Rate this oil - Engen 5W-40

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Hi guys

I'm not an oil expert and need some advice. I normally use Castrol Edge 5W-40 on our cars , as its the best I can get my hands on for a reasonable price here in South Africa, but recently prices have shot up.

A local oil company , Engen , has on the market a 5W-40 that I can get for about 30% cheaper if I buy in bulk. I have no idea how good this oil is. I do have the datasheet , the specs of it are below :



The specs of the South African Castrol 5W-40 are below :



So , are they comparable ? If not , would you say that the Engen is worth it if 30% cheaper ?

Thanks in advance.
Thavash
 
Engen sounds like kind of a cutesy name for a motor oil.
Based upon the limited data given, the Engen is a little thicker than the Castrol.
What specs and certs are claimed for these two oils?
That would certainly be a factor in deciding whether the Engen is suitable for your application.
If the Engen meets some reasonable recognized specs, then I'd say it's certainly a good choice if it's 70% the cost of the Castrol.
 
From their PDF data sheet:
Performance Level API SN/CF, ACEA A3/B4, VW 502.00/505.00, MB-Appoval 229.5, Meets BMW LL-01 and Porsche standards.

It's listed on current Mercedes Benz BeVo list ... seems to be a legit product and if it meets the specs for the vehicles you planning on using it ... I say go for it.
 
Note that the Engen product is high SAPS (1.0% ash) compared to the Castrol being mid-SAPS (0.8% ash). They are designed for different applications so can't really be compared in terms of which is 'best'. You need to decide which best meets the needs of the cars you want to use it in.
 
Apart from my Toyota 86, the others cars I would use the oil in are family sedans ( Honda Accord 2.4 and Hyundai Sonata 2.4 ). I'm looking for long engine life first , and best possible fuel economy. What impact does a high SAPS number have on an engine compared to a mid SAPS number?

I would probably want the best possible oil in my 86, and go with value for the other 2.
 
Engen used to be Mobil South Africa so they probably know a thing or two about making lubricants. They make some of their own base oils in Durban but have access to very high quality Group III from their tie-up with Petronas. I never worked directly the Engen guys but they had a very good reputation in my old outfit.

Just eyeballing the numbers, I'd take the Engen oil over the Castrol oil every time. You can infer from the KV100's of the two oils that one is made with Shellvis VII, the other from conventional low SSI OCP. The latter will be better oil in real life usage.

PS - can I also say that I love South Africa and can't wait to get back there! It has everything; great food, fab wine, stunning scenery and wonderful people. Everyone on BITOG should go there at least once before they die...
 
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If it is actually listed on the Mercedes BeVo site, then I'm inclined to think its ok. Looks like a group III 5w-40 to me.
 
You should get a VOA done to see what additives are included. Might be worth checking what the price of Shell Ultra 0 or 5w40 (Acea A3/B4) is, as that might be cheaper than Edge.
 
Based upon the certs the Engen oil meets, I'd feel comfortable using it in any of your cars, including the rebadged Subaru.
The difference in SAPS between these two oils is minimal and some people have found low SAPS oils lacking in some applications for which they're recommended.
A site search will give you some examples.
I doubt that you'd see any difference in fuel consumption between the two oils.
 
Originally Posted By: SonofJoe
Just eyeballing the numbers, I'd take the Engen oil over the Castrol oil every time. You can infer from the KV100's of the two oils that one is made with Shellvis VII, the other from conventional low SSI OCP. The latter will be better oil in real life usage.

Can you tell us how to recognise this by the numbers?
 
Originally Posted By: Popsy
Originally Posted By: SonofJoe
Just eyeballing the numbers, I'd take the Engen oil over the Castrol oil every time. You can infer from the KV100's of the two oils that one is made with Shellvis VII, the other from conventional low SSI OCP. The latter will be better oil in real life usage.

Can you tell us how to recognise this by the numbers?


No problem...

As wide cross-grade 5W40s, both of these oils will need to contain a goodly amount of VII polymer. Presumably both of these oils need to pass the ACEA KO30 shear test to the stay-in-grade limit of 12.5 cst min. The Castrol oil, with it's KV100 of 13 can only shear down by 0.5 cst max. so the VII will need to have a lowish SSI; something like Shellvis 50 (SSI = 8-ish) or Shellvis 200 (SSI close to zero). Low SSI OCP's aren't generally available because the solid VII's are too runny to handle. The Engen oil has a KV100 of 14 cst (and can shear down by 1.5 cst). This is exactly where I would expect the KV100 to be if they were using a 22 SSI OCP VII (something like Lubrizol's Lz 7077).

I might be wrong of course but this is what it looks like to me.
 
So the higher the KV100 vs the lower grade limit, the better the oil in real use?

Or more seriously, oils not using Shellvis VII tend to do better in real life?

I'm still unsure about that. On one side, "heavy" gr3 5W40 with a KV100 of 15, on the other side some 0W40 with lowish KV100 (probably loaded with Shellvis?) based on PAO and/or GTL + gr3 base oil, which one to choose? Both similar approval, let's say MB 229.5 for example.
 
Originally Posted By: Popsy
So the higher the KV100 vs the lower grade limit, the better the oil in real use?

Or more seriously, oils not using Shellvis VII tend to do better in real life?

I'm still unsure about that. On one side, "heavy" gr3 5W40 with a KV100 of 15, on the other side some 0W40 with lowish KV100 (probably loaded with Shellvis?) based on PAO and/or GTL + gr3 base oil, which one to choose? Both similar approval, let's say MB 229.5 for example.



It's complicated. If you don't mind waiting, I'll try and pull something detailed together in the next day or two.
 
No problem, thank you for answering
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