Castrol oil branding / grades USA v UK - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

Steve Tinker · 05-07-2011, 07:30 PM

We've had Castrol Edge packaged oils here in Australia for about 4 years now - but like you guys in the UK / US there is no *W40 grade available.
I have used Castrol lubricants in my bikes and cars for over 30 years - always with good results, but since I cannot get the correct grade for my Boxster S, I have gone over to Shell Helix Ultra 5W40 oil. If its good enough for Ferrari (as they point out on the packaging) its good enough for my lowly M96 engine.....

As a point of interest, the first time I used the Shell oil (after it had been run exclusivly on Mobil 1 during the dealer warranty servicing) the oil darkened considerably after 3,000 miles of use. I changed the oil & filter again and now it hardly changes colour at all after the same 3,000-4,000 miles of service. Perhaps the Mobil 1 doesn't have the same amount cleaning agents that the Shell oil has....

Brucelee · 05-08-2011, 06:40 AM

M1 Euro brand (0-40) is a fine oil for your car. For that matter, any full syn Euro version would be fine.

pothole · 05-08-2011, 07:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brucelee

M1 Euro brand (0-40) is a fine oil for your car. For that matter, any full syn Euro version would be fine.

Humm, I was thinking of trying 10w40 to see if it made the car a little quieter on cold starts. Also 0w40 seems outside of m ost of the advice I've read. 5w40 or 10w40 seem to be the two options. What do you think?

Brucelee · 05-08-2011, 08:14 AM

M1-Euro was factory fill for many years in the Box and 911.

pothole · 05-08-2011, 09:45 AM

Factory fill wasn't 0w40, though was it? Also, some argue that Mobil 1 ain't what it used to be. No idea whether this is true.

Idaho Red Rocket 3 · 05-08-2011, 07:12 PM

Well I have stayed with M-1 but I have the Castrol on the shelf in the garage. I just have not yet convinced myself to change it over. I actually do something many would think is odd. I use 5 quarts of the M-1 10W40 High Mileage and 4 quarts of M-1 Racing 4T 10W40 motorcycle oil. You see todays modern car oils in the US have been reformulated to SL/SM ratings for emissions and fuel economy. So much good additive stuff that is actually needed and good for the engine has been taken out. The motorcycle oil I use is still rated as SG which has many of the additives we need.

pothole · 05-09-2011, 04:14 AM

At this stage, I am totally flumoxed. Finding it very hard to choose an oil brand or grade. Bit of a nightmare! Need to get something ordered today and can't decide between 5w40 and 10w40.

Car is a 97 with 85,000 on the clock.