Yes even if it is actually not always true (for addQuad or addSurfelPrism).

But yes really sure  from the past I detect the difference (not directly visible for few voxels), but I apply a simple test by displaying the curvature of Al100 by using one glNewList I obtain a ~58Hz display rate while by using 21240 list I was around 28 Hz... And by using bigger data I am sure that it can sensible.