Good oil for the VW/Audi W12?

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jyoung8607

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Hello all, Long time reader, first time poster. For several years now my 2004 Passat with the ATQ V6 has been treated to a steady diet of GC 0w30. Early on, I tried Mobil 1 0w40 and I found that my cam chain tensioners got rather noisy partway through the OCI. I started using GC 0w30 based largely on what I read here on BITOG, and I've been completely happy with it. I had the valve covers off doing maintenance last fall and things looked VERY good for a motor with 140K on the clock. However, changes have come... 1) It seems Castrol has recently changed up their packaging, and I'm not sure what that means for their formula. I'm sure it's on here somewhere, but the GC thread is almost 60 pages long let alone the rest of the forum. 2) While searching for a car for my daughter, I stumbled across a little something for Dad. Daughter gets the Passat! I'm coming up on the first OCI for this beast (13 qts!) and so I'm revisiting my selection of VW 502.00 oils for my growing fleet. I've read here over the last couple days that M1 0w40 is highly regarded, but some years ago it was known for quickly shearing (depending on application). Have there been major changes in the last five years or so? Are there any other oils you'd recommend? The W12 has a 10,000 mile OCI and I plan to drive it till the wheels fall off, so I'm willing to consider some of the boutique oils if there's a good reason. Bear in mind it has a huge sump capacity and a long OCI, and does not use direct injection or forced induction.
 
I'd imagine you can't really beat M1 0W-40 for that beast. What an engine, a 'W-12'...gah! I still have trouble wrapping my head around how that works! Nice car!
 
Originally Posted By: jyoung8607
1) It seems Castrol has recently changed up their packaging, and I'm not sure what that means for their formula. I'm sure it's on here somewhere, but the GC thread is almost 60 pages long let alone the rest of the forum.
GC is still being made, relatively unchanged alas with a new label: http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2339231#Post2339231 Other oil choices I would consider: M1 0w-40, Pennzoil Ultra Euro 5w-40, Castrol Edge/Syntec 5w-40.
 
Nothing wrong with GC, but for the money I'm of the opinion that M1 0w40 is superior in basically every way. API SN, higher viscosity index, better HTHS compared to KV values. M1 0w40 is ACEA A3/B4. One of the requirements is that it does NOT shear out of grade according to their standardized test. There are countless vehicles using it without any problems. Give it a try. Otherwise there are plenty of more exotic oils you can order online...
 
Congrats on finally posting something LOL Wow 13 quarts is A LOT! I say you pickup a good quality oil off the shelf and call it a day... unless you like the boutique oils like i do grin2
 
If your are not autobahn storming with that size sump it would apper any decent ACEA oil in the weight (by ambient temp) and grade that VW suggests would do the trick in America. I would lurk VW forums to see if the engine has any special lube needs due to odd wear areas. API SN is a poor spec and not high performance oriented.
 
That has to be a uncommon car in the US! What model year is that? Do you know how many they sold? Good idea to keep it! I drive a 2002 BMW M Coupe (total N American sales = 340) I'm keeping my ride as long as I can.
 
Originally Posted By: ammolab
That has to be a uncommon car in the US! What model year is that? Do you know how many they sold? Good idea to keep it! I drive a 2002 BMW M Coupe (total N American sales = 340) I'm keeping my ride as long as I can.
Didn't sell well in the US. I think it was the stigma of what VW cars were that was the sticking point. People couldn't get over paying $60k for a VW.
 
Such an amazing car though! Tech goodies out the whazoo. Draft free air conditioning, its does not have vents it evenylr disperses the cooler or warmer air through a huge speaker grill vent IIRC. Such a nice car, great purchase. We see a few A8 W12s from time to time, along with a TT W12 Bentley, so if you have questions feel free to PM. Why not go Pennzoil Yellow for a 5k OCI and get it tested? Prob do well considering theres more than 3 gallons. Haha I kid I kid. Like stated, any good branded synthetic will work. One customer ran Liqui Moly 0w/30 at 12.50 a quart. Ouch. Also moar picz
 
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Originally Posted By: Audios
Such an amazing car though! Tech goodies out the whazoo. Draft free air conditioning, its does not have vents it evenylr disperses the cooler or warmer air through a huge speaker grill vent IIRC. Such a nice car, great purchase. We see a few A8 W12s from time to time, along with a TT W12 Bentley, so if you have questions feel free to PM.
actually it does have vents. You have to press a button to expose the vents, behind the wood trim.
 
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Originally Posted By: BMWTurboDzl
Originally Posted By: ammolab
That has to be a uncommon car in the US! What model year is that? Do you know how many they sold? Good idea to keep it! I drive a 2002 BMW M Coupe (total N American sales = 340) I'm keeping my ride as long as I can.
Didn't sell well in the US. I think it was the stigma of what VW cars were that was the sticking point. People couldn't get over paying $60k for a VW.
Just looked it up and VW says less than 3500 were sold in the USA (3 years).
 
