German Castrol SLX 0w-30 - OZ history!

[Doug Hillary]

Hi,
I was a user of the original German Castrol SLX 0w-30 when it was first sold here in 1996. It was then SH/CF and A3-96/B3-96 quality rated with various Approvals including Porsche, BMW, Rover and VW500, VW505

It was totally recalled and withdrawn from the OZ market during 2001

Firstly it then became;
Castrol Softec TXT 5w-30 (some believe this was the withdrawn SLX re-formulated and re-named)

SLX is now sold officially as;
Castrol "R" 5w-40

Castrol Softec TXT 5w-30 is now sold as;
Castrol "R" 5w-30

Marketing and marketing.......!

Regards
Doug

 

[pscholte]

Doug,

As ever, you are a source of sound and valuable information, but I must tell you, the Elves took over formulation and blending in 2002...you just missed the Renaissance.

PS. My vertically inhibited friends tell me there are no Elves in OZ...more's the pity.

 

[Doug Hillary]

Hi,
pscholte - please remember my Honarary Elfe status it is very important to me

Regards

Doug (Hon. Elf)

 

[pscholte]

quote:

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Originally posted by Doug Hillary:
Hi,
pscholte - please remember my Honarary Elfe status it is very important to me

Regards

Doug (Hon. Elf)

---

Shame on me! Shame on me! I forgot!

Doug, you most certainly retain your H.E. title and will, in perpetuity, or forever even.

 

[SSDude]

quote:

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Originally posted by pscholte:
Doug,

As ever, you are a source of sound and valuable information, but I must tell you, the Elves took over formulation and blending in 2002...you just missed the Renaissance.

PS. My vertically inhibited friends tell me there are no Elves in OZ...more's the pity.

---

Shame on you.

The elves are not vertically limited. They are vertically challenged.

 

[Doug Hillary]

G*d **** it - the miracles of the Internet and BITOG's site again

How the h*ll did you both know that I'm only 5'5" - now, is that wide or high?

My mates the Grun Elves never told a soul!

A XXXX

(or Holsten) to you both
Doug

 

[Shannow]

pscholte,
with the exception of Doug, the Oz version of an elf is the Yowie...they are freakin' huge...thus our love of 70 weight oils.

 

[pscholte]

quote:

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Originally posted by Shannow:
pscholte,
with the exception of Doug, the Oz version of an elf is the Yowie...they are freakin' huge...thus our love of 70 weight oils.

---

Yowie, huh? Probably were named from the expression they would make the first time they poured out a 70 wt..."YOWIE!"

 

[pscholte]

quote:

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Originally posted by SSDude:

quote:

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Originally posted by pscholte:
Doug,

As ever, you are a source of sound and valuable information, but I must tell you, the Elves took over formulation and blending in 2002...you just missed the Renaissance.

PS. My vertically inhibited friends tell me there are no Elves in OZ...more's the pity.

---

Shame on you.

The elves are not vertically limited. They are vertically challenged.

---

SSDude,

Actually they are OK with "vertically inhibited" as (a little known fact) the gravitational pull in the Black Forest is stronger than in the rest of the earth and so their vertical progress is indeed inhibited (but it is VERY KIND of you to take up their cause thinking I had spoken inappropriately).

 

[Audi Junkie]

Oh, ok. So now we know where NOT to buy it.

Doug, when you say "recalled" do you mean recalled like all the perfectly fine SL synthetics were from AutoStore shelves here to make room for new products, or are you implying that it was recalled due to some hidden defect?

If there was a defect, it remained hidden during all those mfg test sequences.

Someone should have told these guys about the "recall" before they won the Deutsch Touring Masters Championsip on SLX.
http://www.castrol.com/castrol/genericarticle.do?categoryId=82916482&contentId=6005377

BTW-what 0w-30 is the big seller now in AUS? Also what was the origin of your SLX, that plant in Indonesia or was it strait from the Fatherland?

It seems relavent to ask, and you are the one who brought it up.

 

[Shannow]

quote:

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Originally posted by Audi Junkie:
BTW-what 0w-30 is the big seller now in AUS?

---

Sorry, could you repeat the question ?

I don't know of any mass marketted 0W-30s down here.

