ASDA Synthetic oil

[Ted]

ASDA sell their fully synthetic oil at under £20 (18.50 IIRC)

Bargain! After all, it IS synthetic.

So from now on all of my oil changes will be done using this oil.

Can't do any harm can it?

 

[whitenemesis]

As long as it meets the MB spec, then no problem

 

[corned]

The word 'synthetic' does not in any way relate to the quality of the material.

"Oh, it's synthetic - it must be good" is not a good law to go by! You can still make a synthetic oil badly and cheaply; you are just starting out with a different base material.

As Whitenemesis states, check the accreditations and specifications which the oil meets (or exceeds) on the side of the can.

I have seen 'fully synthetic' oil which I would not put anywhere near my lawnmower, let alone my car.

 

[Alfie]

Might be okay, might not. I prefer to know exactly where the oil comes from (manufacturer) and only use the recommended products.

 

[Bellow]

£20 for what quantity Ted?

 

[Ted]

£20 for what quantity Ted?

Apologies - 5 litres

 

[jasonyw]

The word 'synthetic' does not in any way relate to the quality of the material.

"Oh, it's synthetic - it must be good" is not a good law to go by! You can still make a synthetic oil badly and cheaply; you are just starting out with a different base material.

As Whitenemesis states, check the accreditations and specifications which the oil meets (or exceeds) on the side of the can.

I have seen 'fully synthetic' oil which I would not put anywhere near my lawnmower, let alone my car.

Never put synthetic oil in your lawnmower but mineral due to the environment.

 

[jasonyw]

Apologies - 5 litres

Still expensive, I am prepared to pay below £15 but even Castrol stopped marketing it for the obvious reason for higher profit.

 

[grober]

As in buying all oil- be able to read and understand the implications of the "small print" on the container. If there isn't any description on the container, or you simply don't understand oil ratings stick to the major recommended brands. Like Alfie, I like to know who makes the oil [even if its not on the "own brand" container] e.g. Halfords own brand used to be supplied by Comma

 

[nick mercedes]

Still expensive, I am prepared to pay below £15 but even Castrol stopped marketing it for the obvious reason for higher profit.

Motrio 5W40 Fully Synthetic Oil 5 Ltr

£12.23

 

[flango]

Theres a lot of guff spoken about synthetics a true synthetic will have and API Group IV or V base Oil and will be based on Polyalphaolefins or synthetic esters if it hasn't then don't touch it for use in true synthetic applications.

API base group III Oils are also sometimes passed off as synthetics but these come from hydrocracking the feedstock in the presence of Hydrogen, you can also produce API Group III base stocks from the Gas to Liquid route . These type of oils are really just highly advanced mineral oils and there is nothing synthetic about them at all although this is what the majority of Americans know as Synthetics.

The price of synthetic motor oil usually reflects the quality of the base oil.

Group V Esters are the most expensive, followed by Group IV Polyalphaolefins and Group III are not synthetic.

IMHO anything <£20 will be either a bottom end spec Group IV base oil or maybe even a Group III it definitely won't be a group V unless the product is being sold as a loss leader

 

[flango]

Motrio 5W40 Fully Synthetic Oil 5 Ltr

£12.23

Thats an interesting one, look at the API spec on that link SI/CF. S refers to Petrol engines C refers to Diesels. the SI prefix was never used by API and was deliberately not included for other reasons so there is no way that oil can be SI spec

See HERE for API Engine oil Guide

 

[renault12ts]

Is there any reason to be suspicious of the Mobil 1 supplied by Kwik Fit? I assume that if it says Mobil 1 on the barrel, then that's what you are getting, and it's the same as supplied in the smaller containers.

 

[Bellow]

Pure paraffinic base oil is best of all.

Ted. What API classification does it have? S and C?

 

[nick mercedes]

Thats an interesting one, look at the API spec on that link SI/CF. S refers to Petrol engines C refers to Diesels. the SI prefix was never used by API and was deliberately not included for other reasons so there is no way that oil can be SI spec

See HERE for API Engine oil Guide

ACEA A3/B3/B4-04, API SL/CF according to the blurb.

 

[nick mercedes]

Is there any reason to be suspicious of the Mobil 1 supplied by Kwik Fit? I assume that if it says Mobil 1 on the barrel, then that's what you are getting, and it's the same as supplied in the smaller containers.

No reason to be suss at all.

 

[flango]

ACEA A3/B3/B4-04, API SL/CF according to the blurb.

Aah that makes sense it says SI on the link obviously a typo and should be SL (that is incredibly cheap) be nice to know what the base oil is

Cheers

 

[nick mercedes]

Aah that makes sense it says SI on the link obviously a typo and should be SL (that is incredibly cheap) be nice to know what the base oil is

Cheers

It's Renaults own brand so Elf perhaps?

 

[flango]

Pure paraffinic base oil is best of all.

Ted. What API classification does it have? S and C?

Anything paraffinic cannot be considered as a synthetic as paraffinic bases are all hydrocarbon which puts them firmly in the Mineral Oil category.

The best synthetics are derived from Esters and PAO's (Polyalphaolefins)

For base Oil info see HERE for everything you ever needed to know.

 

[Ted]

Pure paraffinic base oil is best of all.

Ted. What API classification does it have? S and C?

Don't know - I will find out tonight......

Edit.... See below.....