Can someone explain to me all the hoopla around "German made" Castrol Syntec

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In short, German Castrol is a much better synthetic oil that originally was only available in europe but has somehow made it's way onto our shores. It's A3 rated and is a Group IV + V oil that has shown to be excellent and if it stays will be a huge seller. Syntec currenlty is group III garbage IMO. Pscholte has already bought half the US supply. Patman is working on the Canadian front.
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[ October 03, 2003, 09:19 PM: Message edited by: buster ]
 
"It's A3 rated and is a Group IV + V oil that has shown to be excellent and if it stays will be a huge seller."

The average guy walking into autozone does not have any Idea what this stuff is or why they should buy it. Castrol is not going to advertise it, Hey everbody, look, we now have REAL synthetic oil. According to them there is nothing special about it. I found 5 quarts of it at an Autozone in Redford Michigan. When I bought it I asked them if they had any more in the back because this oil was the real deal. The four people working there thought I was crazy.
 
Its Castrol, the Group III king.

Noone has proven that GC is made from anything special yet. Hearsay becomes fact. Pretty lame!
 
Is this stuff in regular syntec bottles and can you only identify it by the lot numbers??
 
There are reasons people are trying to find this stuff. All of the VOAs and UOAs that I have seen for this oil look excellent. The only thing people have noticed that I am aware of that some people don't like is that some of the German Castrol in VOAs has some iron in it. The evidence from every UOA that I am aware of indicates that the oil reduces wear and works great. One guy said that he had never had better fuel mileage then when he used the German Castrol. It is synthetic oil in every sense of the word and not identical to the American made Castrol Syntec. And it costs about the same as Mobil 1-much cheaper then many European synthetic oils.

All available information that I have been able to come across indicates that the German Castrol flows very well in extreme cold, and performs almost like a 40 weight oil in extreme heat. It can be used for extended drains.
 
I just want to say one more thing. You will know that the German Syntec and American made Syntec are not the same if you ever open up bottles of the two oils and compare them. The German Syntec is kind of green in color and has an unusual smell. It is totally different then the oil in American made Castrol Syntec.

I know something else. My previous car ran great with the German Castrol. I could actually feel the difference.
 
How do you identify that it is a German castrol Syntec bottle??
Does it look the same?
Does it say made in Germany.......other clues?? Is it also called Syntec??
What Viscosities does it come in
 
Alex D, the German Castrol is 0W-30 in viscosity, and it does say made in Germany on the back. Believe me, if you ever find a bottle of the real McCoy, and you open that bottle and check the color and the smell, and then compare it to American made Castrol, you will never again think the two are identical (unless Castrol starts making the German Castrol in this country). Trying to say that the color is the same would be like a person saying that a green car and a brown car were identical in appearance. And the smell is unusual-to me it smells like some sort of candy.

It is called Syntec. Unlike the American made Castrol, there is no starburst symbol on the front. It is stated on the back that it meets not just SL American requirments, but also A3 European requirements (there are few American motor oils that meet A3).
 
Alex D,

You have asked a perfectly reasonable question; however, it has been discussed at length already. Please do a search on GC or German Castrol and you will probably find more than you ever wanted to know. BOTTOM LINE: I am absolutely convinced it is the REAL DEAL in terms of protection and overall performance and that time will bear that out. The deal about the lot or batch numbers is, given our lack of confidence in the way Castrol USA markets their products, can we determine how much has been sent over and is it still continuing to flow to us? If you are interested in finding it, look for a bottle with the 0W30 in a red block on the front and with a back label that looks like this:

 -


Note the reference to the improved European formula, the specific performance specs, including ACEA A3, and the MADE IN GERMANY

[ October 04, 2003, 12:17 AM: Message edited by: pscholte ]
 
Hi Alex D,

All the hoopla is just that: hoopla.

When the Emotional Castrol UOAs we have here are stacked against comparable UOAs of other oils, there is no improvement in product performance. Wear is similar, & the oil's stability is on par with others.

Simply put, it appears to be a much better product than Castrol's offered to the North American market in the past, but no better than other products currently (& commonly) available. If it's easily available to you & you're interested in trying it, then I think you should. But otherwise, you're better off getting a comparable Mobil 1 or Amsoil product & saving yourself all the trouble & expense of tracking this oil down.
 
quote:

Originally posted by Alex D:
Vielen dank fuer das Markenlabel und die Erklaerung !!

