Gulf Comp vs Moutl, Fuchs etc

T

Trist

Joined
Jan 31, 2020
Messages
5
Location
UK
I own a 2011 Mazda 3 MPS (Mazdaspeed 3). Its always had Mazda service for the first 3 years and then I did it all myself. I have always used Gulf Competition 5w40 Ester Fully Synthetic oil. But at around £60 (using 5.7ltrs) Its a lot for a road car IMHO. I do a change every 6 months as the car does a lot of short journeys (4 miles to and back from work daily), I always thought short journeys kill oil. I tried Shell Helix Ultra this time last year (as the MPS owners rave about it) but I wasn't to sure about this as it seemed really thin and the engine did rattle a lot more at cold startups and noisier in general and was super cheap at around £20 here in the UK. I put the Gulf back in the car in the summer. So it's oil time again, and again I'm thinking am I wasting money on the Gulf. So looking at opie oils, I got a choice of Fuchs Titan Supersyn, Millers Trident, Fuchs Titan GT1 XTL, Gulf Formula GX & Motul 8100 X-Clean ACEA 3C. (All 5w-40 as its recommended to keep the Mazda turbo seals happy) I know that fully synthetic on the label isn't always the case. All the above oils 'claim' fully synthetic and half the price of the Gulf Comp. I'm based in the UK, so winter can be around -10 this time of year. Plese help smile Thanks in advance smile
 
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I'm in the UK too - 5/10w40 is ideal for our climate. If you dont want to use Redline/Gulf/other specialty 'racing' oil you would do just as well with tripleQX from ECP - its a [censored] sight cheaper and you can choose A3B4, A5, C3 etc etc etc. the rattle you experienced with SHU is most likely a faulty ADBV.
 
Thanks for the reply smile Isn't triplex rubbish? Or am I being a brand snob? lol What is ADBV?
 
Does Mazda have any requirements for oil? If not I would find a brand name, inexpensive syn and stick to what you are doing. If you are not running extended intervals, or high turbo temps, youll be fine. What about vanilla M1 5/30, TDT 5/40 or their high mileage 10/40?
 
Thank you for that! Another reason to not pay £60 for it then Heres the Mazda oil requirements [Linked Image]
 
Originally Posted by Trist
Thanks for the reply smile Isn't triplex rubbish? Or am I being a brand snob? lol What is ADBV?
Anti drain back valve. Some are silicone and some are nitrile rubber smile
 
I quite like the Shell Helix Ultra range. I use the SHU 5w40 in my ST220 that has a hard life with no issues. Alternatively, I'd be tempted to try Castrol Edge 0w40 A3/B4 or Mobil1 FS 0w40 (picked some up in Costco last week, 5L for less than £30!). Both are very well respected oils with good approvals. There's also Fuchs Titan GT1 XTL 5w40, it can be picked up fairly cheap and has a huge list of approvals including Porsche A40. Again, regularly use this in the ST220 if I have some in my stash. I think you would also do well with a HDEO. A quality branded 15w40 E7 or E9 engine oil would work and would be fairly cheap! While most of these are mineral oils they are designed for long drain intervals in engines that are worked very hard. I always consider 15w40 HDEO's the poor man's synthetic are they are so shear stable.
 
Thanks for the replies guys smile Reading reviews on this forum, I bit the bullet and tried Shell Helix Ultra again 5w-40 and a Bosch OEM filter £31 all in from Euro Car Parts here in the UK. It's definitely quieter than when I used last year. So hopefully all is good. The Gulf Competition Ester based oil had done 3k, came out black and stinking, very watery too. Short miles has killed it!
 
Oh thats interesting, not sure if its worth me sending sample to Millers as I've poured the old oil into the used Shell container, might affect results? Thanks for the link, will have a look smile
 
Originally Posted by Trist
Oh thats interesting, not sure if its worth me sending sample to Millers as I've poured the old oil into the used Shell container, might affect results? Thanks for the link, will have a look smile
Hi Trist I can't see how the tiny drop of residual Shell in the container will affect the analysis. Give Millers a bell and ask. They are good as gold on the phone. Also when they email you your analysis be sure to ring the lab guys and they will happily chat with you about the results. I have posted my 3.0crd results on here.
 
The standard oil recommendation is 5w-30 or 0w-30 Personally, knowing about short journeys, I wouldn't be going off-piste with a thicker viscosity Motul recommend 8100 ECO-clean 5W-30 for your engine 0w-30 MB229.5 might be a decent option
 
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