Schedule for r32: I think I have a plan, but...

fronesis · Jun 29, 2004

quote:

Nope. The Touareg has a 3.0 V6 (220hp), same as in A4/A6. Yours is a 3.2 VR6.

Hmmm...Not that it matters much, but the Touareg does have the same 3.2l engine, it's just tuned differently (to make 220HP instead of 240hp). Here's the line from VW's official specs:

quote:

"3.2L V6, 220 horsepower, 6 cylinder, 4V, 15°, gas"

The engine was originally placed in the RSI New Beetle.

quote:

T&SUV sounds like a good choice for this engine, but it does not meet the VW 502.00 spec.

M1 0w-40 should be fine in this engine, too, and it does meet the 502.00 spec. The shearing of M1 0w-40 is not that bad and it mainly happens in turbo applications which you don't have, so you shouldn't worry about that too much.

This is very helpful info. Thanks! Many VW folks I've talked to keep saying the VR6 engine runs really hot, and that's why I was worried about the sheering. Sounds like folks here don't think it's a worry.

Does anyone really know what the 502.00 spec is? Should I be concerned about the T&SUV not meeting it?

quote:

Why question them and the owner's manual? Do they not know this car and engine best? Wouldn't they write something if they thought first change at 5K miles was harmful to the engine? [I dont know]

I don't think terrible, terrible things will happen if I leave the oil in for 5K miles. My sense in dealing with new cars and their manufacturers over the past few years is that their schedules and specs are designed to make the dealers' lives simpler. My MINI had "free service" included. I had to put 33K miles on it before the SECOND oil change came due on it. For me, 16K mile drain intervals on a brand new car could be too long, but since they are paying for the oil change, they want to have them infrequently.

On the r32, I figure it won't make a huge difference to leave the oil in. But since I paid WAY too much money for a VW golf, I want to take care of it, and getting the break-in oil with its metal bits out a little sooner could be a nice thing to do. If I trusted VW, then I'd be in BIG trouble: dealers are putting in conventional oil if you bring your car in for a 5K mile oil change.

Thanks so much for the quick responses! They are very helpful

Quattro Pete · Jun 29, 2004

Hmm.. you're right about the engine in the Touareg. My bad. Sorry.

fronesis · Jun 29, 2004

quote:

Hmm.. you're right about the engine in the Touareg. My bad. Sorry.

Not a problem at all. Thanks again for your help.

parrothead · Jun 29, 2004

You can check out my UOA numbers using M1 0W-40 here. I have the 1.8T engine in my VW and the M1 did shear a bit, but everything else looked pretty decent. I just finished a 5k run with Amsoil 5W-40 last week and I'm waiting the UOA results to come back. Being the "grass is always greener" type of a person, I'm now running Pentosynth 5W-40.

dB · Jun 30, 2004

I use M1 0W40 in my A4 2.8 becuase it meets the VW specs. I'm not falling for all these "shearing" issues that seem to prevail about this oil.

carrera79 · Jun 30, 2004

First off

Second, nice car. I would love to get my hands on an R32. What a great balance of performance and daily driver comfort. I'm not all that familier with the 3.2L 240hp 24v VR6, but the old 12 valves had such a great torque curve and an awesome sound. I think you've got one of the best engines around (if you don't want something that is really easy to tune). I say go witht eh 0w-40 and after break-in get a UOA at 5kmi and see what's going on. I think that you'll be able to go 7500mi with no problems on this oil. They should be sticking that motor in the new Passat, hopefully they will.

fronesis · Jun 30, 2004

Looks like I may be going with the M1 0w-40. I'm still tempted by the M1 5w-40, but the fact that it doesn't meet VW specs might be an issue I'd rather avoid. Does anyone know if Redline 5w-40 meets those specs? I couldn't figure out the answer on their website.

carrera79: Thanks for the kind words about the car. If you thought the 12v engine had a nice sound, wait until you hear the "exhaust flapper" open up on the r32--it's really quite something. I'm still trying to figure out your user name: if it was carrera77 I'd know you drove a 77 3.0 Euro Carrera (the SC engine before it was available in the states), but by 79 I thought they were SC's everwhere.

carrera79 · Jun 30, 2004

My last name is Carrera, born in 79. It's a user name I've had since my login for my highschool network. I never owned a Carrera, but I did have an '82 911 SC Targa.

