What is "European Formula"

[glenncof]

I have a European car which specifies "European Formula" for PP and Quaker State Synthetic.

I am familiar with the ACEA rating and some special spec's for MB, VW, and BMW.

What is "European Formula" ?

 

[VeeDubb]

Various old brands have "European Formula" oils which are usually 5w-40 synthetics. These are usually not sold at most autoparts stores. Either special order or mail order is the only way to get them. I've never seen Quaker State or Pennzoil Platinum Euro formulas. The only Euro formulas I've seen are Mobil 1 0w-40 at Walmart and Advance Auto, and Valvoline Synpower 5w-40 at Napa.

 

[ericthepig]

A3/B3 seems to be synonomous with EF - is A3/B3 all that's required to label EF - or do you have to pass X number of BMW this and VW that to label EF. Perhaps EF is a bit subjective. And isn't A3/B3 just defined as HTHS>3.5 ?

 

[VeeDubb]

There are lots of A3 oils on the shelves of most autoparts stores- many high mileage blends and synthetics meet it. So it is not synonymous. I've never seen an EF that didn't meet at least the VW, BMW and MB specs.

 

[VeeDubb]

There are lots of A3 oils on the shelves of most autoparts stores- many high mileage blends and synthetics meet it. So it is not synonymous. I've never seen an EF that didn't meet at least the VW, BMW and MB specs.

 

[Quattro Pete]

"EF" is a marketing term, designed to make the owner of a typical European car feel better about the fact that the manufacturer of a particular oil made a product that is specifically designed for his engine and not some plain old oil that gets poured into some old Ford or Chevy.

Pay attention to the specs on the back label and make sure they meet your car mfg's requirements. Treat "EF" as marketing fluff. If the two happen to coincide, great.

 

[ericthepig]

That makes sense - if you meet (at least some specs) for the big three of European - then you can justifiably label EF. Two of the biggest properties would have to be A3/B3 and very high TBN for the European OCIs. Any thing else that's a key feature in these oils ?

 

[VeeDubb]

They tend to be on the heavy side - either thick 30wt or higher. For the most part EF is important mainly for warranty requirements. There are probably lots of non-EF synthetics that would do the job just fine unless you have an engine that is extremely hard on oils, like VW/Audi turbos and RS4 engines.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Not sure that very high TBN means a whole lot. After all, there are some oils out there that don't have a very high TBN, but maintain it rather well, so low rate of TBN depletion may be more important than the actual initial value of TBN.

Also, what do you consider to be a "very high" TBN?

 

[ericthepig]

Things in the range of TBN=12 is the value in most long OCI oils that I know of. But real world used oil analysis seem to show that these drop off quick and then level out around TBN=4 or so (which is a strange phenomena - if this is indeed the pattern).

 

[coffee]

Don't forget Rotella T Synthetic 5w40 which has a very high TBN and is a very good oil. It is available at Wal-Mart and most places.

 

[buddypup]

Quote:

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Don't forget Rotella T Synthetic 5w40 which has a very high TBN and is a very good oil. It is available at Wal-Mart and most places.

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Butt pablo says he would never use rotella 5w40

 

[coffee]

Well, Pablo won't but others might!