What is the best VW 504/507 oil?

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There are a number of VW 504/507 oils available to VW/Audi owners. All of them claim to be the best. Is there any way to get some comparison of these oils? Thinking about this for a while resulted in me remembering the Lubrizol Relative Performance Tool. Using that tool I looked at eight common 504/507 oils. The results were very interesting. I'll list them in order below and include a .pdf file with the spider graphs produced by the tool.

#1 - Mobil 1 ESP 0W-30

#2 (Tie)
Motul 8100 X-Clean+ 5W-30
Castrol Edge 5W-30 LL
Ravenol SMP 5W-30
Red Line Professional-Series TD Euro Motor Oil
Total Quartz Ineo Long Life 5W-30

#7 (Tie)
Ravenol VSW 0W-30
Liqui Moly 4210 0W-30

The Mobil oil takes 1st place because the MB 229.52 spec gives it the best fuel economy. Those oils tied for 2nd place have the MB 229.51 spec, which produces less fuel economy. The two oils in 7th place have only the VW 504/507 approval.

In choosing one of these oils, I think the question is, "Do you want to spend $50-55 for 6 quarts of the Mobil 1 or $25 for 5 quarts of almost as good Castrol Edge 5W-30 LL"
 

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@OldCowboy: Did I say what I think? I was asking a question. You said:

"The Mobil oil takes 1st place because the MB 229.52 spec gives it the best fuel economy."

In real world the thinnest oil will provide the most FE gain. It's not KV100 alone, don't miss HTHS.

It's "Mobil" btw..
 
Any product listed on the current official VAG approval list is a good choice and likely no meaningful performance difference between them. 507 is a difficult And rather narrow specification to meet.
Which then makes Castrol Edge 5W-30 LL the best because it is $24.04 on Walmart.com. $4.91/quart every day, and NAPA hasn't had a sale on the Mobil 1 product for months.
 
Which then makes Castrol Edge 5W-30 LL the best because it is $24.04 on Walmart.com. $4.91/quart every day, and NAPA hasn't had a sale on the Mobil 1 product for months.
I think I have 5 or 6 cases from their last sale. They also have Valvoline XL-III, which is a good deal when Valvoline is on sale or when they're running a 20% sale. I'm about to open my last box of that this weekend.

I'll only buy from Walmart if there is a very strong clearance, not just to save a buck or two.
 
Agreed any oil that meets VW 504 is seriously good stuff.

I believe you missed Pennzoil Euro LX 0w30, actually one of the more common VW 504 oils.
 
It's interesting, don't you think, that VW lists both Castrol Edge 5W30 _and_ Edge LL 5W30 as meeting 504/507, but the black (non-LL) Edge bottles do not seem to list 504/507? Here's the 2020 VW list I'm looking at, for reference:
Those are sold in different markets. The Castrol Edge 5W-30 (without the LL designation) sold here is a completely different product.
 
That occurred to me. However, it's impossible for a buyer or owner to tell from VW's list whether that is the case or not.

...and don't get me started on SOPUS' nonsense. Their bottles don't even say they're licensed or certified. They just say they're 'formulated to meet or exceed...'
 
That occurred to me. However, it's impossible for a buyer or owner to tell from VW's list whether that is the case or not.

...and don't get me started on SOPUS' nonsense. Their bottles don't even say they're licensed or certified. They just say they're 'formulated to meet or exceed...'
ExxonMobil does just about the best job of any major blender in clearly stating what approvals an oil has and which are recommendations.

But at least with VW and Mercedes-Benz approvals they can be easily verified.
 
Yes, they generally do better these days.

It's also curious that the approved Castrol LL product is half the price of the XOM and SOPUS approved products, don't you think? Is WM clearing out a load of pre-VW504-2020 Edge LL?
 
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