As to the location of the SLX plant...no idea, as it's not listed on the bottle under the sink. But it wasn't green nor contained gummi bear pressings...smelled like oil. (My Castrol synthetic ATF IS green and smells sweet in comparison).

 

[pscholte]

Shannow,

The Elves might not be averse to making a 25W-70...if someone would ask them nicely and throw in a "G'day mate" (they LOVE that greeting...really!).

PS Green color is OK, yes?

 

[Shannow]

Green's cool.

(I don't see myself ever using a xW-50 ever again, let alone a 70...just did that last winter for laughs)

 

[pscholte]

quote:

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Originally posted by Shannow:
Green's cool.

(I don't see myself ever using a xW-50 ever again, let alone a 70...just did that last winter for laughs)

---

You have created, shall we say, "expectations"...

 

[Audi Junkie]

Just trying to figure out why SLX 0w-30 was discontinued and what 0w-30 replaced it. Of course I know 0w-30 generally does not sell well in AUS and I'm suggesting it's the market to blame, not the oil.

 

[Doug Hillary]

Hi,
sorry I have been off line doing a 1200km (740 miles) trip from the Tropics to Brisbane! Ambient range 26C (at 2am) to 38C. Average speed 105km/h (65mph) - 11.5 hours. No motorways used at all!

The original GC SLX 0w-30 was German import with this (Made in Germany) being written on the label

The next version of SJ/CF was blended in Australia where at that stage all locally available Castrol oils were blended

The SLX range was actually taken from retailer's shelves - but you can still see the odd 5ltr container (5lts = $A105) in those retailers no longer selling Castrol
Yes, they obviously had a technical problem initially for the recall to have occurred and then they obviously decided to forget SLX ever existed here! I am aware of the range of the problem from a personal viewpoint and one could say it was a good product that was wrongly applied and marketed. Engine failures did occur

I believe the latest version - Castrol "R" - as mentioned earlier is a great range and I would use it without a second thought! The "R" 5w-30, 5w-40 and 10w-60 are all excellent products

(Elves please note - I love you all)

Nothing replaced the 0w-30 viscosity Castrol synthetic in Australia - that viscosity is dead here! No serious Oil Company sell it as Shannow posted earlier

Audi - like you I think it is the market - we simply have no need at this stage for such a viscosity. And no Euro, OZ, Japanese or Korean Manufacturer mandates it! I posted rough details of my trip to give some idea of our climate and fairly typical operation

I think FUCHS retail an advanced 0w-20 (maybe 0w-30) (called GT1?) and this is used in the Porsche Cup GT3 series cars. If I recall correctly it is rated ACEA A1 but does not have many if any Manufacturer Approvals

10w-30 and 5w-30 synthetics are about all that is needed here in the light viscosity range mainly due to our climate

It should also be noted that Castrol also rebranded (around 2001) an excellent semi-synthetic HDEO that I helped develop. I knew it as "XYZ" for three years until it was called Enduro LD 15w-40 and retailed. It is now sold as Enduron 15w-40!

I think the alignment of Castrol within its master's camp to BP-Castrol has been a sad time but at least their Transmax Z ATF and Syntans, Syntrax gear lubricant range are still sold here
These are wonderful products

Regards
Doug

[ March 12, 2005, 06:11 PM: Message edited by: Doug Hillary ]

 

[tdi-rick]

quote:

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but at least their Transmax Z ATF and Syntans, Syntrax gear lubricant range are still sold here
These are wonderful products

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as indeedy they are.
These are also full imports from Europe, according to the Castrol tech line a few months back.
To give you blokes in NA an idea how good, I've replaced Syntrax and Syntrans in two different vehicles with Redline's finest manual trans lubes, (and combination brews thereof) and I haven't been able to replicate the same smooth gearshift charcteristics of the Castrol products.
Very, very close, but not quite as smooth.

BTW, with regards to the original SLX, an engine builder I worked with/for used to spec it in all his own and customer Formula Ford engines with great success. Prior to this he used BP Visco 5000 (5w-40, IIRC, not even sure if it was a Group III or IV)

 

[Losiho]

FWIW, SLX Longtech II 0w30 is available in Oz, from VW service dealerships.