Where do I find A5/B5 in Canada? (2019 Volvo)

Joined
Oct 2, 2021
Messages
10
I have a 2019 Volvo S60 with the T6 engine. For those unfamiliar, the T6 is a 2.0L with supercharging and turbocharging netting about 315HP. I find this funny as I had a 1999 Trans Am with the same horsepower out of a 5.7L.... but I digress.

Volvo requests publishes this in the owners manual:
imgce7d5aca340bb2c7c0a801521038638c_1_--_--_VOICEpnghigh.png



Immediately following this, there is another odd statement: Volvo's VCC RBS0-2AE/SAE 0W20 oil is recommended for extreme conditions.

There is a lot of debate on this statement on this site as well as others. No where does it indicate what extreme actually means. I'm not going to get into that, but I will instead accept that I should use 0W20, as that is what the dealer uses here in Calgary.

Maybe I should just stop there, but I'm not that smart. Instead I start to dig into this RBS0-2AE/SAE standard. After a lot of research and cross-comparison, it would appear that Castrol Professional 0w20 is only sold in Europe. In fact, even the Canadian dealers don't have it. They use a standard Castrol 0W20. No where in Canada can I find a different oil meeting this standard.

However, the defining characteristic, so far as I can tell, is the rating of ACEA A5/B5. You can look this up and get some gobbly-gook about the difference between A1/B1 up to A5/B5. So I'm sold that I should use A5/B5, but NO 0w20 oil in Canada has this rating. I've looked everywhere.

Here are some samples:

IMG_2916.jpg
IMG_2915.jpg

IMG_2919.jpg

IMG_2920.jpg


Note that they all say A1/B1. Everything I can find about A1/B1 says it is a deprecated standard. It doesn't say what it was replaced with... or more specifically, what ACEA rating is equivalent.

Funny thing is, I did find an oil meeting A5/B5, but it was a 5W30.

IMG_2923.jpg


I just had this sitting around.

Anyways, the dealer uses Castrol 0W20 here in Canada, so I will too. But I just have this nagging feeling that such a highly tuned engine such as this, which had a custom oil designed for it, may want better.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_2915.jpg
    IMG_2915.jpg
    190 KB · Views: 23
  • IMG_2917.jpg
    IMG_2917.jpg
    273.5 KB · Views: 21
Last edited:
I have a 2019 Volvo S60 with the T6 engine. For those unfamiliar, the T6 is a 2.0L with supercharging and turbocharging netting about 315HP. I find this funny as I had a 1999 Trans Am with the same horsepower out of a 5.7L.... but I digress.

Volvo requests publishes this in the owners manual:
imgce7d5aca340bb2c7c0a801521038638c_1_--_--_VOICEpnghigh.png



Immediately following this, there is another odd statement: Volvo's VCC RBS0-2AE/SAE 0W20 oil is recommended for extreme conditions.

There is a lot of debate on this statement on this site as well as others. No where does it indicate what extreme actually means. I'm not going to get into that, but I will instead accept that I should use 0W20, as that is what the dealer uses here in Calgary.

Maybe I should just stop there, but I'm not that smart. Instead I start to dig into this RBS0-2AE/SAE standard. After a lot of research and cross-comparison, it would appear that Castrol Professional 0w20 is only sold in Europe. In fact, even the Canadian dealers don't have it. They use a standard Castrol 0W20. No where in Canada can I find a different oil meeting this standard.

However, the defining characteristic, so far as I can tell, is the rating of ACEA A5/B5. You can look this up and get some gobbly-gook about the difference between A1/B1 up to A5/B5. So I'm sold that I should use A5/B5, but NO 0w20 oil in Canada has this rating. I've looked everywhere.

Here are some samples:

View attachment 73705View attachment 73711
View attachment 73707
View attachment 73708

Note that they all say A1/B1. Everything I can find about A1/B1 says it is a deprecated standard. It doesn't say what it was replaced with... or more specifically, what ACEA rating is equivalent.

Funny thing is, I did find an oil meeting A5/B5, but it was a 5W30.

View attachment 73709

I just had this sitting around.

Anyways, the dealer uses Castrol 0W20 here in Canada, so I will too. But I just have this nagging feeling that such a highly tuned engine such as this, which had a custom oil designed for it, may want better.
Take a look at LiquiMoly's site there you can input your make & model and they'll show the appropriate oils they have A5/B5 I personally prefer their products also though they do show a 0W20 I'd prefer to use a 0W30 or if you are in lower BC even a 5W30. That engine with a Turbo & Supercharger is subject to extreme temperature and stress.
 
Take a look at LiquiMoly's site there you can input your make & model and they'll show the appropriate oils they have A5/B5 I personally prefer their products also though they do show a 0W20 I'd prefer to use a 0W30 or if you are in lower BC even a 5W30. That engine with a Turbo & Supercharger is subject to extreme temperature and stress.
Thanks for that. There is an email address for someone in town here. But the price is about 5x what I'm paying for Castrol!!
 
