Castrol Magnatec initial impressions.

And weird thing is,Edge doesn’t have that odd aroma like Magnatec has,so there’s definitely something different in Magnatec’s add pack.
Did an oil change yesterday, with Magnatec 5W30 A3/B4 full synthetic. Yes it does have a unique smell. A mixture between sweet and astringent.

The other car got Edge 5W30 A3/B4 a few months back, and it didn’t have that odd smell. I know the Edge A3/B4 has a lot more zinc (~ 1000 ppm ZDDP) than the Magnatec (~ 800 ppm ZDDP), so I assume it must be something to do with balancing the different add levels, both of which are in competition for the surface of the metal. (Inorganic ZDDP Vs Organic polar molecules).
 
This is going to sound crazy but I recently put the 0W20 Magnatec in my Honda Accord 3.0 V6. Previous fill was RGT 0W20 and was in for 5k miles. Prior to the RGT the car had a diet of Pennzoil Platinum or Mobil 1 EP in the 0W20 viscosity. After 1,000 miles into this oil change, the engine is much quieter..especially when cold. I also have been checking my gas mileage....I've had an increase of about 3mpg on this oil...same driving conditions...now that may be due to gas reformulation back to "summer" grade or something else. The last 2 tanks of gas I've gotten 29 and 27 mpg when usually the car will get 25 or so. I'm amazed...never used Castrol before...only reason I bought it was because it was on sale at Pep Boys when the retail store went out of business. Paid $7.50 for a 5 quart jug. Car currently has 220k on it....still runs really well.
I just tried Magnatec 5w20 in my Vibe and I got a 2 mpg increase. 25.8 mpg to be exact. I'd never gotten better than 24 before. All city driving.
 
We get a full synthetic Magnatec 5W30 that carries the Euro ratings of A3/B4 as well as API SN. It’s lined up for my next oil change, as soon as all the rain stops. A full-SAPS, high TBN (>= 10) and high HTHS (>= 3.5 cP) oil, perfect for my port injected car.

Previously I have used the semi-synthetic Magnatec 10W30, also rated SN & A3/B4. It ran so smooth in my car I found myself glancing down when stopped at red lights to make sure my engine was still running. It was still running, I just couldn’t feel it. Almost too smooth, it fazed me a bit.

We also get two other Dexos rated Magnatec 5W30 full synthetics
- Magnatec SUV it’s ACEA C3, API SN/CF, MB 229.51 and Dexos2
- Magnatec DX it’s API SP, ILSAC GF-6 and Dexos1-Gen2 plus Ford M2C946-B1, M2C961-A1, 921-A1.

I‘m interested to do a butt-dyno comparison of the older 10W30 semi-synthetic to the newer 5W30 full synthetic.
Not bad

 
I'm not one to normally buy into the "quieter oil" thing, but 5W-30 Magnatec seems to have reduced the cold start piston slap on our K24 powered Honda Element. The K24s are known for this because the pistons are short skirted. As the miles have racked up I've experimented with a variety of oils, including Euro Castrol 0W-30 and 0W-40, PUP 10W-30. I didn't notice any change. But with 5W-30 Magnatec, it sure seems quieter. Also, the UOAs I've run have shown very good results.

FWIW,

Scott
I’ll tell you what, I experienced the same thing when I used it a few years ago for a couple of oil changes. Engine just seemed quieter and smoother. Also had less oil consumption than usual. I liked it, never used it again but I would use it again.
 
According to Castrol's own slick sheets, the new SP formulation has changed dramatically as compared to the older SN+ formulation. The differences stand thus:

Old Castrol Magnatec 5W-30 Snip (24 May 2018 Slick Sheet):

View attachment 50254

New Castrol Magnatec 5W-30 Snip (5 Mar 2021 Slick Sheet):

View attachment 50255

I believe this new formulation is worth a try.

Note they "fixed" my recent gripe here ... its Viscosity, CCS @ -30C.

Its kinematic viscosity @ 100C jumped nicely, and the sulphated ash percentage is reasonable as well.

I wish they would have published the HTHS again. Nevertheless, I'm going to run this again ... for sure.

Best!

Notice how the flash point dropped quite a bit.
 
Are you guys referring to GTX Magnatec or one of the Edge oils? I've used 0w40 Edge Euro in a couple vehicles (15 Tacoma and 91 MR2) and haven't noticed much of any difference in noise or how smooth it runs compared to previous oils.
 
Whew - trying to fall back asleep and read this whole thread - Whew
It reads like a Tom Clancy novel, that's for sure. I couldn't put it down until I got to the end.

For the poster that said it has great quiet cold performance.. one of the things they tell you to do if you have got the piston slappy engine is to try a conventional oil. May sound counter-intuitive but maybe that is what is going on.
Startups are super smooth and idle is absolutely silent on the Magnatec. Cold/cool weather performance is better with Magnatec.
I'm not one to normally buy into the "quieter oil" thing, but 5W-30 Magnatec seems to have reduced the cold start piston slap on our K24 powered Honda Element. The K24s are known for this because the pistons are short skirted. As the miles have racked up I've experimented with a variety of oils, including Euro Castrol 0W-30 and 0W-40, PUP 10W-30. I didn't notice any change. But with 5W-30 Magnatec, it sure seems quieter. Also, the UOAs I've run have shown very good results.

FWIW,

Scott
 
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