GC is a conspiracy

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Seriously though, I went to Castrol's website to see where THEY would recommend using GC.

I tried several vehicles, and Castrol's recomendaton never led to GC, mosty to 5w30. Tried one more a Merc CLS55 AMG, it was actually recommended here.

Any idea as to the sparse recommendations? Especially for BMW's. This is the European Formula, and meets BMW-LL 01
 
Margin of profit too low to push? It is not how good the oil is, it is how much per quart they make for profit. Pushing a low profit oil might undercut the bottom line; just my guess.
 
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Margin of profit too low to push? It is not how good the oil is, it is how much per quart they make for profit. Pushing a low profit oil might undercut the bottom line; just my guess.




That is way too cynical for me...some people have no faith and think every corporate guy is Enron...too bad. Dude there are many people out there who actually give you their best advice for thier product based on years of research and trial and error. But just because the maker of GC doesn't tout the same fantasy as some of the guys here about some discovery that a 0w30 oil is the end all doesn't mean they are wrong or dishonest. In fact you guys should provide actual proof before you level a dishonesty rumor against anyone. JMO.
smile.gif
 
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Seriously though, I went to Castrol's website to see where THEY would recommend using GC.

I tried several vehicles, and Castrol's recomendaton never led to GC, mosty to 5w30. Tried one more a Merc CLS55 AMG, it was actually recommended here.

Any idea as to the sparse recommendations? Especially for BMW's. This is the European Formula, and meets BMW-LL 01




My guess is that they don't want to recommend a product that they don't spec for all those applications based on the knowledge of many technical experts. Just my guess.
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Castrol knows that most people are not "into" oil. From Castrol's point of view, GC is a specialty item without a large following among the general motoring public. It is a great oil but the average driver and servicing agency takes the typical recommdendation of the automaker and uses 5w30 or whatever.
 
Volvo recommends Castrol oil, and approves 0W30 so long as it is ACEA A3 rated.

After sitting in -7F temps for 6 hours last night, my Volvo started up like it was a summer day. Had the same experience with Amsoil 0W30 (S2K) previously. No way I will run anything but a 0W synthetic in the winter!
 
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Volvo recommends Castrol oil, and approves 0W30 so long as it is ACEA A3 rated.

After sitting in -7F temps for 6 hours last night, my Volvo started up like it was a summer day. Had the same experience with Amsoil 0W30 (S2K) previously. No way I will run anything but a 0W synthetic in the winter!




I don't doubt that for a minute with the Winters in Sweden.
 
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Margin of profit too low to push? It is not how good the oil is, it is how much per quart they make for profit. Pushing a low profit oil might undercut the bottom line; just my guess.




That is way too cynical for me...some people have no faith and think every corporate guy is Enron...too bad. Dude there are many people out there who actually give you their best advice for thier product based on years of research and trial and error. But just because the maker of GC doesn't tout the same fantasy as some of the guys here about some discovery that a 0w30 oil is the end all doesn't mean they are wrong or dishonest. In fact you guys should provide actual proof before you level a dishonesty rumor against anyone. JMO.
smile.gif





I guess the real question is why does Castrol recommend 5w30 for my BMW 740il when it isn't BMW Longlife (LL-01) approved? GC 0w-30 IS BMW longlife (LL-01) approved and yet it isn't recommended by Castrol. Makes no sense.

BMW also recommend 0W-30 oil in my Owner's Manual and specifically state that all oils used MUST be Longlife approved (LL-01).

Based on that - and the outstanding UOAs reported - I'm using GC 0w-30 exclusively. I have no doubt that it's the best oil for my 740iL.
 
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Margin of profit too low to push? It is not how good the oil is, it is how much per quart they make for profit. Pushing a low profit oil might undercut the bottom line; just my guess.




That is way too cynical for me...some people have no faith and think every corporate guy is Enron...too bad. Dude there are many people out there who actually give you their best advice for thier product based on years of research and trial and error. But just because the maker of GC doesn't tout the same fantasy as some of the guys here about some discovery that a 0w30 oil is the end all doesn't mean they are wrong or dishonest. In fact you guys should provide actual proof before you level a dishonesty rumor against anyone. JMO.
smile.gif





I guess the real question is why does Castrol recommend 5w30 for my BMW 740il when it isn't BMW Longlife (LL-01) approved? GC 0w-30 IS BMW longlife (LL-01) approved and yet it isn't recommended by Castrol. Makes no sense.

BMW also recommend 0W-30 oil in my Owner's Manual and specifically state that all oils used MUST be Longlife approved (LL-01).

Based on that - and the outstanding UOAs reported - I'm using GC 0w-30 exclusively. I have no doubt that it's the best oil for my 740iL.




I am baffled as to why all the european OEM's who make really great engines...want 0wxx and the US Auto OEM's specifically say 5wxx...and when you talk to the US guyus they are really adamant about that fact that they believe you are going to screw your engine with 0w oil. SO all I can say is you are going to have to trade me your BMW for my Yukon.......
grin.gif
I'l even throw in 100 qts of 5w30...
blush.gif
 
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Seriously though, I went to Castrol's website to see where THEY would recommend using GC.

I tried several vehicles, and Castrol's recomendaton never led to GC, mosty to 5w30. Tried one more a Merc CLS55 AMG, it was actually recommended here.