Finklejag · Jun 30, 2004

VW dealers use two different Castrol 5W-40's. One is for the older 1.9 TDI. The other one is the new spec oil for the new Pump Duse 1.9 TDI, Touareg and Phaeton. I assume the R32 would use the newer spec 5W-40. The only problem is VW dealers charge around $7.00 a quart for this stuff.

fronesis · Jun 30, 2004

OK. I've been reading for hours, and the collective wisdom of this board is a godsend. But I'm still not certain of a number of things, so here's my situation.

I just bought a new VW Golf R32. It has the new 3.2 liter VR6 (240HP), same as the Touareg. VW recommends 5w-40 synthetic, or 5w-30 synthetic if you can't find 5w-40. They also say the oil should meet these speciications: VW 502 00 and ACEA A3. The service folks tell me the break-in oil is a synthetic "with break-in additives" and that I should leave it in for the regularly VW-recommended change interval of 5K miles. I'll be driving the car in a spirited but legal manner, only on the street. I'll be in CA this summer, before moving to central PA in the winter.

I've always run Mobil 1 in previous cars: 5w-30 in my M Coupe, 15w-50 in my 911's. The VR6 engines are known to run at high oil temps, and I want to protect it. I also need something that will be OK for cold starts in pennsylvania winters.

I'm think I want to go with M1 5w-40 T&SUV. It's the VW recommended weight, and folks have said lots of good things about it. I'm afraid 15w-50 is just too heavy, both for this engine and for the cold, while 0w-40 has shearing issues, and 5w-30 isn't enough high heat protection. What do people think about this choice, and does anyone know if the T&SUV oil meets the VW specs? I'm more than happy to try a different oil, but GC doesn't have a 5w-40 (to my knowledge) and I'm not sure I want to spend the money on Redline.

I'm also thinking that the service guys recommendation to keep the break-in oil in until 5K miles is no good. I'd like to change the oil right now--I'm at 1500 miles--and get the metal out. I'd then do service intervals of 5K (to keep my VW warranty status) for the first 50K and then perhaps go to 7K-8K after that. I know it would be a good idea to get a UOA before deciding on my longer interval.

Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated, either as to a different oil choice for my car and needs or different schedule.

thanks for any help!

Quattro Pete · Jun 30, 2004

quote:

Originally posted by fronesis:
I just bought a new VW Golf R32. It has the new 3.2 liter VR6 (240HP), same as the Touareg.

Nope. The Touareg has a 3.0 V6 (220hp), same as in A4/A6. Yours is a 3.2 VR6.

quote:

What do people think about this choice, and does anyone know if the T&SUV oil meets the VW specs?

T&SUV sounds like a good choice for this engine, but it does not meet the VW 502.00 spec.

M1 0w-40 should be fine in this engine, too, and it does meet the 502.00 spec. The shearing of M1 0w-40 is not that bad and it mainly happens in turbo applications which you don't have, so you shouldn't worry about that too much.

quote:

I'm also thinking that the service guys recommendation to keep the break-in oil in until 5K miles is no good.

Why question them and the owner's manual? Do they not know this car and engine best? Wouldn't they write something if they thought first change at 5K miles was harmful to the engine?

lyle · Jun 30, 2004

M1 is a good choice, if it were my vehicle, I would use the 0W-40 as it meets the tough A3 specs whereas TSUV does not.

Touareg V10 TDI...mmmmmmmmmm...

Cary · Jul 1, 2004

I would use the M1 0w-40. VW is pretty picky about what oils to use and the 0w-40 meets these specs. As others have said, the shearing issues have only been in Turbo motors and the oils consistantly turns in great wear numbers. The other way I think about it, if it is good enough for Austin Martin, Porsche and the Mercedes AMG cars, it should be good enought for any car.