For anyone reading this later, turns out you can buy LiquiMoly in Canada from www.germanparts.ca. The Part number is LM20200. This specifically addresses the Volvo VCC RBS0-2AE/SAE 0W20.

Price is also better than it first appeared. About CAD $60 for 5L. But I need 5.6L.....

LM20200-1.jpg
 
Looks like that Volvo Spec is mostly ACEA C5, so any ACEA C5 oil should be fine if you want a known better ACEA C5 oil look for an oil that carries VW 508/509, MB229.71, or BMW LL-17FE.
 
For anyone reading this later, turns out you can buy LiquiMoly in Canada from www.germanparts.ca. The Part number is LM20200. This specifically addresses the Volvo VCC RBS0-2AE/SAE 0W20.

Price is also better than it first appeared. About CAD $60 for 5L. But I need 5.6L.....

LM20200-1.jpg
Use this in our 2017 and have no issues at all even in the TX heat. It seems to be a solid oil and meets their spec.
 
What's wrong with Vanilla Mobil 1 5W-30?
It's A5/B5...its a really common spec....
It does appear that 5W30 complies with that spec..... but Volvo wants the 0W20. I'd probably be fine with either truthfully. Mobil 1 0W20 doesn't list any ACEA rating on the bottle. I didn't dig further than that.
 
Looks like that Volvo Spec is mostly ACEA C5, so any ACEA C5 oil should be fine if you want a known better ACEA C5 oil look for an oil that carries VW 508/509, MB229.71, or BMW LL-17FE.
Now we're getting into it!!

From what I read on the ACEA website, there is an A rating, a B rating, and a C rating. Most of these oils I found have a A1/B1 C5 rating. I can find much clear english on how the C affects the A/B.

This thread isn't so much a pursuit of "what will be fine", as the dealer already told me "just use any 0W20 oil". This is to try and figure out what the engineers at Volvo said, and how to get it.
 
This is what i would use, or even the motomaster branded 0w30.
I believe it now also meets A5 B5 spec.
I didn't look at OW30, since that's not the rating I want. Makes me wonder why W20 doesn't typically display A5/B5 while W30 does. It might be that it's all in compliance, but they just don't state it. Half the issue we have here is they have to fit 50% French on the bottle, so you miss out on a lot of details. You are left trying to hunt down the PDS on the internet, which is basically impossible. (for the Canadian variants)
 
Now we're getting into it!!

From what I read on the ACEA website, there is an A rating, a B rating, and a C rating. Most of these oils I found have a A1/B1 C5 rating. I can find much clear english on how the C affects the A/B.

This thread isn't so much a pursuit of "what will be fine", as the dealer already told me "just use any 0W20 oil". This is to try and figure out what the engineers at Volvo said, and how to get it.
A and B sequences are full SAPS oil for Gasoline and Diesel passenger cars respectively, the C sequences are mid-SAPS oils for diesel or gasoline passenger cars, the C-rated oils create less ash when burned which contributes less to particulate filters getting plugged also mid-SAPS oils are supposedly better at preventing valve deposits in direct injection engines compared to their full SAPS counterparts. Mid-SAPS oil has been used in gasoline passenger cars in Europe for years because they've been using ultra low sulfur gasoline for a long time, the US has just recently gotten to the point where ultra low sulfur should be the standard, I don't know about Canadian fuel, mid-SAPS oil may have to be used at a shortened interval in locations where ultra low sulfur fuel is not available.
 
I didn't look at OW30, since that's not the rating I want. Makes me wonder why W20 doesn't typically display A5/B5 while W30 does. It might be that it's all in compliance, but they just don't state it. Half the issue we have here is they have to fit 50% French on the bottle, so you miss out on a lot of details. You are left trying to hunt down the PDS on the internet, which is basically impossible. (for the Canadian variants)
A5/B5 requires a minimum HTHS150 of 2.9cP which is the minimum HTHS for 30 grade oils, with the right combination of base oils an Xw20 with an HTHS of 2.9 might be possible but generally an oil with an HTHS of 2.9 or above is going to have a K100 in the 30 grade range.
 
Last edited:
A5/B5 requires a minimum HTHS150 of 2.9cP which is the minimum HTHS for 30 grade oils, with the right combination of base oils an Xw20 with an HTHS might be possible but generally an oil with an HTHS of 2.9 or above is going to have a K100 in the 30 grade range.
Exactly. And the ACEA sequence isn’t defined by a grade anyway (nor is it a “rating”).
 
A5/B5 requires a minimum HTHS150 of 2.9cP which is the minimum HTHS for 30 grade oils, with the right combination of base oils an Xw20 with an HTHS might be possible but generally an oil with an HTHS of 2.9 or above is going to have a K100 in the 30 grade range.
Can you explain how A1/B1 is different than A5/B5 and is it a relevant difference??
 
Back
Top