Engine oil longevity - Fifth Gear test
Discussion
Little while ago FIfth Gear took an R32 Golf which had done 10k miles on its engine oil and did 3x0-100mph runs and took an average time; replaced the oil and did another 3 runs and ran over 0.5s quicker on each run. They also did some lab tests which showed how much more effective the new oil was compared to the oil stuff.....
Now, I'm guessing an R32 is going to be running fully synthetic oil, now my question is whether it's worth me changing the oil more regularly than the manufacturer states (which goes by the computer based on driving style). At the moment my car has done 8k miles on its oil (give or take) but it's saying no need to change for another 11k miles. I'm using Castrol Edge by the way.
Pointless, or worth it? Car has done around 112500 miles.
Oil change isn't cheap as it needs 8L of the stuff so about £80 in oil alone!
The only thing that they didn't state was whether the old oil in the Golf was of the exact same grade and manufacturer as the fresh oil. It's possible the fresh oil was of better quality (e.g. Castrol Magnatec in some forms claims fully synthetic but due to the way it's manufacturered it is not and Castrol Edge is better...)
Interesting, nonetheless!
Thoughts?
Now, I'm guessing an R32 is going to be running fully synthetic oil, now my question is whether it's worth me changing the oil more regularly than the manufacturer states (which goes by the computer based on driving style). At the moment my car has done 8k miles on its oil (give or take) but it's saying no need to change for another 11k miles. I'm using Castrol Edge by the way.
Pointless, or worth it? Car has done around 112500 miles.
Oil change isn't cheap as it needs 8L of the stuff so about £80 in oil alone!
The only thing that they didn't state was whether the old oil in the Golf was of the exact same grade and manufacturer as the fresh oil. It's possible the fresh oil was of better quality (e.g. Castrol Magnatec in some forms claims fully synthetic but due to the way it's manufacturered it is not and Castrol Edge is better...)
Interesting, nonetheless!
Thoughts?
kambites said:
Do you care if your car is 0.5 seconds slower to 100 than it should be?
If not, no. The car is highly unlikely to suffer any significant ill effects from engine wear before something else puts it beyond economical repair.
The latter point was my thinking to be honest, but it's interesting either way!If not, no. The car is highly unlikely to suffer any significant ill effects from engine wear before something else puts it beyond economical repair.
Cheers
E65Ross said:
kambites said:
Do you care if your car is 0.5 seconds slower to 100 than it should be?
If not, no. The car is highly unlikely to suffer any significant ill effects from engine wear before something else puts it beyond economical repair.
The latter point was my thinking to be honest, but it's interesting either way!If not, no. The car is highly unlikely to suffer any significant ill effects from engine wear before something else puts it beyond economical repair.
Cheers
RobM77 said:
Or presumably if you care about the mpg being off by the same percentage?
It certainly can make a significant difference to economy. I ran the OH's Punto without an oil change for about five years because I wanted to see what would happen. It didn't seem to suffer any detrimental effects as far as I could tell when I finally took it to bits to look, but the fuel consumption had dropped by about 20% by the end of that time. E65Ross said:
Oil change isn't cheap as it needs 8L of the stuff so about £80 in oil alone!
You should be able to get oil a fair bit cheaper than that. For a straight oil change you could even use one of the fast-fit places - they often seem to have offers and be able to do it for less than the oil costs.E65Ross said:
The only thing that they didn't state was whether the old oil in the Golf was of the exact same grade and manufacturer as the fresh oil.
That's pretty significant! They could have replaced 10W40 with 0W30.NPI said:
E65Ross said:
Oil change isn't cheap as it needs 8L of the stuff so about £80 in oil alone!
You should be able to get oil a fair bit cheaper than that. For a straight oil change you could even use one of the fast-fit places - they often seem to have offers and be able to do it for less than the oil costs.E65Ross said:
The only thing that they didn't state was whether the old oil in the Golf was of the exact same grade and manufacturer as the fresh oil.
That's pretty significant! They could have replaced 10W40 with 0W30.E65Ross said:
Fast-fit type places don't use high quality oils from experience. I want to use Castrol Edge which is not the cheapest around.
Why ???? If its the right spec why pay for a named brand!!!!Good to change it more frequently if you do a lot of short runs, every 10 k is sensible otherwise
Edited by powerstroke on Wednesday 9th April 20:24
powerstroke said:
E65Ross said:
Fast-fit type places don't use high quality oils from experience. I want to use Castrol Edge which is not the cheapest around.
Why ???? If its the right spec why pay for a named brand!!!!quote=E65Ross]
firstly....can you definitely confirm they use a spec that meets the manufacturers requirements? Secondly, even if it meets the manufacturers requirements it doesn't mean that using an oil that's likely better isn't worth spending more on...
[/quote]
Well it would be sensible to check what you're paying for !!however I doubt your car needs an exact spec if you are changing it at a sensible interval ...
firstly....can you definitely confirm they use a spec that meets the manufacturers requirements? Secondly, even if it meets the manufacturers requirements it doesn't mean that using an oil that's likely better isn't worth spending more on...
[/quote]
Well it would be sensible to check what you're paying for !!however I doubt your car needs an exact spec if you are changing it at a sensible interval ...
powerstroke said:
E65Ross said:
Fast-fit type places don't use high quality oils from experience. I want to use Castrol Edge which is not the cheapest around.
Why ???? If its the right spec why pay for a named brand!!!!Good to change it more frequently if you do a lot of short runs, every 10 k is sensible otherwise
Edited by powerstroke on Wednesday 9th April 20:24
RobM77 said:
powerstroke said:
E65Ross said:
Fast-fit type places don't use high quality oils from experience. I want to use Castrol Edge which is not the cheapest around.
Why ???? If its the right spec why pay for a named brand!!!!Good to change it more frequently if you do a lot of short runs, every 10 k is sensible otherwise
Edited by powerstroke on Wednesday 9th April 20:24
powerstroke said:
RobM77 said:
powerstroke said:
E65Ross said:
Fast-fit type places don't use high quality oils from experience. I want to use Castrol Edge which is not the cheapest around.
Why ???? If its the right spec why pay for a named brand!!!!Good to change it more frequently if you do a lot of short runs, every 10 k is sensible otherwise
Edited by powerstroke on Wednesday 9th April 20:24
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