a higher mileage vehicle. I used the regular RP in my '92, I didn't know about the HPS series if it was even out then.

See? Someone else has observed this happen before as well. If coking, sludge deposits or other residue is built up and adding diameter to items that are worn down, when the junk gets removed sometimes leaks can increase.
However if a very high mileage vehicle has been very well maintained,(and many are) this transition to synthetics will not be a traumatic, leaky and smokey adventure.

Basically any modern engine can make it to 300,000 miles, without much drama, with any oil as long as it's changed regularly. My Jeep is at 195,000 miles with zero build-up on the valve spring, rockers, or head and all it has ever had in it is 10w30 Castrol GTX.

I wouldn't recommend an expensive synthetic if all you're looking for is longevity in an average vehicle. The advantages of a synthetic are best realized in a high performance engine where the downward force of the connecting rod can exceed the film strength of a conventional oil that's tasked with maintaining a film between the crankshaft and rod bearing.

I can't say with 100% certainty, but I will get someone in here who will be able to tell you.

This can happen with any high detergent oil. I changed the oil in a friend's high mileage (and poorly maintained) Jeep with Wal-Mart's house brand synthetic and it's started leaking from a few different spots. This happens because the new oil is cleaning out the sludge and build up than is actually helping to seal the engine. In a properly maintained engine, again even with a conventional oil, the seals won't typically dry out enough for you to notice this phenomenon.

There is a whole lot of truth contained in that statement.

The oils of today, even the mediocre ones are far superior to the oils of the 70s and earlier. If you take care of your vehicles even with mediocre oils, you can still get outstanding life out of them. Not only are the mediocre oils much better, but the designs are much better too. The last flat tappet lifter cams that Ford used I think was the 1995 351W trucks. All the 5.0 V8s in cars were roller lifters and double roller timing chain as early as 86.

There are some people out there who very much want oils in their everyday cars and their VERY SPECIAL cars, that are better than just good enough or even very good. For them there is a small handful of truly excellent oils available, the choices have never been better.

Then there are actually a whole lot of very good oils available that even people who are not particularly obsessed with keeping up with current oil technologies can stumble upon and have very good results with proper maintenance.

Then fortunately there are a fairly large amount of folks like me, who want to use the best available. Sometimes the reasons are to gain a competitive advantage. Sometimes it's to solve a particularly troublesome lubrication issue on a very expensive piece of equipment.

Sometimes it's simply taking the very best care, of a vehicle or project that you have put your hard fought blood sweat and tears into. This last one is often accompanied by a significant dose of pride.

 

[UnleashedBeast]

Thanks Jimmy....you did all the typing for me. I'm out of breath today. :thumbsup:

 

[02_lightning_NP]

great Post guys... i learned alot today, thank you