Actually, we did buy the OAT corrosion inhibitor package and include it in one of our products, Aarcuda. The reason was that OAT was biodegradable and of low environmental toxicity. Some of the components of the older packages are neither.
The product, in our application which is essentially the same as an automotive coolant application, was inferior to the traditional packages. Government rules encouraged its use, not performance.
I just checked the Haynes type manual for my wife's 97 LeSabre.( Yes, I will certainly consider the source.) The manual says that either green or orange coolant may be used but they must not be mixed. And, I agree with the latter part.
At my friendly local Autozone today I saw a chart saying that orange must be used, so I discussed it with the counter person. He said that the orange had a corrosion inhibitor for aluminum, which the green did not contain. (Wrong! The green has always contained silicate for aluminum protection. The orange relied on the organic acid salts, which did not really give the protection that was optimal Hence, Hybrid OAT technology which has silicates, although in reduced quantities, was introduced.)
No type of chemical corrosion inhibitor is really a first line defense against cavitation. Cavitation is mechanically initiated rather than simply electrochemical. A really GOOD adsorptive film type inhibitor can give a little bit of a mechanical barrier to the cavitation damage, but not a lot. The key is to prevent the cavitation in the first place, or use alloys which are better capable of handling it. Keeping air or gas out of the system helps and the defoamer part of the package can also help.
Erosion corrosion can also be a problem. It is often confused with cavitation, but isn't the same. A chemical inhibitor has a better chance of yielding decent results if erosion is caused only by liquid (clear, no particulates) flow.
I agree with Aarcuda that you can't just walk in and substitute whatever is on sale these days. I learned the hard way some years ago that when GM said power steering fluid and not ATF, they meant it.
I am not sure how firmly behind the DexCool they really are. But it really doesn't make that much difference. The wiser bird uses what he has to use to keep his warranty intact, and he services his car on schedule or better. When the car is out of warranty, or when you think you know better than the manufacturer, then you can try anything you want.
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