quote:
Originally posted by quadrun1:
Well the Europeans seem to have more stringent ratings (VW 505/503, ACEA A3/B3/B4, MB 229.3/229.5 etc) compared to our "API SL"
Also, many of the European cars sold here are factory filled and serviced with synthetic, whereas very few American cars are.
But then again, many of the European cars sold here are somewhat upmarket. We don't have cars like the Fiat Uno, VW Polo, or Rover 25--I wonder what oil these cars use?
Hi...
Living in Europe, Greece actually, I have to state that "large" cars here are those above 1.8l engine. But the majority of sold cars annually are 1.0l - 1.6l(65%). Furthermore, theese "small" engines are running in high rpm in order to keep running "with dignity" as we call it here. In this market also, small "rocket" cars are also quite famous, such as Fiat Punto GT, Citroen Saxo VTS, Peugeot Rally, Suzuki Swift Gti, VW Polo GTi....Those cars have either 16valve engines running high prm's(Peugeot does 7500rpm!), or Tubro(Fiat Punto GT). Furthermore, these cars have extra high HP in comparison with their cc, and as an example I can tell you this:
1)Peugeot Rallye has 1.6l engine, 122HP, 950Kg, 0-100Km/h in 8.2sec and 205Km/h max speed.
2)Fiat Punto Gt has 1.4l engine, 130HP, 1000Kg, 0-100Km/h in 7.9sec
and 208Km/h max speed.
Those engines need the best oil someone can find in order to last for at least 200.000Km's. In the majority of 16v engines, 10W/40 oil is highly reccomented, and for those that want that "extra" for their car engine they use 10W/60. As for the Turbo engine of Fiat Punto Gt, 10W/60 is what Fiat Hellas recomments. I do use this oil for the last 7 years and done 150.000Km's up so far with no problem at all.
Finally, keep in mind that what oil an official dealer will recomment for use depents on the part of Europe you're living. For example, in Germany, they don't use 10W/60, their climate is much colder than Greece's, here in Greece the temp goes from -15 C up to 45 C sometimes!!