Any idea as to the sparse recommendations? Especially for BMW's. This is the European Formula, and meets BMW-LL 01



The webmasters don't really know what oil Castrol is selling in the United States. Do a search and you will probably not find Castrol TXT 5w40, as it is only available from VW/Audi dealerships. Same with Mobil 1 ESP Formula M, only offered at Mercedes dealership and not mentioned on the Mobil 1 website.
 
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Seriously though, I went to Castrol's website to see where THEY would recommend using GC.

I tried several vehicles, and Castrol's recomendaton never led to GC, mosty to 5w30. Tried one more a Merc CLS55 AMG, it was actually recommended here.

Any idea as to the sparse recommendations? Especially for BMW's. This is the European Formula, and meets BMW-LL 01




I think it is specified for VW, GM and MB requirements whewre long service is required.

http://www.castrol.com/castrol/productdetailmin.do?categoryId=8284049&contentId=6004180
 
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Margin of profit too low to push? It is not how good the oil is, it is how much per quart they make for profit. Pushing a low profit oil might undercut the bottom line; just my guess.




That is way too cynical for me...some people have no faith and think every corporate guy is Enron...too bad. Dude there are many people out there who actually give you their best advice for thier product based on years of research and trial and error. But just because the maker of GC doesn't tout the same fantasy as some of the guys here about some discovery that a 0w30 oil is the end all doesn't mean they are wrong or dishonest. In fact you guys should provide actual proof before you level a dishonesty rumor against anyone. JMO.
smile.gif





I guess the real question is why does Castrol recommend 5w30 for my BMW 740il when it isn't BMW Longlife (LL-01) approved? GC 0w-30 IS BMW longlife (LL-01) approved and yet it isn't recommended by Castrol. Makes no sense.

BMW also recommend 0W-30 oil in my Owner's Manual and specifically state that all oils used MUST be Longlife approved (LL-01).

Based on that - and the outstanding UOAs reported - I'm using GC 0w-30 exclusively. I have no doubt that it's the best oil for my 740iL.




I am baffled as to why all the european OEM's who make really great engines...want 0wxx and the US Auto OEM's specifically say 5wxx...and when you talk to the US guyus they are really adamant about that fact that they believe you are going to screw your engine with 0w oil. SO all I can say is you are going to have to trade me your BMW for my Yukon.......
grin.gif
I'l even throw in 100 qts of 5w30...
blush.gif





With the cold weather and snow we're getting up here north of Toronto, trading my BMW for your Yukon might not be a bad idea. Of course, I use 0W-30 in my BMW so I expect the engine is ready to blow at any moment...(LOL).

As others have posted, I suspect the main reason North American manufacturers continue to recommend 5W is for the simple reason that it is widely available as a dino (mineral) oil. 0W formulations are almost exclusively synthetic. Given the choice between 5W dino oil and 0W synthetic I'll take synthetic every time.

Further, if you go to the Mobil 1 website and check the viscosity ratings for their 0W-30, 5w30, and 10W-30 you will see that the 0W-30 has a slightly HIGHER viscosity at 40 deg. C than the 10W-30. That's right, at 40 deg. C the 0W has a slightly higher viscosity than the 10W.

Note also the GC 0W-30 has the highest ACEA A3 rating which designates a "high performance oil" with outstanding HTHS results. Castrol Syntec 5w30 doesn't have this. The A3 rating, to me, is the single most important spec I look for.

I don't think you can dismiss the dozens of UOA for German Castrol that show remarkable low wear. That isn't theory, it isn't conjecture...it's real-world testing of oil that has been used for thousands of miles.

You have raised an interesting debate and there should always be room for dissenting opinions. IMHO German Castrol 0W-30 is the best oil available for my BMW...and it's going in my Ford Explorer next.
 
GC is great for some european cars, and has proven to be a good fit for my 3.0L BMW inline 6...based on UOA's and Terry Dyson's excellent advice.

GC is great for some Japanese cars - see EKPOLK's fantastic UOA's on his previous Infinity G35 and his Toyota Sequoia.

GC also works amazingly well for Patman's LS1 corvette, which is an american car.

I'm also running it in my GM 5.3L v8 engine, and a UOA is due in another 3 months (or longer depending upon what the UOA says for my last OCI in this vehicle).

Patman's and EKPOLK's american and japanese car UOA's on GC are very good indeed, and better than what I would consider very good results on my german car UOA's.

GC - It's not just for german cars!
 
Well, I have another 25,500 miles of warranty left and a huge stash of PP5w30 "American" oil in the basement. But maybe when both are exhausted I'll try some.
 
Incidentally, you won't see any recommendation of GC for GM v8's (and probably other gm vehicles) on Castrol's site. This is because GC does not meet the GM 6094M spec. This is likely the main reason behind the illusion that GC is not american car recommended/friendly.

GM 6094M is a low temperature cP requirement that is a sliding scale based on oil grade. The result of this sliding-scale is that if you labelled GC a 5w30, then it would likely meet the spec, but as a 0w-30, it is too thick at a certain temperature to meet the 0w-30 requirements of the 6094M spec (IIRC).
 
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I'm also running it in my GM 5.3L v8 engine, and a UOA is due in another 3 months (or longer depending upon what the UOA says for my last OCI in this vehicle).






Please post that 5.3L UOA when you get it because my 6.0L is essentially the same motor with larger bore. I'd love to shoot a copy up to Detroit.
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