2024 Totals: "Post your latest oil change"

Great job as always!

Mobil is still king but VL was a solid contender. VRP gaining in popularity likely pumped their numbers.

Also I enjoy getting to say this every year…

Most people: the store brands are just as good as the name brands.

Also most people: buys name brands.

Happy New Year! 2025 - let’s go!


what sucks is that most store brands now, the pricing isn't much cheaper than name brands, not like they used to be.

unless its basically conventional which is still not much less than a synthetic, which is what a majority of people want now because of the marketing

knowing what I know now, years ago when oil was significantly cheaper I would have probably only used store branded oil :)
 
rtzJxCnJeZ4rz9d6iy2mY8gPiaRDiVgixWga9cFetiM.jpg
and supertech sandwiched between them along for the ride!
 
Thanks mate, I was always expecting to see Penrite on the list before I saw Nulon.
In Australia, Penrite has the bigger reputation, but Nulon has the better pricing. Which is exactly why I buy it.

Nulon was an Australian family run business, and in 2019 it was acquired by Fuchs, a German family run business. Over the years Nulon oils started as "suitable for..." but steadily got more and more formal approvals, including some very tough Euro approvals like VW 504 00 / 507 00. The new kid on the block is Gulf Western oils.
Gulf Western (according to them) is Australia’s largest Australian-owned lubricant manufacturer. I think they’re less well known in the automotive oil retail space, but huge in agriculture, HDEO, etc.

They make some really good PCMO oils though. They have a few legit MB and VW approvals, and some interesting oils like Protecta Universal 10W-40. I hope their presence grows – they deserve to be just as big as Penrite tbh. Family-owned too.
 
Gulf Western (according to them) is Australia’s largest Australian-owned lubricant manufacturer. I think they’re less well known in the automotive oil retail space, but huge in agriculture, HDEO, etc.

They make some really good PCMO oils though. They have a few legit MB and VW approvals, and some interesting oils like Protecta Universal 10W-40. I hope their presence grows – they deserve to be just as big as Penrite tbh. Family-owned too.
Good to hear about Gulf Western being so big, I have some of their API SP 10W30, got it at a smoking hot price.

But are their MB specs legit? When I look them up on the Mercedes Benz website where they list all their approved oils, I can't find Gulf Western, but I can find Penrite. When I look at the GM website that lists approved dexos oils, I can't find Gulf Western, but I can find Nulon.

I can find a company called Gulf Oil International, but they are based in England and I think they are a different company.
 
Gulf Western (according to them) is Australia’s largest Australian-owned lubricant manufacturer....

They make some really good PCMO oils though. They have a few legit MB and VW approvals, and some interesting oils like Protecta Universal 10W-40.
Looking at that Gulf Western Protecta Universal 10W40, from their web page it claims:

"SPECIFICATIONS –
SAE 10W-40, ACEA C3, API SP/CF. Suitable for use in out of warranty service applications and high mileage engines where the following specifications are ACEA A3/B4, C1 (obsolete), C2 and C4, BMW LL-04, LL-01, Ford M2C-913D, 913C, 913B, GM DX2, MB 229.31, 229.51, MB229.3, MB 229.5, Renault RN700/RN710, VW 504/507, 502 00/505 01."

Yet to be MB 229.51 the required viscosity grade is 0W30, 0W40, 5W30 or 5W40 (high HTHS)
To be VW 504/507 they require a low-SAPS oil with a viscosity of 5W30 (high HTHS), C3 based.
Ford 913D is a high-SAPS oil with required viscosity of 5W30 (low HTHS), A5/B5 based.

Yet the Gulf Western oil is 10W40. It can't legitimately claim these approvals, they aren't even consistent in their requirements. Ford 913D and MB 229.51 are very different oils.
 
Fantastic data gathering Superbuick96 as always! 😀😀

I found a nifty little ranking generator site so I have gone back through the last 5 of these and done a "Top 10" bump chart for them. Sadly the software on the site ran out of colours so a couple have been used twice. 😟 Interesting either way.

