oil capacities

[Eliot Lim <eliot@u.washington.edu>]

> > I was just reading the owner's manual of "new" 4000 SQ. It says that
> > the car needs 3.5 litre of oil with filter change, and 3 litre without
> > it. Is that correct? My '88 Jetta, with just 4 cylinder, needs 4 and
> > 3.5 litre of oil respectively. I sthat possible, that 5 cylinder
> > engine needs less oil than a 4 cylinder? Is that because one mounted
> > lengthwise, the other sideways, or is it just a misprint?
 
> That's probably correct: my girlfriend's 1990 Audi 80 with the 5-cyl
> engine used only 3.5 litres with a filter change.

> With recent improvements in oil and engine tolerances, as well as the
> addition of oil coolers, it's now possible to get by with less oil
> and/or longer oil change intervals.

i had a 4000q, and it didn't have an oil cooler and got by with 3.5
liters.  how much does the audi v6 take?

>  In Germany, people are concerned
> with the massive amount of oil used for engine lubrication and its
> ultimate disposal.  Therefore, manufacturers have re-evaluated the
> entire situation and--at least in the case of Audi--have greatly
> extended change intervals and generally reduced the amount of oil in
> the engine.  Did anyone notice that on the new V6s there is no "severe
> service" modifier to the 7.5K oil change. interval?  

their v8 engine originally took 10 quarts of oil (making an oil change
pretty expensive).  later a service bulletin came out and reduced
it to 8.5.  if you use synthetics like me, it is pretty expensive,
so i change at 7.5K with an intermediate filter change.

>The interval is
> even longer in Europe, and anyone who has driven there would know that
> most all driving there would meet our definition of "severe service."

do europeans keep their cars as long as americans?  i have seen/heard
of a lot of audis here with 200K miles..


eliot