GC gold in my '05 Chevy!

[double vanos]

It was time for an oil change on my 4.3, 5 speed work truck so, on the advice of this board, I went with the Castrol 0w30 made in Germany "gold". The truck has 20,980 miles, most of them on Mobil 1 5w30. The gold passed the family "freezer test" with flying colors (BMW high performance motor oil did not, Mobil 1 always does) so in it went. This board is correct in it's assumption that the GC is a somewhat thicker oil and I'll be ****ed if the engine doesn't sound quieter with the GC in it! I reset the OLM and will change out the GC at 5k and see how it looks and feels ( used Mobil 1 always feels smooth and velvety). If all goes well I'll probably stay with the GC mostly because of the quietness. Cheers all! double vanos

 

[double vanos]

Man, that GC is some fine stuff! Drove the truck to work this morning and it feels like the friction is completely gone. The truck accelerates easier when the revs are down; with the M1 the engine seemed to strain, you could almost feel the friction, with the
GC it seems to pull a little harder and feels slicker or smoother. Same drive, same weather, everything, just feels smoother - GOOD STUFF!

 

[pmwalter]

I long for such joys, but alas I must wait until my Auto-Rx phase is complete. Thanks for the info though. I will share your bliss this coming January.

 

[shanneba]

Double vanos,

Since you live in Houston, the freezer test may not apply. A refrigerator test would likely get the oil as cold as you will see here!

What happened to the BMW 5w30 in the freezer test?

 

[double vanos]

The BMW high performance synthetic simply gelled in the bottle! I opened the bottle and it would barely creep out of there! Meanwhile the GC and M1 simply poured out - not as fast as room temperature of course, but it was definetly flowing. An oil pump would have no trouble picking the GC & M1 up and pumping it, but I have serious doubts about the BMW HiPo synthetic. Has anybody VOA or UOA BMW's 5w30 hipo synthetic oil? Just Curious. Cheers All! DV

 

[shanneba]

Thanks for the info on the BMW freezer test.

My last OUA posted here shows both Castrol GC 0w30 and my original OUA results for the BMW HP 5w30. Both were run about 5000 miles with mostly short trips, less than 2 miles.

Castrol Syntec 0w30 GC 5000 miles BMW330Ci