2018 VW Golf Sportwagen 57K 5K OCI Mobil 1 0W40 - not impressed

[TiGeo]

As the crowd fave on BITOG, I ditched my beloved Liquimoly for Mobil 1 0W40 this go around. Here is the UOA and my tracking data/charts. Not impressed at all. Viscosity drop/shearing was the largest I've ever had (23% vs. the VOA I did) and my iron pegged at higher than it's been since the first OCI. This viscosity drop actually lined up well with other UOAs for the tuned MK7 VWs that I've come across. I know 14ppm iron is still low AND I had a new turbo installed but that should be flushed out at this point and should have dropped, not continued to rise just like I saw with the first turbo upgrade I did. Who knows. The only thing I can think of for the turbo is that b/c this one was brand new/not used like the previous one that the iron will drop this interval and start getting back down to those nice single digit values. I beat on the car hard this round but no more or less than the other intervals with the exception of the 49K (mid-OCI check) and 52K which was the Liquimoly Molygen 5W40 that was used for a track weekend with sustained triple digit driving etc. I had no oil consumption but I've never had any or ever had to add a drop over an interval.

Have QSUD 5W40 in there now so curious how that will look in 5K then will move to Mobil 1 5W40 to try out all the Walmart flavors that seem popular before likely returning to old-faithful free Liquimoly kits and Ceratec/MoS2 additives from FCP Euro. BTW - Mobil 1 denied both my rebate submissions b/c 1) 5W40 isn't included in the promotion apparently (***?) and 2) they didn't like my Walmart receipt for the 15W50 (track use this year) b/c the receipt isn't detailed enough. I wrote a letter so hopefully I will get at least the 15W50 one that is clearly shown as being included.

Bottom line - won't be using this oil again.

 

[Zee09]

It's a favorite here only because it is heavily rebated

 

[TiGeo]

It's a favorite here only because it is heavily rebated

I'm sure it's a fine oil and I was mainly trying it to see if the higher percentage of Group IV basestock would hold that viscosity longer than the Liquimoly Group 3 5W40s I had been using and it doesn't but a single data piont isn't a great way to look at things but I've seen enough other OCIs from the tuned/turbo VW MK7 vehicles that looked about the same to know I'll pass on it. I used this oil for ~200K in my old MK4 '00 Jetta so I know it works well. Plus the rebate thing pissed me off with M1 in general vs. the zero hassle FCP deal where I get the refund/refund shipping through Paypal for a zero cost oil change.

 

[MParr]

Wouldn’t Castrol Edge 5W40 be a better off the shelf oil than the Mobil 1 0W40? The KV 100C is quiet a bit higher than the Mobil 1.

https://msdspds.castrol.com/bpglis/FusionPDS.nsf/Files/F7CF571E87BF9A8C802584E000589851/$File/BPXE-AA5D4U.pdf

 

[TiGeo]

Wouldn’t Castrol Edge 5W40 be a better off the shelf oil than the Mobil 1 0W40? The KV 100C is quiet a bit higher than the Mobil 1.

https://msdspds.castrol.com/bpglis/FusionPDS.nsf/Files/F7CF571E87BF9A8C802584E000589851/$File/BPXE-AA5D4U.pdf

The idea was/is that the 0W40 has more group 4 base stock and therefore will have less viscosity drop as a % than the lower quality 5W40 oils that while starting with a higher KV100C will lose more as a %.

 

[MParr]

Mobil 1 doesn’t list their HTHS numbers. So, we have no idea how that stacks up against Liqui Moly or Castrol for that matter. It sure isn’t giving you the results that Liqui Moly is.

 

[TiGeo]

Mobil 1 doesn’t list their HTHS numbers. So, we have no idea how that stacks up against Liqui Moly or Castrol for that matter. It sure isn’t giving you the results that Liqui Moly is.

I believe Mobil 1's HTHS value is a bit higher than the LM oils (which was also part of my desire to try it) that I have used based on other folks here that have posted info regarding it - 3.7? maybe vs. the 3.5 for the LM.

 

[MParr]

I believe Mobil 1's HTHS value is a bit higher than the LM oils (which was also part of my desire to try it) that I have used based on other folks here that have posted info regarding it - 3.7? maybe vs. the 3.5 for the LM.

Castrol is at least 3.7, according to their PDS. Kendall GT-1 Euro 5W40 is 3.7.

 

[MParr]

The Mobil 1 FS X2 5W40 would be a better choice than the 0W40 FS

 

[tcp71]

From my limited understanding, the Mobil 1 0w40 SDS shows 10-20% group 4. Not sure that is enough to keep sheering at bay:

 

[Rand]

I would suggest at least back to back intervals of the same oil if you are going to do a UOA.

