Just an opinion

[slickfisher]

As a former

TDI owner I put a lot of miles on an 01 running Chevron Delo Full Synthetic 5w-40? (Help, I can't even remember the viscosity.) Anyways alot of people on the TDI forum bad mouthed it as a hydrocracked oil. But given it's price and performance it was unbeatable. The problem was that it was not readily availible. Because I have a business, I was able to buy in bulk from a local distributor by the case. I really liked that oil. The car never used a drop of oil. I consistently got 50mpg and she ran strong. Anyways if it's still availible, I would give it a thumbs up for non-PD engines or other makes of vehicles in which it meets soot and shear requirements.

 

[medic]

Overall, a severely hydrocracked oil (group III) isn't bad. The problem is when the manufacturers call it full synthetic and then price it as such. The high cost of a synth oil is usually the base oil. A group III oil is cheaper to make than a group IV or V, and therefore, the price should reflect that. Many manufacturers do have a much cheaper price on a group III synth, but other still charge group IV prices for a group III product.

I would never have a problem using a group III oil in an engine. Companies such a Schaeffer's have proven that a group III base oil can perform great when mixed with the right additive package.