Canadians... why isn't Delvac 1 5W-40 so popular with you guys?

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I'm in Toronto for a few days, and noticed that Delvac 1 is readily available at Walmart (Sherway Gardens at least!). No German Castrol though (I think Patman 'adopted' them all!)

Anyhow, I was wondering why Delvac 1 isn't more popular with you guys? Price perhaps? C$34 for 4 liters (about US$6/quart)

I've been searching high and low for Delvac 1 5W-40, as I think it'd be quite good in my turbo. Virtually impossible to find in the NYC area.

I will probably bring some back with me but I'll search another Walmart first--the 4 litre jugs at Sherway were kinda leaky?

Lord MolaKule made some interesting comments about D1 here.

Jason
 
That's a good question.

Honnestly, there isn't a great level of appreciation for the different types of oils on the market here in Quebec - don't know about the rest of the country.

There really is a mentality of "why should i pay more for quality, when the cheapo version is just good enough?"

Because with the exception of the Green Elixir of absolute pleasure becoming readily available, we don't have ready access to the more refined oils, like M1 products.

I don't know if this helps in answering your question.
 
Delvac and other Mobil products were available at Husky service stations up until Chevrontexaco took them over.
Now I see Chevron products at the Husky truck stops.
Wal-Mart has the Delvac 5W40 priced at $35.00 for 4 litres or about $8.50Cdn/litre or about 6 bucks USD/US qt.
I can buy Peto-Cannuck, Chevron, and Shell group III 5W40 for half of that price, and Esso/Exxon PAO 0W40 for about $5.00/litre.

It appears that Husky, Shell, Petro Canada, Chevron and the Co-ops have the west sowed-up.
There seems a lack of Esso truck stops that would be a part of Exxon/Mobil and their products.
The truckers and equipment owners stick to the lubricants sold at the card locks and fuel suppliers.
It is very likely that Esso's XD-3 is the same product as Exxon's, and with the recient merge/purchase of Mobil, well, the lines get fuzzy.
I would imagine the airline industry is going through the same lubricant supply line changes with the Exxon/BP Air thing.
Delvac had a kick@$$ 15W50, gone, so is Esso's passenger car 5W50 along with Chevron's 15W50.
The 5W40s seem to be taking over, but there seems to be a lack of passenger car marketing in that grade.
I think maybe YZ150F hit the nail on the head with his comment in the 150th German Castrol thread.
this is not his quote, but how I understood his post...
The fringe market is not very large, and we don't represent enough sales figures to waste time and advertising dollars on.
All you have to do if you doubt it, is stand around a gas station for an hour.
10W30 then 5W30, 15W40 for the trucks, and SAE 40 CF-2 for the noise makers and HD equipment.
I would bet that all the other grades make up about 10% or less of the total engine oil sales.

Personally I'm saving synthetics for the winter, and when I run out I'll try 5W20.
Heck, we used straight 10W 40 years ago without wear problems.
My father had Manitoba Government cars with over 200,000 miles on them in the 70's using 10W in the winter and 30W in the summer.
Why those grades? Because thats what the maintanance shops had for everyone.
Cars, trucks, snow plows, graders, ect
What do we have on the railroad?
SAE 40 in the locomotives, SAE 30 in practicly everything else.
Sometimes 10W30 or 15W40 slips by, then everyone steals it and takes it home.
None of that 5W40 hoopla.
 
I think most people don't know about Delvac 1, and those that do are turned off by only being able to get it in 4L jugs. Having it way over in the truck oil section doesn't help it's cause either. I do know one guy at my work who runs Delvac 1 in his TDI Golf though.

It's odd that Sherway has no GC, as this was the very first Walmart which got this oil! (or at least it was the first one spotted on here)
 
quote:

I think most people don't know about Delvac 1, and those that do are turned off by only being able to get it in 4L jugs

Thats exactly right. I only have the Delvac 1300 available at Walmarts. I ordered two gallons of D1 a few months ago. I think D1 is an excellent choice for LS1's, the Jeep 4.0L or any turbo. I have a mix of D1 and SS that I plan on testing at about 10k miles. Mobil's webpage actaully says its good for Turbo, high output engines. It's a very good oil.
 
quote:

Originally posted by quadrun1:
I was wondering why Delvac 1 isn't more popular with you guys? Jason

It is had to find and it costs a lot. It does not have the API starburst on it. It is not advertsised or promoted. All these factors reduce its impact in the consumer market.

I happened to stop at a truck stop to gas up my car and went in to buy a soda. There it was for $35 / gallon and I bought 2. Trying to decide which of my "fleet" to put it in. It is up there with the best.

[ September 06, 2003, 09:50 AM: Message edited by: CJH ]
 
quote:

I have easy access to D1 and have been seriously considering putting it in my Jeep 4.0L. It would sure be nice if we had a Jeep engineer on this board who could tell me for sure if a 40wt oil is good for the 4.0L.

40wt. oils are ideal for Jeeps, based on UOA's. Delvac 1 would be great bc I think you could go with extended drains, have great oil pressure and see less wear.
 
Hi,I'm running D-1 in a Ford E-150 Van/4.2L six.The Freightliner Truck depot has it for $21/gal. After 5K miles,there was no real burn or loss.Castrol Syntec 5W-50 for the same drive was less 1/2 qt.
grin.gif
 
quote:

Originally posted by buster:
I think D1 is an excellent choice for LS1's, the Jeep 4.0L or any turbo.
I have easy access to D1 and have been seriously considering putting it in my Jeep 4.0L. It would sure be nice if we had a Jeep engineer on this board who could tell me for sure if a 40wt oil is good for the 4.0L.
 
Thanks for the replies. I found a non-leaky jug of D1 at the Square One Walmart... I love the fact that it's a 4L jug (versus 4 quarts), 4L is the exact oil capacity of my car!

So happy to finally find some Delvac 1.

GC will have to wait!

[ September 07, 2003, 03:55 PM: Message edited by: quadrun1 ]
 
I think it's a combination of the fact that it's a "Heavy Duty" diesel oil. Most people know they don't need a diesel oil in a gas engine. It only comes in 4L jugs. So you're buying in increments of $35 (+15% tax) with no 1L bottles for top-up. Did I say it costs $35?
 
quote:

Originally posted by Dr. T:
I think it's a combination of the fact that it's a "Heavy Duty" diesel oil. Most people know they don't need a diesel oil in a gas engine.

Actually it is dual rated for gasoline and diesel engines. You don't "need" it, but you don't need synthetic or high mileage either. From what I have read, the high detergent levels (calcium, etc.) is very good for a gasoline engine.
 
Yes, the price is higher than M1, but it's still cheaper than, say, Castrol TWS or Redline--

For an extra US$1 per quart over GC, I think D1 would be a better choice for those wanting to utilize BMW's extended change interval.
 
quote:

Originally posted by sub_zero:
D1 is too expensive! and other 5w40's are on the market for less.

But aren't those other 5W-40s Group III? If I'm not mistaken, D1 is Group IV and Group V.

Priced right, though, I have nothing against Group III--in fact I will be trying out Rotella T Syn 5W-40 in a Mitsubishi. I'm a bit intrigued by this $12.88/gallon oil!
 
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