Believe the hype: the GERMAN CASTROL is the real deal!

[buster]

quote:

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Upon what significant evidence are you basing your projection that US and GC are the same?

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Patman's email and the people I spoke with from Castrol gave me no answer regarding the differences. According to them, they are the same oil. Do I believe them? No, not necesarily. Castrol is also the same company that called syntec a true synthetic. I want to be excited but I'm not about to stroll around the world looking for an oil that hasn't proved itself yet or might not even be here to stay.

 

[pscholte]

Buster,

I understand your skepticism. I don't know what to make of Castrol and how they do business. As you have expressed it detracts from any legitimacy their products do have. I'm gonna hope for the best. I frankly DO NOT believe the info we have gotten from Castrol is accurate. Why would they adjust their European production lines to blend an oil that in its original (American) form was, from all appearances, not selling. Even if they were having a production/supply problem in the US, it wouldn't matter because you don't have to make new batches of oil where the old is gathering dust on the shelf!

 

[sbc350gearhead]

If the U.S. and german 0w30's are the same oil.....then wouldn't the VOA's be identical? Has anyone done a VOA on the U.S. 0w30?

 

[tenderloin]

They changed the labels, specs of oil listed on label (presumably the oil specs as well), the country of mfg., color, smell, and feel.

Yeah It is the same oil

[ September 05, 2003, 06:29 PM: Message edited by: tenderloin ]

 

[buster]

quote:

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If the U.S. and german 0w30's are the same oil.....then wouldn't the VOA's be identical? Has anyone done a VOA on the U.S. 0w30?

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Thats what I'm trying to find out. I don't think its the same oil. With Castrol, we might not ever know.

 

[Patman]

quote:

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Originally posted by buster:

quote:

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You can't beat a 12.1 vis at 100 C!!! $4.99 a quart for an oil composed mainly of esters

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Another German Castrol post, oh boy.

Well, it seems the US one is the same so don't worry about trying to find the A3 one.

Do we have a VOA of the US syntec to end this debate?

Lately, I'm perfectly fine with a lower viscosity oil. 12.1cst is almost a 40wt so you probably will loose a few HP and MPG in your Civic. For a LS1 this would be idea, but a Civic would probably do better with M1 0w-20 IMO.

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We've seen three UOAs now on GC 0w30, all in Civics and all of them looked amazing. I will have a 3k UOA on this stuff in my LT1 by about mid October.

 

[Patman]

By the way, you can clearly tell that the US made 0w30 is different, as it's not green.

I honestly don't care how this oil is made, all I know is that so far it's showing good UOAs. So if it has group 3 in it, it does not bother me.

 

[buster]

I'm all for this GC being an awesome oil. I really just wish we could get the scoop on it. I'm not happy about Catrol's lousy customer service. They don't even know there own products.

Plus, it would be the viscosity that I wish M1 was at!!

[ September 05, 2003, 08:15 PM: Message edited by: buster ]

 

[Patman]

quote:

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Originally posted by buster:
I'm all for this GC being an awesome oil. I really just wish we could get the scoop on it.

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Me too. I got another email from Castrol Canada, and now this one says they can't divulge the info as to whether it's here to stay or not. But it does seem silly that they would bring it here and then take it away so soon, and it's getting much more common in Canada now that Canadian Tire stores are carrying it. I wouldn't be surprised if it starts showing up in other stores in the US other than Autozone soon.

 

[pscholte]

I think it is actually a Group VI oil.

 

[buster]

Hey, with all of us oil gurus, I'm sure we can get to the bottom of this. With need a special BITOG task force. Team Canada and US special ops mission: find and determine GC source.

Seriously though, if we keep inquiring about it, we might find out if it will be here and we might make them decide to keep it here!!

 

[pscholte]

Let me get the rumor mill going with something I posted in another thread...

What I am hoping is that the 0W30 is a stopgap measure until they can bring Formula RS 0W40 over and REALLY compete with M1 (European Formula). (M1 0W30 is not the competition.) If that were Castrol's intention, it would be logical for them not to hype the 0W30 as they would be building interest in an oil that, while they may continue to import it for a while, is not their real heavyweight (no pun intended). It would also explain their reluctance to answer our questions or to make it stand out as something different from the rest of their Syntec line. It will be interesting to see if any new batch numbers show up in the near future.

 

[Asmodeus]

quote:

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Originally posted by buster:
Hey, with all of us oil gurus, I'm sure we can get to the bottom of this. With need a special BITOG task force. Team Canada and US special ops mission: find and determine GC source.

Seriously though, if we keep inquiring about it, we might find out if it will be here and we might make them decide to keep it here!!

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I'll make a few calls on monday, see what I can uncover. If I do find a warehouse or a main supplier, do we group buy his whole stock ?

 

[Ray H]

Dunno when it will happen, but I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop on this stuff.

 

[Robbie Alexander]

quote:

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Originally posted by buster:

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Another German Castrol post, oh boy.

Lately, I'm perfectly fine with a lower viscosity oil. 12.1cst is almost a 40wt so you probably will loose a few HP and MPG . [/QUOTE]

Now I'm no tech guy and I donno the numbers, but I thought this would be the Hi 30's or just a 30weight ; thought they were9.3-12.4
and I though the 40's were something like
12.5-16.2

Is there a list someplace that shows the breakdown between the levels of Visc, because If I'm not right, I've been doing it wrong (i.e. adjusting the weight by hand).

 

[buster]

There is a chart on BITOG homepage. Your right, it's a high 30wt. In some engines this is ideal, others the lighter visc does fine. I have a 60/40 mixture of D1 and M1 that will test at 10k miles. I have 3k on it now. I want to run 0w-20 next. My car calls for a 30wt. I want to see how this compares.

 

[pscholte]

quote:

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Originally posted by Asmodeus:

quote:

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Originally posted by buster:
Hey, with all of us oil gurus, I'm sure we can get to the bottom of this. With need a special BITOG task force. Team Canada and US special ops mission: find and determine GC source.

Seriously though, if we keep inquiring about it, we might find out if it will be here and we might make them decide to keep it here!!

---

I'll make a few calls on monday, see what I can uncover. If I do find a warehouse or a main supplier, do we group buy his whole stock ?

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...wellll, if the price is right.....

 

[pscholte]

quote:

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Originally posted by Ray H:
Dunno when it will happen, but I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop on this stuff.

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Ray, not a problem, as long as the other shoe that drops is, "If you liked our German 0W30, wait til you try our German 0W40."

 

[buster]

Guys, just curious, why don't some of you who are looking for a heavier 30wt oil run Amsoil 5w/10w-30? It seems the big issue with the GC is it's a 12.1 or heavy 30wt.

[ September 05, 2003, 09:57 PM: Message edited by: buster ]

 

[pscholte]

Buster,

You gotta understand that oil is part performance and part mystique (obviously performance is the most important); no knock whatsoever on Amsoil but it just doesn't have that GC mystique. Seriously (I DO like to have fun with this topic as you know), if oil is JUST OIL then why has GC been the topic of so many posts on this board? I've been accused of being the perpetrator of more than my share, but take a look...I am NOT the ONLY one. If that were the case, the interest would die out.

[ September 05, 2003, 10:02 PM: Message edited by: pscholte ]