Originally Posted By: BMWTurboDzl
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: BMWTurboDzl
Originally Posted By: glxpassat
The German data sheets show both the 0w-30 and 0w-40 to be fully synthetic.
I haven't looked but generally you want to rely on the most recent data sheet for your country. I've seen base oils differ between countries and even years.
But the only country's data sheets where full synthetic means group IV is Germany. And there is no product called GC is Germany. However, there is one (forget the name now) that has identical specs to our GC, and that one is in fact called full synthetic in Germany.
Okay per the US site here are the following concentrations of "highly refined base oils" for the 0w30 / 0W40.
0W40 A3/B3. 15-20%
0w30 A3. 15-20%
Professional 0W40 15-20%
0w30 and 0w40. 5-10%
These MSDS are all dated 2012. Some early some later.
So what does that mean? Are those the percentages of PAO, or the percentage of cracked oil?
You would think the German site calling it full synthetic would mean there would be significant amounts of PAO in these oils?
Also I looked up United States PDS from Nov. 2013. It shows very low pour points for both 0w-40 and 0w-30. -65 and -60 Fahrenheit respectively. Doesn't such low pour points indicate a lot of PAO?
Truly, that might push me towards these. Mobil 1 0w-40 looks so good on paper, and cracked oils can be made to perform beautifully today. However, if at a similar cost, would you not want PAO? Or does the rich additive pack in Mobil 1 0w-40 still give it an edge? I suppose there are many ways to think about it and not much between them in real use, still something to think about. It's nice there are a couple oils still out there with some "synthetic" heritage?