How low can you go?

[AlanS]

Gave the 16V an oil and filter change today and used 5 litres of a Pennzoil full synthetic 0W40

So far I've been impressed by the performance as it is supposedly a competition grade oil and the oil pressure gauge has been reading about 1 flyshit below 8 bar.
No noises and seems to be as smooth as silk.
I was using a 5W40 prior to this and it went around 8K klms without using a drop so it must be in pretty fair nick.
Be interested to see if it improves the fuel econony.
Speaking of which, has the price of petrol skyrocketed over there recently? Or is it just the oil thieves (sorry, multi national pillars of society) just catching up on the Aussies? Ours has risen about 50+% in the past few weeks.


Alan S

[AlanS]

I must admit Alan that when I last ran a 16v, it was Ok on Mobil 1, which was probably the best oil about in those days, and was 5w40 then, and oil pressure was always good. 0W40 does sound pretty extreme.
Have you got the specs for the oil that you are using? I must admit in the my old BX TD I use a VW Quantum semi synthetic 10w40, I think anything more in a BX TD is overkill. The 16v is of course a different kettle of fish and puts different demands on oil.

It's an oil supposedly "made for extremes of driving such as heat, cold, pulling heavy loads and heavy traffic conditions. It is recommended for use in engines requiring: API SJ, SH, SG and ACEA A3/B3/E3
It's supposedly formulated to provide extra engine protection in severe driving conditions where extremely high oil temperatures can cause oil breakdown, engine deposits and loss of oil through evaporation."

It's not a cheap oil by any means; about $70 for 5 litres which by comparison to say a mineral Shell/Valvoline/Castrol that goes about $15 for 5 litres.
What are the specs for 16V oil? I'd imagine this stuff would be at least up o that if not above it wouldn't it?


Alan S

[cavmad]

Speaking of which, has the price of petrol skyrocketed over there recently? Or is it just the oil thieves (sorry, multi national pillars of society) just catching up on the Aussies? Ours has risen about 50+% in the past few weeks.


Alan S[/quote]

Yes, it`s sneaking up again here. Over 99p per litre the other day for unleaded at one **** garage. To be fair it`s mostly due to the govornment and their rip off taxes though I do blame a fair portion on Esso and similar companies for their sneaky `price watch` scheme. All they did was offer the lowest price in any given area for a while and at the same time priced the independants out of the market. Then guess what? Mr Independant closes so they have no competition for a couple of miles so put the prices back up. Then all those people who lived near a local garage are forced to travel further to get their fuel and therefore have to buy even more to compensate. Hard to see how the likes of Esso can lose out really isn`t it?

[tom]

Nice lady in Tesco yesterday gave me somebody's 5p per litre token that they'd dropped. Their fuel is 5p a litre more than down the road!

[AlanS]

Logic says that a lower wieghted oil should be more suitable for cold climates, yet this stuff makes an issue out of high temps.
One of the advantages of course they reckon, is that it improves fuel consumption (supposedly). I'm not speaking specifically about this stuff I'm using, but all oil suppliers make that boast, so if I can ever afford to fill the bloody tank again, I might be able to test that theory.
The petrol price is a real con job.
Latest is that the Yanks have about 25% of their fuel refined down where the storms have gone through, so this will further affect the price of petrol due to reduced output.......I mean like.....Hello!!! we buy it in as crude and refine it locally. A while back it was the price in Singapore had gone up even though we're supposed to be pegged to West Texas crude. I wonder what the story will be next week?
Garge Dublcrossya Bush's cat has piles perhaps?



Alan S