Here is the site for anyone interested - https://www.a.tools/Tool.php?Id=376

Noticeable changes are;
  • The plummet of Shell oils from 4th to below 10th across 2020-2023
  • The rise of Quaker State from 9th up to 3rd and then falling off back to 5th.
  • And the appearance of both Amsoil and HPL in the top 10 rankings at 6th and 8th in the last 2 years.
  • Havoline steadily climbing ranks from 10th to 7th but then falling out the top ten all together.
  • Napa starting in 7th and falling off all together.
  • Fram suddenly being in the top 10 in 2024? 🤷‍♂️

View attachment 257320
Nice work, I find the annual trends really interesting as well. Every year seems to have an unexpected surge of a certain brand or 2 from the previous years. One thing always seems constant is that Mobil is hands down the leader with Pennzoil, Valvoline, Castrol and QS generally rounding out the top 5 swapping spots from year to year.
 
Kind of surprised Fram aka Amalie is so high up on the list….

Amalie makes good oils that are Dexos approved and API SP.

Their approval page used to leave a lot to be desired… They did not have some of that information correct on there.
Fram and HPL both seemed to surge in popularity in 2024!
 
Looking at that Gulf Western Protecta Universal 10W40, from their web page it claims:

"SPECIFICATIONS –
SAE 10W-40, ACEA C3, API SP/CF. Suitable for use in out of warranty service applications and high mileage engines where the following specifications are ACEA A3/B4, C1 (obsolete), C2 and C4, BMW LL-04, LL-01, Ford M2C-913D, 913C, 913B, GM DX2, MB 229.31, 229.51, MB229.3, MB 229.5, Renault RN700/RN710, VW 504/507, 502 00/505 01."

Yet to be MB 229.51 the required viscosity grade is 0W30, 0W40, 5W30 or 5W40 (high HTHS)
To be VW 504/507 they require a low-SAPS oil with a viscosity of 5W30 (high HTHS), C3 based.
Ford 913D is a high-SAPS oil with required viscosity of 5W30 (low HTHS), A5/B5 based.

Yet the Gulf Western oil is 10W40. It can't legitimately claim these approvals, they aren't even consistent in their requirements. Ford 913D and MB 229.51 are very different oils.
Yeah, those "Specs" are all over the place. Wonder if we get some of that oil in the US under the Triax name. ;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: SR5
Looking at that Gulf Western Protecta Universal 10W40, from their web page it claims:

"SPECIFICATIONS –
SAE 10W-40, ACEA C3, API SP/CF. Suitable for use in out of warranty service applications and high mileage engines where the following specifications are ACEA A3/B4, C1 (obsolete), C2 and C4, BMW LL-04, LL-01, Ford M2C-913D, 913C, 913B, GM DX2, MB 229.31, 229.51, MB229.3, MB 229.5, Renault RN700/RN710, VW 504/507, 502 00/505 01."

Yet to be MB 229.51 the required viscosity grade is 0W30, 0W40, 5W30 or 5W40 (high HTHS)
To be VW 504/507 they require a low-SAPS oil with a viscosity of 5W30 (high HTHS), C3 based.
Ford 913D is a high-SAPS oil with required viscosity of 5W30 (low HTHS), A5/B5 based.

Yet the Gulf Western oil is 10W40. It can't legitimately claim these approvals, they aren't even consistent in their requirements. Ford 913D and MB 229.51 are very different oils.
I mentioned that particular oil as being interesting due to it being 4.2 HTHS, TBN 8, pour point -39C, NOACK 7.4. It has no actual approvals, it just seems like an interesting oil. I’ve used it on a few cars and it seems to work (no data to back that up, apart from reduced oil consumption and quiet running).

Energy Plus 5W-30 is VW 504/507 approved, SYN-X 5000 5W-40 is MB 229.5 approved. They don’t have any Dexos-approved oils, and fair enough considering there’s basically no GMs left in Australia that are still in warranty lol.

They’ve probably got some way to go in the PCMO space, but even so their current products are pretty good for the price.
 
Yeah, those "Specs" are all over the place. Wonder if we get some of that oil in the US under the Triax name. ;)
Penrite is just as bad. Have a look at this mess:

ENVIRO+ 5W-40 may be used where SAE 5W-30, SAE 10W-30, SAE 0W-40 and SAE 5W-40 grade oils are specified by the manufacturer. It can be used where API SP, SN Plus and previous API specifications SN, SM, SL, SJ are recommended and where ACEA A3/B3 and A3/B4 is recommended in model years prior to 2010. It can be used in modern petrol and light duty diesel engines where ACEA C3 or ACEA C2 is specified by the manufacturer and in LPG and diesel engines where API CF or earlier is required. It may also be used as a replacement for ILSAC GF-3, GF-4 and GF-5 grade oils and where ACEA A1/B1 (Obsolete) and ACEA A5/B5 fuel economy oils are required.

