Audi Junkie

I decided against Belgium 5w40 in Summer. Stuck w/ 0w30 GC all year, won't thin like M1 & BC

Audi Junkie

No oils weights offfered. Believe me German Syntec or Delvac-1 would blow away these oils if they were included. HT/HS is viscosity dependent, a cheap dino oil or say a 50 weight synth would show as high as you wanted, M1 15w-50 has like a 7+ HT/HS. 4-ball test is designed for greases, not motor oil. Noack tests should be good with Amsoil, it costs twice what I pay, but in itself not important. TBN is not important until you reach the end of the service life, probally an extra few 1000 miles who goes with an oil until TBN = zero anyway? Again some cheap 15w-40 HDEOs have TBNs of 12+. More additives means a trade-off of less oil and more additives anyway. Remember, many of these "test" mentioned oils are $1 quart dino oils and none are the latest synth formulas. Hey, if Amsoil was on the shelf for $4/q like I pay for D1 and GC, I would consider it. Another thing is that it takes a HT/HS of 3.5 just to get an ACEA A3 rating and many-many oils meet that and will show higher numbers than Amsoil, they did not include ANY so they could skew the numbers. GC = 3.6, M1 0w-40 = 3.6 etc... all Phoney Baloney.

Audi Junkie

Mobil 1 0w-40 thins to a mid-30. I like to mention that when people think it is thick, it is not.

Audi Junkie

better. Many oils are made to meet a specific oil film requirment, HT/HS needs to be in-line with that spec, like A1, A3, A5 etc. Not heavier than needed, just right. M1 5w-30 for example is a 3.2 HT/HS because that is what is needed for an engine *calling* for a mid-30 (Japan) needs, not a 40 or a 50 weight. As a rule, HT/HS needes to be AT a certian value, not below, but higher is not always better. I am amused by VOAs, a cheap HDEO like $1.75 Delvac-1300S is MB 228.3 approved, same as MB 229.3 except mpg and cold-cranking stipulation, but some how people jump on 229.3 as some awesome synthetic oil benchmark, it is not. It is, however, easier to formulate a dino with high HT/HS and TBN than a "HC" ****-synth like on that Amsoil list. PS Pour-Point is not an good indicator of pumping temps. I have PP of M1 15w-50 as -49f on the label and PP of German Syntec as -81f. Woo! Cold. PS you should definately be reading UOAs not VOAs of you want a good oil. TBN RETENTION is the buzzword, not just the beginning VOA TBN. I could be wrong, but I don't believe sulphated ash is is the ash that gets deposited. (shrug) PS definately forget those VOA Viscosity Indexes, they use a load of additives to get a high VI, and when used for a while, they shear into sludge. Meaningless.

Redline's contraversial UOAs:
http://theoildrop.server101.com/cgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=001361<ul><li>< a href="http://theoildrop.server101.com/cgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=001361">HT/HS explained</a></li></ul>

Audi Junkie

...shows consistantly higher wear metals in Used Oil Analysis, especially Fe.

Audi Junkie

All you have to do is pay a lil attention to it, BIG differences.

IWantMyRS4

So I figure I'll ask you now...

Do you also recommend the 0-30 for the 3.0? or just the 1.8t?

BTW, I hope you answer yes, cause I happened to be next to a autozone one day, so I popped in, and was SOOO excited that they had GC, that I bought some, even though I have like another 8K before my next oil change : )

CadenceX

Valvoline

Audi Junkie

Turbo lube needs to be pretty thin at start, say a 10w at start. Diesel trucks use 15w-40 but those trucks have fewer cold-starts...dino oil to be sure in their huge turbo-diesels. All 15w-40 HDEOs are super-engineered and can crank at lower temps than the 15w indicated. There would be nothing wrong with using a 15w-40 HDEO all the time, my shop uses Castrol RX 15w-40 in all cars that do not get synth (Syntec 5w-50). I would use Delvac-1300S or Pennzoil LL 15w-40 if temp was not low, I just filled Dad's 2000 MB with it until Fall. So, yes a dino oil is fine in a 3.0, but your question is GC ok in summer, yes sir. I was about to use the Belgium Syntec 5w-40 but my buddy said "why, GC will remain a heavy 30 instead of thinning out". It is better overall. Since you have time until change, use the GC for winter. If price is an issue, A3-rated Syntec Blend 10w-40 shows great Used Oil Analysis. PS unless you have a good oil in there, just dump it for the GC...consider it a flush.

Audi Junkie

<ul><li><a href="http://www.valvolineeurope.com/index.asp?pageid=7535c319c4ad4262b6b18e7f41ab91df" >http://www.valvolineeurope.com/index.asp?pageid=7535c319c4ad4262b6b18e7f41ab91df</a</li></ul>