A little OT, but does a gas guzzler tax only have to be paid by the original buyer or does it have to be paid by all subsequent buyers as well?
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
A little OT, but does a gas guzzler tax only have to be paid by the original buyer or does it have to be paid by all subsequent buyers as well?
Original buyer only. When I bought my S4, the window sticker showed the gas guzzler tax (ouch for the first owner) but I did not have to pay that to the federal or state governments.
 
Wicked car. In my opinion, the W12 (and even W8) Phaeton is one heck of a luxery car, but retains the sporty feel of the "tuner" V-Dubs (GTI, Jetta GLI, R32, etc). Fast, comfortable, and with excellent handling for its size. It compares to the BMW 750, Audi A8, and MB S550 but at half the cost. I don't know about reliability, but I wouldn't think it to be a problematic vehicle. There is a guy around here who comes to some Euro meets with a modified W12 Phaeton that looks and drives like a beast. He has a true cold air intake system, ceramic equal-length tubular headers, Fabspeed 80-cell Ultra Hi-Flow Metallic Cats, a custom stainless steel mandrel bent 2.75" dual exhaust with 3.25" tips, a custom tune, under-drive pulleys, bored TB, a very upgraded suspension (3-way adjustable coilovers, about a 2" drop), 20" iForged Monobloc wheels, 8-piston/16" 2pc slotted discs (front) and 4-piston/15.2" 2pc slotted discs (rear) Big Brake Kit that I believe is Stoptech or AP, some bodywork, and a killer A/V system (Pioneer AVIC 7" headunit, 6 sets of Focal components, a pair of MB Quartz 6x9s, two 10" JL slim subwoofers with two 12", and 3 1200W JL 4-way, 2 1200W JL 2-way, and 2 JL 1500W 2-way amps; he upgraded to a large alternator, and while he runs an Odyssey 900CCA lightweight battery for the engine, he has three Optima Yellow batteries in a custom trunk enclosure; he also has a full "car-puter" which is essentially an integrated laptop using a Core2Quad 2.6ghz CPU, 8GB RAM, nVidia GT460 1GB GDDR5, a 128GB SSD, and a 2TB 7200rpm HDD, with a 10" 1920x1080 LCD touchscreen in the lower part of the console, and two 9" screens in the back of the front headrests; the PC is integrated w the car via OBD2 and he can display any number of parameters on the front screen as digital gauges, while the back screens are playing DVDs and the Headunit is playing music from the HDD. He is an automotive software engineer...). It is quite possibly the coolest luxery car I have ever ridden in, and it makes me want a carputer really bad! I friended him on Facebook, so it was easy to get the specs, as I couldn't remember them all. I know he is working on a dual supercharger setup, with twin FMICs, and expects to have it up and running by summer! He is already putting out 65-75bhp more than factory, which is significant, but the dual SC would explain the upgraded and custom LSDs. Sorry, I get excited about cool cars wink I hope you continue to enjoy yours for many years and countless miles!
 
Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
If your are not autobahn storming with that size sump it would apper any decent ACEA oil in the weight (by ambient temp) and grade that VW suggests would do the trick in America. I would lurk VW forums to see if the engine has any special lube needs due to odd wear areas. API SN is a poor spec and not high performance oriented.
Heh, this is exactly what I was trying to figure out. Specs march forward, but they make compromises to hit efficiency and emissions target. API specs march forward, but I guess newer isn't necessarily better in all applications. VW has specs that theoretically supersede 502.00, and are theoretically back-compatible, but they're not necessarily better and you aren't supposed to use some of them in North America. Autobahn storming is limited to 135MPH in North America. I've taken it up there once or twice to see what it's like. The speed limiter is soft and unintrusive, like a gentle reminder to go ahead and set the cruise control. The 5-speed auto upshifts 3-4 around 120MPH, so it's not even a little bit done. Real top speed is supposedly 185MPH and I absolutely believe it.
 
Originally Posted By: ammolab
That has to be a uncommon car in the US! What model year is that? Do you know how many they sold? Good idea to keep it! I drive a 2002 BMW M Coupe (total N American sales = 340) I'm keeping my ride as long as I can.
Model year 2006, the last year they were imported. It's also the one year they got the 444HP BRP variant of the W12, as opposed to the 414HP BAP. The numbers I've heard alleged are something less than 5,000 sold in the North America region, including Canada, with less than 400 of those being W12s. The remainder are V8s. No other engine choices available in the NAR market. That's for the entire range of time it was imported, 2004-2006.
 
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