Castrol Edge Euro 0/5w-30 A3/B4 vs M1 ESP 0W-30

[cammyfive79]

My last exposure to Castrol was in the early 2000s and the "German Castrol" we all knew and loved. Outside of boutiques and VRP (which I'm currently using for some clean up that may or may not be necessary), it seems M1 ESP 0W-30 is the current darling for punching above its class, great value readily available at Walmart, and using a higher concentration of PAO/Esters. In checking the approvals for ESP I noticed it seems to be almost identical to the Castrol Edge Euro A3/B4 family in that regard, but otherwise I'm not finding much current information on it's base oil composition and additive package. Well, more accurately, the 5W-30 flavor has the following approvals:

• ACEA A3/B4

• API SL
• BMW Longlife-01
• MB-Approval 229.5
• VW 502 00 / 505 00

So definitely a more old school traditional add pack which would seems great to me as my car does not have a GPF and is old school naturally aspirated and port injected (Acura TSX). Other than maybe some very small price differences, how would ESP and this oil compare? Not interested in long drain intervals at all.

 

[Brian123]

The 2 cars that you have you are using HPL and VRP, I would go with either oil, but to answer your question Mobil 1 ESP is better than the Castrol Edge!

 

[cammyfive79]

The 2 cars that you have you are using HPL and VRP, I would go with either oil, but to answer your question Mobil 1 ESP is better than the Castrol Edge!

The Mazda is coming off of HPL in a couple of months as we have to do 6month intervals on it for warranty purposes and of all the cars I’ve probably owned this is the one I would never own outside of full warranty with the myriad of issues we’ve had. That’s a story for a different time though

My question would relate to my TSX. So, what makes ESP superior to the Castrol option?

 

[edyvw]

My last exposure to Castrol was in the early 2000s and the "German Castrol" we all knew and loved. Outside of boutiques and VRP (which I'm currently using for some clean up that may or may not be necessary), it seems M1 ESP 0W-30 is the current darling for punching above its class, great value readily available at Walmart, and using a higher concentration of PAO/Esters. In checking the approvals for ESP I noticed it seems to be almost identical to the Castrol Edge Euro A3/B4 family in that regard, but otherwise I'm not finding much current information on it's base oil composition and additive package. Well, more accurately, the 5W-30 flavor has the following approvals:

• ACEA A3/B4
• API SL
• BMW Longlife-01
• MB-Approval 229.5
• VW 502 00 / 505 00

So definitely a more old school traditional add pack which would seems great to me as my car does not have a GPF and is old school naturally aspirated and port injected (Acura TSX). Other than maybe some very small price differences, how would ESP and this oil compare? Not interested in long drain intervals at all.

Castrol Edge 5W30 (and 5W40) are your average Euro oils, made out of Group III base stock.
Castrol Edge 0W30/40 are Castrol’s premier products. They are PAO based.
Esp 0W30 is in category of Edge 0W30 but it is low-SAPS oil. It is packed with goodies, but it is previous generation of XOM base stocks. It is questionable how long ESP 0W30 os going to stay ester/PAO/GTL based before it is moved to same direction as current ESP 5W30 (GTL based).
Both oils will do good in Acura.
If you are choosing between Castrol 5W30 and ESP 0W30, definitely ESP.

 

[Brian123]

The Mazda is coming off of HPL in a couple of months as we have to do 6month intervals on it for warranty purposes and of all the cars I’ve probably owned this is the one I would never own outside of full warranty with the myriad of issues we’ve had. That’s a story for a different time though

My question would relate to my TSX. So, what makes ESP superior to the Castrol option?

Your TSX, stick with VRP 5W-30, I am using Mobil 1 ESP 5W-30 and it is fine, guess what, when I run out of the ESP, I am going to try VRP!
I think the Mobil 1 ESP is better than the Castrol option.

 

[cammyfive79]

Castrol Edge 5W30 (and 5W40) are your average Euro oils, made out of Group III base stock.
Castrol Edge 0W30/40 are Castrol’s premier products. They are PAO based.
Esp 0W30 is in category of Edge 0W30 but it is low-SAPS oil. It is packed with goodies, but it is previous generation of XOM base stocks. It is questionable how long ESP 0W30 os going to stay ester/PAO/GTL based before it is moved to same direction as current ESP 5W30 (GTL based).
Both oils will do good in Acura.
If you are choosing between Castrol 5W30 and ESP 0W30, definitely ESP.

Thanks Edy! I must admit, the only reason I *wanted* to like Castrol more is my fondness of GC back in the day and the new labels on the current stuff.

 

[edyvw]

Thanks Edy! I must admit, the only reason I *wanted* to like Castrol more is my fondness of GC back in the day and the new labels on the current stuff.

0W30 is still as good as major companies offer. I just dumped it from my Sequoia and sending it today for UOA.
I tracked BMW with 0W40 and had exceptional UOA report.

 

[fantastic]

I don't know a whole lot about the Castrol but the 0w-30 ESP shows they are using some esters in the base oil. I would pick that one over the Castrol equivalent.

 

[ceecbtg]

Forget Castrol 5w30.
0w40 and 0w30 Euro A3/B4 will be good, even some good C3 like M1 ESP X3/X4. Redline and Amsoil of course.

 

[OilUzer]

I have collected a few jugs of Castrol Edge Euro Car A3/B4 5W-30 on sale for $23.

I'm sure as others have posted, there are better oil on the market but this oil has lots of European bells & whistles for $23 / 5qt. so the price was right.

I have 2 cars currently on Kirkland 5W-30 that I'll be using it for.

 

[EllieMae94]

0W30 is still as good as major companies offer. I just dumped it from my Sequoia and sending it today for UOA.
I tracked BMW with 0W40 and had exceptional UOA report.

Have you gotten the results back yet and will you post it up in the UOA forum? I'm very curious how the current version of 0w30 is compared to its predecessor.

 

[edyvw]

Have you gotten the results back yet and will you post it up in the UOA forum? I'm very curious how the current version of 0w30 is compared to its predecessor.

No results yet. Will post it in UOA section.