Cary

porterdog · Jul 1, 2004

quote:

Originally posted by fronesis:
On the r32, I figure it won't make a huge difference to leave the oil in. But since I paid WAY too much money for a VW golf, I want to take care of it, and getting the break-in oil with its metal bits out a little sooner could be a nice thing to do. If I trusted VW, then I'd be in BIG trouble: dealers are putting in conventional oil if you bring your car in for a 5K mile oil change.

Trusting the DEALER is not the same as trusting the MANUFACTURER

. I've had a lot of experience in high-mileage VW's (85 GLI, 177k mi; '87 16v GTI, 140k mi; '87 Golf, 185+k mi; '86 Audi 4000q, 210k mi) and if there's one thing that is invariably solid on these cars it's the metallurgy of the motors. At one point (about 120k mi) the 16v sucked in a piece of metal and bent a valve. When I pulled the head to repair it, the original hone marks were still completely visible in the bores. I think that the bore material and ring material are very very finely matched in terms of hardness; I'd have no problem believing that VW have a well developed break-in system and I think that you should stick to it. If you want a little extra piece of mind, figure out a way to get a magnet into the oil.

Killer ride- enjoy it!

Robert

porterdog · Jul 1, 2004

quote:

Originally posted by carrera79:
I never owned a Carrera, but I did have an '82 911 SC Targa.

I've heard it claimed that SC actually stood for Super Carrera...

fronesis · Jul 1, 2004

Porterdog: excellent distinction. Trusting the manufacturer is a completely different proposition.

And you're right, SC stand for Super Carrera, but lots of SC owners like to say it stand for SuperCar. I had to sell mine when I moved to CA--it was a Euro and passing inspection here would have been a nightmare.

I've pretty much decided to go with the M1 0w-40 since it meets VW specs. But I've been doing more reading and I still don't quite understand what it means to meet those specs, or why the T&SUV (or Redline for that matter) don't meet it.

Quattro Pete · Jul 2, 2004

fronesis,

You can find the details of ACEA A3 and VW 502.00 specifications here, albeit a bit technical:

ACEA specs

Various oil specs

And unfortunately it still doesn't answer why M1 T&SUV doesn't meet them. The only thing I can think of is that T&SUV is very similar to Mobil Delvac, which is mainly for diesel applications, and as such may contain something that precludes it from getting those certifications. Another option is that ExxonMobil just didn't bother to have it certified yet because they think whoever needs an oil with those specs can just buy M1 0w-40. Sorry, I don't have an explanation, although I'm pretty sure both oils would do just fine in your R32.

pscholte · Jul 2, 2004

fronesis,

I have a 2004 A6 with the 2.7T and up until this purchase I was a follower of the "500/+1000/+1500" plan: 1st change @ 500 miles; 2nd @ 1500 and 3rd at 3000; but I BELIEVE in Audi engineering so I left my first change in the obligatory 5000 miles. I think, if you haven't change it already, you should leave it in. M1 0W40 is OK but if you can get your hands on the Belgian Castrol 5W40 at a reasonable price that is what I would use. I believe it meets the required specs but check to be sure so I don't lead you astray...and...if you can't get hold of it anyway (BMW dealers carry it, I believe) then it's a moot point.

Audi Junkie · Jul 3, 2004

My good friend just got an R32. His AWE S4 was blowing blue smoke from the 30 weight Mobil 1 he ran in it.

I decided to give him a case of Belgian Syntec 5w-40 for his first change. I believe he will wait until 5000 to change, another 5000 miles to the 2nd change and then possibly 10k or 6 month intervals.

fronesis · Jul 3, 2004

Thanks, Pete. While that doesn't provide any sort of definitive answer it does really help to explain the situation.

I suppose if I'm Mobil 1, I don't want ALL of my oiils to meet ALL of the specs. If I did that, then folks like us who want the very best oil would focus on one or two oils in the line-up--and then some oils wouldn't sell very well. Product diversification is a keystone of capitalism.

I'm sure T&SUV would be a great oil in my R32, but since the M1 0w-40 will be as well, I'll probably go a head and run the latter until I'm out of warranty.

thanks again!

Schedule for r32: I think I have a plan, but...

Similar threads