Suchfunktion dauert meistens viel zu lange.........da kommt zu viel Mist hoch.....'tschuldigung..

quote:

Originally posted by pscholte:
Alex D,

You have asked a perfectly reasonable question; however, it has been discussed at length already. Please do a search on GC or German Castrol and you will probably find more than you ever wanted to know. BOTTOM LINE: I am absolutely convinced it is the REAL DEAL in terms of protection and overall performance and that time will bear that out. The deal about the lot or batch numbers is, given our lack of confidence in the way Castrol USA markets their products, can we determine how much has been sent over and is it still continuing to flow to us? If you are interested in finding it, look for a bottle with the 0W30 in a red block on the front and with a back label that looks like this:

 -


Note the reference to the improved European formula, the specific performance specs, including ACEA A3, and the MADE IN GERMANY



 
Given the bottle is not European type (silver-grey) and the oil itself is of German origin, this may give idea that Castrol packs it already in N.A. Moreover, since 2003 like other European manufacturers Burmah Oil labels their products with "Made in E.U." In 1995-1995 Formula SLX 0W-30 was esters based, now it's PAO (even Castrol people here do not insist on esters).
Very good stuff indeed, but probably sales never fully met Castrol expectations due to tough competition. Also sold under the brand of Veedol Syntron 0W-30 (www.veedol.de). I don't know what is the situation after the mergence with BP, but before this event Castrol Europe was pourchasing PAO from Mobil France, the biggest PAO manufacturer in Europe.
 
Alex D and 97tbird,

I'm from the old country too, but for the benefit of everyone, lets keep it in English so we can all share your superior intellect on this and other subjects.
 
Not to get anymore into trouble with Bernhard here....lighten up, we are just having a little fun !!!

97 Tbird.......Ich bin gebuehrtiger Hamburger...seit 14 Jahren in den USA und Staatsbuerger seit 1999. BTW Ich glaube nicht das elctronische Uebersetzung einen abgekuertzten Begriff wie 'tschuldigung finden wuerde .... dead give-away ......

quote:

Originally posted by 97tbird:
Alex D,

Ich bin ueberzeugt, dass GC etwas anders ist, als das US-Syntec, nach langer BITOG-Forschung...

[Sprichst du wirklich deutsch, allerdings?-))oder was das electr. uebersetzung?]


 
quote:

Originally posted by unDummy:
Its Castrol, the Group III king.

Noone has proven that GC is made from anything special yet. Hearsay becomes fact. Pretty lame!


Agree!
A lot of people speculate that is ester based....none have proved it yet.
 
quote:

Originally posted by Last_Z:

quote:

Originally posted by unDummy:
Its Castrol, the Group III king.

Noone has proven that GC is made from anything special yet. Hearsay becomes fact. Pretty lame!


Agree!
A lot of people speculate that is ester based....none have proved it yet.


Yeah, I'm sure with a pour point of -62°C it's made with plain ol' Group III base oil.
rolleyes.gif
 
G-Man II,

I believe we DO have solid evidence, do we not, that GC is NOT a group III as it was listed on the Castrol.de website as "vollsynthetisch" (whole/all synthetic). I do not understand why people are so determined to disprove or disregard the capability of this oil despite solid UOAs and members reporting first-hand that their engines are running better and that they are getting better gas mileage. This is one reason why I didn't feel bad "stocking up" since alot of people expressed disregard for it (i.e. I wasn't taking it out of anybody's hands who really wanted it).
 
quote:

Originally posted by G-Man II:

quote:

Originally posted by Last_Z:

quote:

Originally posted by unDummy:
Its Castrol, the Group III king.

Noone has proven that GC is made from anything special yet. Hearsay becomes fact. Pretty lame!


Agree!
A lot of people speculate that is ester based....none have proved it yet.


Yeah, I'm sure with a pour point of -62°C it's made with plain ol' Group III base oil.
rolleyes.gif


So, where are the facts? Have you done any testing? Where does it say it is in fact ester based? Do you work for Castrol? Do you know anybody who does? Are you an expert in the lubricants field?

..............or are you one of those "internet forums expert"

There "might" evidence that it could be ester based, but so far no one here has been able to prove it. I am debating whether I should go get some of this stuff...I don't think there is anything to lose by just trying it. It does bug me a little though how some people are so fanatical and quickly lose track of why we are here. They get so caught up (ie; G-Man) with specific products that they end up trying to shove it down people's throat.

BTW,
rolleyes.gif
, right back at ya!
 
pscholte;

In regards to people putting down the GC stuff, you might be right....there are some skeptics out there including me, but by the same token, most of the fans of GC have forgotten how awesome Mobil, AMSOIL, Schaeffer's and others are and have been in the past and they never lied to anyone about the meaning of true synthetics.
Rick
 
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