To put it in perspective:
You have a highly tuned engine, put new parts in, and ran 1 interval of M1 and the numbers still dont look bad.


not really a fair UOA.. although the numbers are fairly meaningless except as a trend.

 

[TiGeo]

I would suggest at least back to back intervals of the same oil if you are going to do a UOA.

To put it in perspective:
You have a highly tuned engine, put new parts in, and ran 1 interval of M1 and the numbers still dont look bad.


not really a fair UOA.. although the numbers are fairly meaningless except as a trend.

I think it's "fair" in the scope that I've been tuned/changed turbos before and you can see how the UOAs on 2 different oils trended around those plus it's the second interval since the new turbo not the first and iron still came up. But yes, doing another (or 2) would always be best but I am trying to switch it around and collect some data on other oils - those changes/UOAs will be v. interesting!

 

[CleverUserName]

There is always some left-over oil in the engine, so one short cycle and a UOA doesn't really measure anything conclusive. Making judgements based on it doesn't make sense either.

How do you know it actually sheared? Blackstone doesn't measure fuel dilution with GC so it's possible there was more fuel in this sample than in previous samples. Hard to say but you should try a different lab which has more data points.

Like the other guy said, 2 OCI back to back and then average them together would be more meaningful.

 

[TiGeo]

There is always some left-over oil in the engine, so one short cycle and a UOA doesn't really measure anything conclusive. Making judgements based on it doesn't make sense either.

How do you know it actually sheared? Blackstone doesn't measure fuel dilution with GC so it's possible there was more fuel in this sample than in previous samples. Hard to say but you should try a different lab which has more data points.

Like the other guy said, 2 OCI back to back and then average them together would be more meaningful.

I've been doing UOAs for nearly 60K miles at 6K on average, that's a large data set as you can see my by my post with all the data/charts/etc. Look at the data on the BS sheet (with exception of the 35K change shown - that had an engine flush product in it so was more diluted than the "fresh" sample collected at that interval not shown on the sheet that was pre-flush), the fuel numbers (even though they don't test directly for it) have always been consistent (I realize that the UOA sheet doesn't show them all but you can get the flavor) - no reason to think anything else for this oil change. My use was consistent with other intervals - combo highway/city with a few trips to the drag strip and general hard/high RPM driving etc. Finally, I've spent a lot of time looking at M1 UOA data on my platform as I've pointed out several times here, these data are very consistent with other data for tuned MK7 VWs for M1 that I've seen. I'll give a few other products a try. No need to run this again.

 

[adams355]

You should go to Motul I reckon in the future you need a more boutique oil, more race orientated. All these brand 'quality' oils are just a splash of this and a splash of that. 5W usually holds up better than 0W in turbo engines, less VM I don't know. I would still like you to put a 5W-50 in there one day just for laughs

 

[TiGeo]

You should go to Motul I reckon in the future you need a more boutique oil, more race orientated. All these brand 'quality' oils are just a splash of this and a splash of that. 5W usually holds up better than 0W in turbo engines, less VM I don't know. I would still like you to put a 5W-50 in there one day just for laughs

I'm going to run M1 15W50 for the track - I know that will hold up!

 

[KCJeep]

Mobil is obviously great oil but no excuses accepted, this is a poor showing for M1 0w40 plain and simple. I'd bet either Castrol 0w40 or 5w40 would have at least a higher retained viscosity than this.

TBN is fantastic but it's due to the dump truck load of calcium Mobil uses in this.

It will be interesting to see how the bargain priced QS 5w40 holds up compared to this.

 

[adams355]

I'm going to run M1 15W50 for the track - I know that will hold up!

Yea its good oil, the oil I use is way over the top but its great 60% PAO minimum (Mobil 1 15w50 is up to 20%) and also around 20% AN in mine. Once you start pushing your upgrades/tunes you are outside any normal specs of daily driven oils. I'm not saying they are not going to work but as you have found there are a lot of variations from the norm.

 

[edyvw]

Not sure why such a drop. M1 0W40 should hold up much better than that. Flash point dropped too.
I have never seen such bad result for M1 0W40. Did you do any track days, and how many if you did?

 

[edyvw]

Castrol is at least 3.7, according to their PDS. Kendall GT-1 Euro 5W40 is 3.7.

No it is not. Castrol 5W40 was 3.7 when KV100 was 14.2. New 5W40 flavor has same composition but KV100 is 12.8. M1 0W40 or Castrol 0W40 are step up from Castrol 5W40.