a litre of anything is ok.

but i do have a litre of castrol edge in the boot as it was on offer at tesco's

 

I always c0ck that up - i just found mine far more clattery on 5W40 during the winter months.

 

 

So you may be more qualified at voicing oil quality, masses of experience of knowing the oil qualities from umpteen threads. A bit dissapointed MB in the ticking off i've received and the tone, no-one is saying its crap. Its different, I think you know that by intending not to use. Refining method are different, you only have to Blinking well Google it love.

Is it particularly good for a VTEC high revving engine? I don't think so. Hey everyone has choice

PM oilman to include a more detailed explanation, I know how efficient the answers tend to have to be on this site sometimes. And how awkward/sad it feels sometimes getting flamed by over-excited moderation. Makes you feel pretty unwelcomed, I have to say MB

 

Mazola

Twenty four posts in two hours, not bad. Anyone would think we haddn't discussed oil before.

 

Oils threads - don't you just love them - nothing like it for creating arguments.

The www is awash with such oil threads on motoring forums.

(Partly why I asked the question - to kick of some controvosy)

D

 

So.... being efficient, and the angle of the dangle from top respected oil cheese...

Here's another from our own Oilman.

"A word of caution – You get what you pay for!

Below is an article written by John Rowland, Silkolene/Fuchs Chief R & D Chemist for 40 years.


Originally Posted by John Rowland

Costs of synthetics vary considerably. The most expensive are the “Ester” types originally only used in jet engines. These cost 6 to 10 times more than high quality mineral oils. The cheapest synthetics are not really synthetic at all, from a chemists point of view. These are in fact specially refined light viscosity mineral oils known as “hydrocracked”. These have some advantages over equivalent mineral oils, particularly in lower viscosity motor oils such as 5w-30 or other oils with a low “W” rating such as 5w-50 etc and they cost about 1.5 times more than good quality mineral fractions.

We use several different grades of this base oil, where appropriate. This is the “synthetic” which is always used in cheap oils that are labelled “synthetic”.

Yes it’s a cruel world, you get what you pay for!

Now, you may ask, why are these special mineral oils called “synthetic”?

Well, it was all sorted in a legal battle that took place in the USA about ten years ago. Sound reasons (including evidence from a Nobel Prize winning chemist) were disregarded and the final ruling was that certain mineral bases that had undergone extra chemical treatments could be called “synthetic”.

Needless to say, the marketing executives wet their knickers with pure delight!
They realised that this meant, and still does, that the critical buzz-word “synthetic” could be printed on a can of cheap oil provided that the contents included a few percent of “hydrocracked” mineral oil, at a cost of quite literally a few pence.

So, the chemistry of “synthetics” is complex and so is the politics!

The economics are very simple. If you like the look of a smart well-marketed can with “synthetic” printed on it, fair enough, it will not cost you a lot; and now you know why this is the case.

But, if you drive a high performance car, and you intend to keep it for several years, and maybe do the odd “track day”, then you need a genuine Ester/PAO (Poly Alpha Olefin) synthetic oil.

This oil costs more money to buy, because it costs us a lot of money to make, very simply, you always get what you pay for!

This article is something that all car owners should read and understand before buying oil and I’ve posted this with Johns permission.

Cheers
Simon ""

 

Castrol Edge 5W40 very reasonable price in Asda's - Thats what I use - '06 S2000.

 

Tony, apoligies if you have been upset by my comments. It wasn't a ticking off (man up ) However, what I take issue with generally, is Google engineering and stating of things as fact without maybe full understanding. It's how oil threads beome such a nightmare.

Things like "DON'T, whatever you do, buy Halford own stuff" and "Please don't ever use 0w oil, its far too thin and you may encounter problems after using for a while" I would assume you have in depth knowledge to back it up. What if the OP lives in the Shetland islands and it's winter, for example?!

I don't need to PM Oilman

In fact I rarely state my views on here as Si2k knows far more than most of us ever will, and he's the one to listen to. My own experience is not from the internet either, it's practical.

 

That's a very well and good, apart from the rather trite "you get what you pay for".....

The problem is that you have way of knowing to any degree of certainty exactly what it is you're paying for, unless you are party to the oil manufacturers proprietary data.

In many cases you are certainly paying for a name and the associated advertising and sponsorship - does this make it better? (rhetorical question)
How do you determine reputation as a measure of quality? What's the diffrence between reputation, rumour and opinion?
Where are the data on controlled, objective tests that help the motorist make an informed decision? (another rhetorical question)

Surely the only thing you can have some level of certainty on is the specification asserted on the product. You then have to assume that the manufacturer is ethical and meeets the minimum specifications. I suggest this is the point that reputation should be considered.


Anyway who makes Halfords oil? Its cetainly not a bunch of bored, spotty teenagers, dressed in yellow and black uniforms poised at the controls at an oil refinery....

D