I have run it in two cars for years. Both have 150,000 plus miles. Neither burns more than a quart between changes, neither motor leaks a drop of oil, both still sound like when they had 50,000. I like Valvoline.
My main beef with the blends is the financial rip-off involved. Add a few drops of Group III 'synthetic' to a conventional 99 cent a bottle motor oil and you get to charge WAY more for it, with the product not being enough better for anybody to notice.
In my view, if the percentage of synthetic in a 'blend' was significant enough to matter, the maker would boast about it on the label. None do.
I am a fan of real Group IV PAO full synthetics like Mobil1 in situations where they give some benefit, like extreme hot/cold, trailer towing or extended drain intervals.
Sometimes you can determine the amount of 'synthetic' component in a blended oil by looking at its material safety data sheet, but for practical purposes, you really can't tell what you are getting with a blend unless you look at its physical and chemical properties.
I have a database of over 200 hundred oils which shows that blends usually rank higher (but not by much) than petroleums using a composite score of their properties. But, individual properties, such as pour point, show that neither type is always superior for any individual property.
As a suggestion, I'd wait for a good sale on a full synthetic, be it Group III or Group IV and stock up, otherwise I'd look at the petroleum high mileage oils if applicable. The high mileage petros are actually pretty good oil.
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