[BiturboS4] RE: Oil

[Edwards, Dave]

My apologies - clearly you get a different manual in the US. The reason I
thought you had the same manual is that we don't get a UK-specific manual
here: For example in reference to tyre tread, it states that 'in Germany'
the legal minimum is 1.6mm.

Anyway, the Euro manual specifies 0w30 oil (no mention of any other weight)
to VAG standards. I still believe that all S4 owners should use
fully-synthetic oil if they care about their turbos. I don't think brand is
that important as long as it is a good one: Clearly Mobil 1, Castrol Formula
SLX, Shell Helix, Amsoil and Redline are in that category.

It's interesting that your manual suggests that 5w30 and 5w40 are
acceptable. I'd have thought that this is purely for market conditions
rather than any technical reason. Doesn't the 5Wxx mean that when cold it
has a higher viscosity than a 0WXX Oil? Therefore when it is really cold,
this oil may struggle to get round the engine (and turbos!) compared to the
lighter oil. Something to consider for those who live in cold areas.


-----Original Message-----
From: Ian McCloghrie [mailto:ian at codrus.com]
Sent: 11 November 2002 16:27
To: Edwards, Dave
Subject: Re: [BiturboS4] RE: Oil


On Nov 11, 2002 "Edwards, Dave" wrote:
> They're not strictly European standards, they're specifically VW-Audi
> standards. The one in question is VAG 503.01, and Mobil 1 0w40 meets
> it.

(dropping the S4 list because this is redundant there).
I sent this to the list a month ago, in reply to some talk about using
Amsoil 0w30 oil.

According to my owner's manual (2001):

] The following terms must appear on the oil container singly or in ]
combination with other designations: ]
] - API Service SJ
]
] - ACEA A2 or ACEA A3

Mobil 1 0w30 specifies SJ and ACEA A1/B1-98.

I don't have an Amsoil bottle handy, but my recollection from looking at one
is that it doesn't have any ACEA certification at all.

Redline 5w30 says it meets ACEA E2, B3, and A3-96.  They don't list an API
spec on the bottle, but their web site says it meets SJ, SH, and SG.

The manual also says that 0w30 is preferred, but that 5w30 and 5w40 are
acceptable.

--Ian