Anyone have an opinion on Shell Rotella 5W40? I used it for my last oil change. The Subaru STi guys swear by the stuff. I use Shell gasoline strictly, too so I figured why not give their synthetic oil a shot, too?
Anyone have an opinion on Shell Rotella 5W40? I used it for my last oil change. The Subaru STi guys swear by the stuff. I use Shell gasoline strictly, too so I figured why not give their synthetic oil a shot, too?
2017 Subaru BRZ Limited w/ Performance Pack 6MT
2003 Audi RS 6 quattro 5AT - sold
STI does not equal RS6
Rotella diesel blend has been cheapened over the years. Cummins now has a special Valvoline spec diesel oil and Rotella is not used in any Cummins dealer.
Do an oil test and post it up.
Originally Posted by Turbowned
I'm a Shell gas devotee too.
I've used it in other turbo Audi's before, lot of the A4/S4 guys like it too. Still prefer the M1 0W40 Euro spec over it. For RS6, BND or Motul for my car.
03 RS6 | Daytona Gray on black | KW V3 | Rotiform 19x10 Wheels | REVO ECU | MTM TCU | 170k miles and counting..
"Some people play hard to get... I play hard to want."
I thought I would chime in on this thread. Since I acquired this car we have been using amsoil as recommended by others
When the car arrived from Germany Bobski had provided a liter of oil he said was the right stuff to use in this car, however we could not find an oil with the matching specs at our source.
Interesting enough was this tag in the engine compartment from Frankfurt Audi where Bobski had the car serviced which showed a different oil grade and brand
We may switch to the BND brand as suggested in this thread though...
2015 Q7 TDI 2013 TTS 2003 RS6 2000 A6 4.2 Widebody
1984 Thunderbird (351 Supercharged) 1975 Nissan Fairlady Z
What does that Amsoil cost per L?
I would like to see a Blackstone report on the Amsoil.
I've been using Motul 8100 x-cess 5w40
Also tried BND before, might go back that route
mik15:
Your experience with Castrol (noisy valvetrain) mimics what I also see on many cars. However M1 occasionally has the same result, but mostly in Mercedes from what I see. Castrol contracts with VAG and BWM. Both of which have oil related problems from what I personally see and work on.
Amsoil 5-40 has solved all these problems. If necessary will use Amsoil flush- works like magic to reduce/eliminate noisy lifters.
Bottom line on these older cars is that SN/SM rated oils may preserve emission system components past any Federal warranty period, it does no service to the engines. Using a SL/SJ oil has much higher additives which are helpful for protecting bearings on startup. Startup is where extra protection is mostly needed. There's always more to the story...
Re: Viscosity. In general the rated viscosity doesn't mean a whole lot. The oil may START at a given rating,but after use will change. Often becoming "thinned" out and falls out of SAE spec. Few companies publish specs, but Amsoil has some good info. I typically look at Kinematic specs that measure the actual viscosity at spec'd temps. I assure people that every brand of oil is a bit different-- some are a bit scary once heated up and used for awhile. Long as the Oil LIght isn't flashing that's good news...ahem. It just comes down to what is the most stable and durable oil.
For me i use the high additive version of Amsoil 5-40. Prior owner did dealer service, then Lubro Moly (okay up to 3500miles). After discussion with Amsoil tech will use 10-40 SS which has the full SAPS package (something on order of BND) for summer use. Have a few UOA samples I need to get reports on still....
Cheers, G2/Gary
C5-RS6/KWV3/Revo/H20 Inj./Custom BBK/Custom cooling/CNC arms \ VW Touareg V10 \ B7A4 2.0T Avant \ Mk1 Callaway Scirocco \ audirs6parts@gmail.com / www.oilpro.myamsoil.com
OK, so did BND oil change this weekend on RS6 #2. So this is twice I have changed cars with OE castrol in them to BND and both times experienced that exact same first reaction... there is tons less upper valve train noise with BND. Car idles so much smoother.
RS6 #1 904959, Daytona, Silver, tons of "stuff," went through puddle, dead engine, end of #1 for me, rebuilt by local enthusiast and thriving.
RS6 #2 904568, Avus, Ebony, no stuff, stock minus RNS-E.
Funny you bring that up. I was just noticing over the weekend that my C5 S6 (which gets M1 or Castrol 0w40) has a lot more valvetrain noise, especially on startup, than my RS6 (which gets BND).
Hmmm, maybe I'll give BND a go the next time around. I get a little rattle at startup when it's really cold (running Rotella T6; have not had it analyzed yet, sorry) which I figured was timing chain related. What does it cost per quart?
2017 Subaru BRZ Limited w/ Performance Pack 6MT
2003 Audi RS 6 quattro 5AT - sold
Does the S6 have the same front oil cooler the RS6 does? If memory serves me it doesn't. And if so, higher oil temps will cause more issues in the long run than not. Such as with the RS6 and it's external oil cooler.
Castrol is on my never-to-use-again list. While Exxon M1 is decent but tech-spec wise has been eclipsed by other brands in the last handful of years.
Good to hear about BND. I've noticed observations with that oil on 2 cars (RS6's) so far, including UOA reports. Before I blab my mouth too much, need to UOA my car with Amsoil. I hope the TBN/TAN is a bit better, but then again I won't run much past 5K miles.
Interested to see a UOA on the T6. Heard good things and some swear by it. I've yet to see any universal specs for it, like what Amsoil publishes. UOA is a good real world indicator, but engine condition and useage are large factors also.
Noticed the 'Cost' portion of your question. Thought I'd mention that you can get Amsoil 5-40 Euro for under $6 p/qt. Couple purchasing options thru www.oiloregon.com, including free shipping. Great stuff, use in all my euro cars, customer cars, including diesels.
On the grand scale it's a 2/3rd additive oil, compared to their Signature Series (even higher PPM levels of SAPS). I just got 10-40 SS for my RS6 for the summer. There's also a new 5-50 but is meant for the new Mustang. Great specs, but I need to find out the PPM counts as it's a low PPM/SAPS SN/SM rated oil. Not sure how Amsoil pulls that off.
Cheers, G2/Gary
C5-RS6/KWV3/Revo/H20 Inj./Custom BBK/Custom cooling/CNC arms \ VW Touareg V10 \ B7A4 2.0T Avant \ Mk1 Callaway Scirocco \ audirs6parts@gmail.com / www.oilpro.myamsoil.com
About $15 /qt I believe. Not sure on the exact price since I ordered some other stuff at the same time on my last order. Make sure to plan in some lead time as he sometimes has to order new materials to blend it up.
No it doesn't have the nice front cooler and accordingly, the oil temp gauge shows that the oil warms up WAY quicker in the S6 vs. the RS6. Also, I agree about Castrol which is what's in the S6 right now. I needed something last minute and it was the only thing available at the time. I have M1 waiting to go in on the next change.
Broken record.....I have been begging everyone for 6 years.
:-)
.dump the rotella
Please
just did an oil change today on my 205k RS6, I went with the Castrol OE 5w40 from the dealer. This car has only ever had Castrol as PO always had dealer do the service. ive never owned a car that still sounds pretty much mechanically perfect as this one, nothing but V8 sexiness, that's the reason I chose to stay with the same oil.
I still think intervals are the biggest thing, I see some guys go 10,000 miles, id never go that far, 6-8k for me at most (that's kilometers!)
2010 XC90 exec, winter machine (V8 of course)
2004 RS6 official Canadian edition, Daytona grey, (best colour!), summer edition
2011 Q7 TDI, general alrounder
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