Recent content by Craig in Canada

I know I'm a little late to this thread. My theory on "star spec" and TC issues is that this is a much more important factor on vehicles with a staggered wheel package. So if an F10 has 245/45ZR18 front and 275/40ZR18 in the rear, the "star spec" versions of these sizes from a given...

I just got a Solar BA9 and was wondering if these kinds of testers have temperature measurements in the tester to apply compensation to the calculations used to derive CCA... I have a ~6-7 year old AGM battery. I know it doesn't owe me anything but long story short - no signs of any issues, I...

Well, at the time M1 was noisy in an Acura, Porsche and BMW all under my care. Maybe it's different now, and the matter is a topic of its own debate I don't need to get into. All three engines went from sounding like threshing machines to being able to hear the belts whine and noticing a...

Anything with updated 2018 approval for LL-01 or LL-04 or it is going to be solid and, IMO, nothing to be afraid of unless you have special circumstances. In my M52 (and every other engine I had at the time) I found M1 products noisy. I switched to GC and never looked back (other than...

Rust. Pulsation. Not everyone runs low wear ceramic compounds.... In German application with which I am familiar, even without rust it seems that a rotor will last two pad changes before being below min spec thickness (usually semi-metallic pads are specified). With rust belt taken into...

Please check in with this thread in the wet and the snow.

I think at the moment I'll be running my R2s another season. If I get an unrepairable puncture or something like that then I'll need a new set on the quick (R2s aren't available anymore to just get one, I don't mix types of tires, I have transfer case based AWD and tread depths need to...

There was a specification change in 07/2011. I can't say that I saw any hard parts change spec, but fluids and many other components have 07/2011 production as a cutover. To be clear, when I mentioned what was and was not specified for my vehicle, I was shopping for my 3-4/2011 production...

Been digging into a couple of things, and I am going to later post a correction in another current thread in which I recently posted about this... I have an 2011 F10 X-Drive and I had a really interesting time going through differential lubes before a change a couple of years ago. There was...

F series differentials can be a huge rabbit hole. When I went down it for my F10 I determined that 75W90 GL-5 was fine in my rear diff (original spec was either SAF-XO or Synthetik OSP or G1), but my front diff was always spec'd for either G1 or G2 only, which is a 75W85 *** GL-4 *** fluid...

TF0870 is original spec, DTF-1 is new spec. IMO, don't fool around with the TC fluid spec figuring that you know better. It is not a super common fluid and it's more important to change it when needed (or more often) and correctly set the level than to attempt to get a "superior" fluid...

My R2s are non-SUV, and I find the SUV versions of R2 and R3 preferable. Interesting... I find the SUV version has less impact on braking and has improved steering response. I have not compared back to back on the same vehicle of course. On the Sienna, throwing on the R2 or R3 SUV is...

Castrol 0W40 became discontinued up here or something like that, so I had to make another choice at the time. Then I fell down the LL-01 2018 and LL-04 sulphur rabbit hole, emerging with PP 5W40.

Since the 2018 revision to LL-01 (no more 0W oils on the list) I've been running PP Euro 5W40 in my F10 535. No "issues", but it's garaged overnight not outside. I'm Toronto-ish so the colder snaps get us down to the -20s without making the news, worse from time to time.

As the weeks go by, I would be interested in your direct comparison of the two on the same vehicle. Did you have the R2 SUV version on the Tiguan? My SO has had R2 SUV and R3 SUV on a Sienna and I think they are quite superior to the non-SUV for things I'm looking for. I'd get the SUV...