Originally Posted By: Ducked
Probably wouldn't in fact have used it (which is why I never bothered to check it out and/or bottle it), but I should perhaps have kept some "just in case". The car suffered some bearing damage a while ago due to my stupidity so if it started to show symptons I suppose this stuff might have been a band-aid.
I have used Wynns Viscosity Improver (Golden syrupy additive stuff, doesn't seem to exist any more in that form from a quick Google though thry make other stuff) many years ago when my Renault 5 failed an MOT test due to "visible smoke", but I also changed the oil (Castrol GTX 20/50, in Scotland, in the winter, so not noticably tropical, but fashions change) cleaned out the crankcase breather, and got a different MOT tester.
The replacement of the MOT tester was probably the most important factor, since there's huge tester discretion in the British MOT test, one of the reasons its such a pain in the arse.
IF I used the LUCAS stuff it would almost certanly have been as an additive, unless it was a temporary fill to get through a test.
I intended to remove the Wynns-thickened stuff after passing the above test, but I don't think I ever got around to it, since it didn't give me any problems.
I have no idea what the viscosity would have been but I was starting with 20W/50, and this was Scotland, in the winter, which I suppose is another reason why I'm unconvinced of the necessity for skinny oils if marginal fuel economy gains arent of much interest.
Not to pry into your personal life, but could I ask where in Scotland you lived?
Your post got me curious enough to google around a bit and I was very surprised to find that the record low temperature for the British Isles is -27C/-17F at Braemar, Scotland. I knew that those isles are significantly warmed by the Gulf Stream, but that record temp would not be very unusual at my house and more or less expected where I have a ski place (I have already seen -16F this season and missed -29F by one night when I chose to ski on a Sunday instead of Saturday).
I read an article some years ago that claimed that the British Isles would have a much more challenging climate if the Gulf Stream were to fail somehow, and the stream is largely driven by cold, dry winds from Canada causing evaporation in the Atlantic...the saltier water then tends to sink and warmer surface water from the South is drawn in to replace it. Strangely enough, a warming trend in Canada could cause the UK to get much, much colder.
By pure chance, I had a good friend originally from Taiwan also attend school in Scotland (I think you have said before that is why you were there). He was not very fond of the area, but used his very considerably holiday/break time to explore Europe and had some really amazing experiences. I'm not sure how well the year he spent in Scotland worked for him academically as he still had to put in 4 years in the US to get his bachelor's, but I have to admit that I always envied how much time he got to spend hoboing around some wonderful countries when he was still a young man.