Oil conversation with Castrol
Discussion
Not trying to start another oil debate, just reporting a conversation I have just had with the technical department at Castrol.
I called them to ask what oil I should use.
I had used the oil selector on their website
, linky and it recommended Castrol Edge 10w60 for all models. The current version of this oil is the FST variant, FST means fluid strength technology, which they have been developing the stop oils going thin at high operating stress levels.
The guy was really friendly and said yes, that is the oil he would recommend. He commented that he had a complete range of oils to offer me, but that the 10w60 fully synthetic was better for my car than their 10 or 20w50. The 10 gives you nice fluid oil for cold starting, while the 60 gives you plenty of viscosity for extremes of temperature on the track or a fast blat on the road. I regularly see water temps of 90 degrees plus on track - he said the oil will easily deal with 110C oil temperature (for those with a flash new digital gauge) without losing fluid strength.
His main comment was not to get hung up on zinc content. The Castrol oils all have 900-1100 PPM of zinc. He said the purpose of the zinc was to be a final barrier metal to metal when it all gets really hot, there's too little oil in the engine, and/or when basically the oil has given up and is failing in viscosity terms, and the engine is about to fail. He said it became important in the 1960s when the zinc content was around 500 ppm and the standard engine oils were not up to running hot for long periods, or on too little oil. Nowadays, even with Rover V8s on the track, the oil was up to the job and the zinc content was far less important. He said that too much zinc could even cause its own problems.
His final comment was that it was of paramount importance to keep enough oil in the engine - never let it get lower than half way between top and bottom marks on the dip stick
. (Nearest smily I could find to a dipstick)
I use my 5 litre on the track and the road, in all conditions from popping to the shops in winter, to nice blasts on the country roads, to track days all year round. I have actually by chance been using this oil since September (I tried to get Shell but couldn't find it in time!) and will continue to use it at next week's oil change.
Right, time to drop my head below the parapet...
I called them to ask what oil I should use.
I had used the oil selector on their website
, linky and it recommended Castrol Edge 10w60 for all models. The current version of this oil is the FST variant, FST means fluid strength technology, which they have been developing the stop oils going thin at high operating stress levels.The guy was really friendly and said yes, that is the oil he would recommend. He commented that he had a complete range of oils to offer me, but that the 10w60 fully synthetic was better for my car than their 10 or 20w50. The 10 gives you nice fluid oil for cold starting, while the 60 gives you plenty of viscosity for extremes of temperature on the track or a fast blat on the road. I regularly see water temps of 90 degrees plus on track - he said the oil will easily deal with 110C oil temperature (for those with a flash new digital gauge) without losing fluid strength.
His main comment was not to get hung up on zinc content. The Castrol oils all have 900-1100 PPM of zinc. He said the purpose of the zinc was to be a final barrier metal to metal when it all gets really hot, there's too little oil in the engine, and/or when basically the oil has given up and is failing in viscosity terms, and the engine is about to fail. He said it became important in the 1960s when the zinc content was around 500 ppm and the standard engine oils were not up to running hot for long periods, or on too little oil. Nowadays, even with Rover V8s on the track, the oil was up to the job and the zinc content was far less important. He said that too much zinc could even cause its own problems.
His final comment was that it was of paramount importance to keep enough oil in the engine - never let it get lower than half way between top and bottom marks on the dip stick
. (Nearest smily I could find to a dipstick)I use my 5 litre on the track and the road, in all conditions from popping to the shops in winter, to nice blasts on the country roads, to track days all year round. I have actually by chance been using this oil since September (I tried to get Shell but couldn't find it in time!) and will continue to use it at next week's oil change.
Right, time to drop my head below the parapet...
Edited by QBee on Monday 24th March 13:38
Gassing Station | Chimaera | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff