myroad

I used to be proud to change my oil every 3-5k when I had my last Saab -- thinking it was a highly stressed small engine, turbo`d and high revving, etc. When I had my 2.7t ar, I was convinced to change oil only when recommended by manual -- which meant at the regular maintenance checks. Now with my 4.2 I havent even thought about changing the oil other than at regular maintenance intervals. I love my car and the engine is probably the biggest reason why -- so the question is: should I be changing the oil more frequently than the regularly scheduled maintenance intervals? I drive into NYC every day -- and there is plenty of stop and go-- and I frequently let her rip, making a point of holding gear changes to just shy of redline, on the way home -- but its on highways with little stop and go. No flaming please....

Ex-PzKW Cdr

5000-7000 miles. Change the filter and top off untill 10000. This is what I recommend to my customers.

I change mine at 3500 with a full synthetic change, using Pentosynth 5-40, and filter. Using this interval, I have never had an oil related failure in any car I have owned. Only used synthetics in any of my cars.

I once drove from Phila Pa, to Wildwood NJ, about 95 miles, in a Fairlane 500 with a 289 HiPo. 4.11 gears and 3 speed trans. Engine speed at 60 was 4100 rpm and we went faster than that, for almost 3 hours. I did this 4 times that year. It ate 2 trans, and 3 diffs, that year, but the backyard sandpit rebuild engine functioned flawlessly. It even went into another car!

mowog

looks really clean at 10K. I think non-turbo and 9 qts of oil make the 10K change with synthetic oil reasonable. I've been lucky and our 4.2 uses little if any oil. I don't think I've had to add a quart of oil between changes. With the top mounted filter the 4.2 is a snap to change oil. I'm still under warranty so Audi changes my oil, but I have a MB E300TD with a similar top mounted filter. I suck out the oil with a marine type pump through the dipstick tube, change the filter cartridge from the top, and never have to drop the belly pan or get dirty! I'll do the same to 4.2 when out of warranty.

Unless I'm mountain driving I also use 87octane in our 4.2. I've tried to compare fuel mileage of 87 vs 93 octane, and I can't see any difference. If the engine really wanted 93, I would expect retarded spark and enrichment with 87, and a resulting fuel mileage drop. I don't see it no matter how **** I get with records. My manual "reccomends" 91 octane for maximum performance but doesn't require it.

The 4.2 is pretty sweet, isn't it?

myroad

4.2 is indeed sweet. Im continually amazed at how aggressive it gets above 4500 rpm - throttle response up there is amazing. the RS4 must be like that but on steroids.... So I guess the consensus is that I need to change the oil more frfequently. I thought so... thx

2002ar

With the large sump of the 4.2 (and 2.7t) you can easily go 10K miles on an oil change. Just be sure to use a top-quality Audi-approved oil such as Mobil1 0w40 or Castrol Syntec 0w30. If you had the Euro oil-life monitor, it would likely tell you to change the oil after 15-20K miles.