ENVIRO+ 5W-40 is suitable for use in a wide range of petrol and light duty diesel vehicles including those fitted with a Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF). It is approved for warranty service by Mercedes Benz to MB-Approval 229.51 and can be used in GM vehicles requiring GMW 16177 (dexos2™), Volkswagen vehicles where VW 502 00 / 505 00 / 505 01 is specified. It can also be used in Porsche vehicles where Porsche A40 is needed and in BMW where BMW Longlife-04 is required as well as in many other makes and models”
 
Can we get a 2024 pie chart with percentages? Also in 2025, can we ask users to post whether if it is GF-7? This will determine how many early adopters there are and the number of die-hard users reaching into their stash.

I am pretty sure most BITOG users have an oil stash.
 
Penrite is just as bad. Have a look at this mess:
Yeah Penrite and Valvoline Australia have been terrible too. Plus Nulon started out as snake oil merchant, putting teflon (PTFE) in all their early oils. I recall picking up a bottle of Valvoline oil claiming both A3/B4 (high-SAPS) and C3 (low-SAPS) specs on their labels (not just recommended for).

But, over the years I have seen independent parties verify Nulon VW504/507 (only the 5W30 Euro) and Penrite MB 229.5 (only their HPR 5) claims.

Sure sometimes they time out and fall off the list, and they have to re-apply. But I saw Penrite listed on the German Mercedes Benz web site as an approved oil, with my own eyes. Similarly I have seen Nulon listed on VW documents as producing approved VW oils. (See page 9 of this VW document)

Unfortunately I have never seen an independent auto manufacturer vouch for Gulf Western, where they independently tested the oil.
 
Last edited:
I mentioned that particular oil as being interesting due to it being 4.2 HTHS, TBN 8, pour point -39C, NOACK 7.4. It has no actual approvals, it just seems like an interesting oil. I’ve used it on a few cars and it seems to work (no data to back that up, apart from reduced oil consumption and quiet running).
Yes that does look interesting, and too be honest, my type of oil.

SYN-X 5000 5W-40 is MB 229.5 approved.
But it's not listed as approved on the MB website.
I was recently having the same discussion with @daniel327 about Gulf Western Euro-Energy 5W30 saying "MB-APPROVAL 229.31/229.51", yet I can't find it on the MB website.

Penrite was there last year, but their approval timed out, so they were removed from the website. But I certainly saw them there many years in a row, plus Penrite published their MB approval documents on the own website (MB letterhead).

Sorry, I'm not convinced that GW sent their actual oil to the German MB lab to be formally tested and approved. I'm sure GW thinks their oil is good enough, and it probably is, but that's not the same thing as being tested by a person not on your payroll.
 
It would be interesting to see total miles driven in each oil. HPL and Amsoil are lower purchase numbers because people buy them to run long drains.
I was going to mention some of the "boutique" types may have fewer changes by, say 1/4 to 1/2, due to being chosen for that reason. That would be the next data point...average miles per change for each brand. Maybe all the Mobil are the people on here saying "cheap insurance" and they're changing every 3k... 🤷‍♂️🤣🫣
 
I was going to mention some of the "boutique" types may have fewer changes by, say 1/4 to 1/2, due to being chosen for that reason. That would be the next data point...average miles per change for each brand. Maybe all the Mobil are the people on here saying "cheap insurance" and they're changing every 3k... 🤷‍♂️🤣🫣
We need answers 😂 Mobil EP going 4k and castrol edge Gold going 3.5k. I don't run edge gold longer than 4500 in my K20, but I do plan on running 0w20 supercar HPL for 8k ish.
 
Can we get a 2024 pie chart with percentages? Also in 2025, can we ask users to post whether if it is GF-7? This will determine how many early adopters there are and the number of die-hard users reaching into their stash.

I am pretty sure most BITOG users have an oil stash.

1736372900830.webp


I have left the ones out with less than 20 oil changes as the chart became a total mess with all the tiny slithers of the pie.
 
Back
Top