Currently in my 2019 GLI 2.0T I run Mobil 1 ESP 0w30 (504/57 spec) and have for the last 20k, changing every 5k. The car is spec'd for 0w20 (508/509). The car is tuned by Integrated Engineering (Stage 1 ECU & DSG) and I've used a thicker oil since being tuned per their suggestion. They still use Liqui Moly 5w40 in their development vehicles, regardless of spec. From the little bit I understand about VW oil specs, 504 offers better wear protection than 508, slightly better fuel economy than 502, making it a nice middle ground I suppose.
Would I have any benefit to either going back to the OE spec of a 0w20, or going even thicker? ESP 0w30 has done very well for me, no oil burning with 5k OCI's, runs perfectly. Really the only thing that led me to ask this question is, I don't see many people with this platform go the 504/507 route. I have no issues switching one way or the other if needed, but so far this seems to be working well. FWIW I have not yet sent in an oil sample to be analyzed. Prior to tuning I used VW OE 0w20 that carried the 508 spec, no issues there either outside of a slight burn over the OCI
Would I have any benefit to either going back to the OE spec of a 0w20, or going even thicker? ESP 0w30 has done very well for me, no oil burning with 5k OCI's, runs perfectly. Really the only thing that led me to ask this question is, I don't see many people with this platform go the 504/507 route. I have no issues switching one way or the other if needed, but so far this seems to be working well. FWIW I have not yet sent in an oil sample to be analyzed. Prior to tuning I used VW OE 0w20 that carried the 508 spec, no issues there either outside of a slight burn over the OCI