tackit wrote:

Any 5w-30 fully synthetic would probably be fine.

Boringoldgit wrote:

tackit wrote:

Any 5w-30 fully synthetic would probably be fine.

Sort of true but you get what you pay for in life.

There are just a few refineries in the country, a few more blenders and more still companies just bottling.

A 5w30 fully synthetic can be bought for less than £10 for a 4.55ltr and this would be base oil meeting the minimum spec, true your engine would run on it but we in this forum are running engines that can't be replaced for peanuts, stick with the nicer brands!

The specification of 5w30's is mainly around the additive package that goes into the blend, most now are low SAPS (Sulphated Ash Phosporus and Sulphur) this is to help keep the Cat or DPF clean, vehicle manufacturers adjust the specification to add different detergent packages that they think best for their engine.

Most of our handbooks say Castrol 5w30 this is the original fill and therefore the recommended, not essential but try to get to the original specification. For Castrol it would have been Magnatec because that was the oil of the day in 2004, today it is Edge, not recommended just because it didnt exist but it is a newer and superior specification.

Anyway just to bore the socks off you, the 5w30 is suitable for the UK climate but would not necessarily be so for other climates, this bit I have copied from elsewhere explains:

In a 10w-40 for example the 10w bit (W = winter, not weight or watt or anything else for that matter) simply means that the oil must have a certain maximum viscosity/flow at low temperature. The lower the “W” number the better the oils cold temperature/cold start performance.

The 40 in a 10w-40 simply means that the oil must fall within certain viscosity limits at 100 degC. This is a fixed limit and all oils that end in 40 must achieve these limits. Once again the lower the number the thinner the oil, a 30 oil is thinner than a 40 oil at 100 degC etc. Your handbook will specify whether a 30, 40 or 50 etc is required.

ACEA: This is the European equivalent of API (US) and is more specific in what the performance of the oil actually is. A = Petrol, B = Diesel and C = Catalyst compatible or low SAPS (Sulphated Ash, Phosphorus and Sulphur).

Unlike API the ACEA specs are split into performance/application catagories as follows:

A1 Fuel economy petrol
A2 Standard performance level (now obsolete)
A3 High performance and/or extended drain
A4 Reserved for future use in certain direct injection engines
A5 Combines A1 fuel economy with A3 performance

B1 Fuel economy diesel
B2 Standard performance level (now obsolete)
B3 High performance and/or extended drain
B4 For direct injection car diesel engines
B5 Combines B1 fuel economy with B3/B4 performance

C1-04 Petrol and Light duty Diesel engines, based on A5/B5-04 low SAPS, two way catalyst compatible.
C2-04 Petrol and light duty Diesel engines, based on A5/B5-04 mid SAPS, two way catalyst compatible.
C3-04 Petrol and light duty Diesel engines, based on A5/B5-04 mid SAPS, two way catalyst compatible, Higher performance levels due to higher HTHS.


Not all my own work here by any means but I get asked these questions at work often and this is what we look at.

Steve (living up to my forum name today!)