Who remembers Green GC 0w-30?

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Back when I first joined BITOG, green GC (German Castrol) 0w-30 was all the rage, I remember a good portion of the posts being on that subject. I was in my early 20's back then, and if I wasn't out at the bar or otherwise living up my 20's, I was dutifully looking for GC and super excited when I came across some. Any road trip involved looking for new Autozones I hadn't been to and scouting for the magical green elixir. I remember the Denver metro area being a gold mine-- I used to visit my cousin in Aurora a couple times a month, and in the span of a month or two, I probably visited most every AZ there within a 30 mile radius and procured a good size stash of the stuff. I never did find any at the local Autozones (Colo Springs). It was always disappointing to come across the yellow label US made 0w-30, and it was then that I learned to read date codes and was shocked how long some 0w-30 sat on the shelf. It wasn't a very popular grade at the time, probably still isn't.

Anyone still have any? I thought pouring out green motor oil was the coolest thing. I haven't seen the oil mentioned in a long, long time.
 
Used it in my WRX a time or two before I switched over to Rotella T6. I had a really hard time finding it around here.
 
For those too young to remember:
GCfront.jpg
GCback.jpg
 
So the stuff in the picture is API Service SL.
SM oil became available in 2004.
Indeed hula hoops were once all the rage.
The Belgian Castrol that replaced it (Edge 0w-30 Euro) is still labeled API SL and was available as of a couple years ago. Heck, it might still be. I still have a couple bottles (of Belgian) on the shelf that I use in OPE. I think the SL rating was because phosphorous/zinc was over the limit for SM/SN rating in that grade. I think they were somewhere near 1000ppm IIRC. Probably not the best for modern DI/TGDI engines, but my OPE likes it just fine.
 
I looked all over the Reno-Sparks area for it. I can't remember if I actually found the green or if what I found was "Belgian" Castrol, past the salad days. Whichever one it was, I didn't buy it after realizing I already had a considerable stash of BOGO Mobil 1 from Pep Boys, thanks to this site. I used the last of that Mobil 1 in 2015.
 
It is still SL.
But craze was not for nothing. It was truly uber sophisticated package. That green stuff was developed before BP took over Castrol. In Europe I think designation was STX or SLX, cannot remember.
Even today 0W30 is my go to oil if I can find it on sale.
 
Yeah I think it was already a clearance oil by the time I'd heard of it. Soon to be replaced by BC?
 
Back when I first joined BITOG, green GC (German Castrol) 0w-30 was all the rage, I remember a good portion of the posts being on that subject. I was in my early 20's back then, and if I wasn't out at the bar or otherwise living up my 20's, I was dutifully looking for GC and super excited when I came across some. Any road trip involved looking for new Autozones I hadn't been to and scouting for the magical green elixir. I remember the Denver metro area being a gold mine-- I used to visit my cousin in Aurora a couple times a month, and in the span of a month or two, I probably visited most every AZ there within a 30 mile radius and procured a good size stash of the stuff. I never did find any at the local Autozones (Colo Springs). It was always disappointing to come across the yellow label US made 0w-30, and it was then that I learned to read date codes and was shocked how long some 0w-30 sat on the shelf. It wasn't a very popular grade at the time, probably still isn't.

Anyone still have any? I thought pouring out green motor oil was the coolest thing. I haven't seen the oil mentioned in a long, long time.
I remember green GC. And I loved it.

Though, I hated having to look everywhere for it, oftentimes with minimal success, but once in a while with great success. It was one of the very few oils I ever “stashed.”

I had a 2001 Infiniti I30 that used to beat the snot out of M-1 and other synthetics based on UOAs.

I used GC for a couple of 6k OCIs, then sampled it.
Voila! GC held up quite well and I had finally found my oil.
Except, post-stash I couldn’t find it any longer.

And I recall a BITOGer with the handle of “Psychotle” (??) who posted about this oil quite often. And who was the other BITOGer who was Mr. GC?

Ah, a lot of BITOGers from back then are no longer here. That was a fun and very informative time with BITOG, and not just with GC.
 
i remember it, and still use it in my ope. Great stuff.
One member posted often about it and related it to the elixir produced by the elves of Bavaria.
His shining moment came one morning when all of us opened our browser to Bitog and found superimposed pictures of the Keebler elves throughout the posts. Comical at the time, Levity works.
 
A lot crummier oil has been made and used since then. I still use it‘s Belgium offspring in my Turbo Subaru, though my last fill was a 50/50 mix: 0w30 with the 0w40 version. Switched from M1 approx 32k miles ago. I think I have 2 more changes left in stash (all 0w30). Still getting single digit wear metals on the UOAs, stays in grade. Still has the original cat. Now I’ve jinxed myself. I’m still fond of grp IV & V. But, never had the green stuff.
 
What I liked best about it was that it had a decent HTHS viscosity back when most other oils were on a serious downhill slide when it comes to viscosity. Some will argue viscosity trended downward for the better, and I don't agree or disagree-- I've never had an engine blow up or suffer ill consequences using 5w-20. But the GC 0w-30 was a good one-size fits all oil that would work in just about anything before the advent of DI/TGDI engines that are more sensitive to higher SAPS. I used it on my VW VR6 engine and pretty much every other vehicle I owned until I used it up. The green dye was just the cherry on top.
 
I remember reading about it here back in the day and even tried it once in my 2002 Explorer. Found it at one of the local auto parts stores and was in awe. Wasn't long after that I couldn’t find it anywhere. I feel among the privileged to have tried the magic elixir.
 
Remember that too.....though I was on my car boards- as by the time I got here we were full into SM oils. I did get a bottle of it though......
 
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