812SF Engine Oil

Obviously, we all know these things sip oil. The sticker on the car in the engine bay says Shell Ultra Helix 5W-40, the thick owners manual says the same thing. The quick read guide also in the pouch says Pennzoil Ultra Euro 5W-40 however. My basic research tells me I'm SoL on getting Shell Ultra Helix in the United States. I have an endless supply of the Pennzoil, and even have 8 quarts of the stuff sitting in my shop right now.

My dealer is less than forthcoming on which oil they put in the car, which is kind of annoying. They told me I can just drop by and have them check it and top it up for me. So my question to you all is; for those of you who check and top the oil themselves, which do you go with?

P.S. my more in-depth research seems to show the Pennzoil and Shell Ultra Helix as being identical or nearly identical formulas.

 

I have a fundamental problem that the dealer service people will not even identify what they will out in your car for services even. That is absurd. It’s not a secret and should be listed on the invoice showing what was done so bad on them to not be clear with your question.
I had a similar question with a Lamborghini model and called and gave info without reservation. Shouldn’t be that hard.

 

Stay away from the Shell. That crap foams like crazy. Foam equals low oil pressure and poor lubrication.

The Penzoil is just a change Ferrari has made as Penzoil is now what they run in F1. It's both interesting and unsettling that your dealer will not disclose what they use.

My dealer uses Penzoil if nothing else is specified, but some of the more techie oriented guys are really fond of Royal Purple. The latter is my oil of choice for a few simple reasons.

It is stable as far as viscocity goes.
It is high heat resistant.
It has a very high shear strength for its viscocity.
I have NEVER seen it foam in either a dry sump or wet sump application.

There's a reason why it's a favorite with many track rats and lower class racers.

If you don't run your car hard and stick to the scheduled oil changes, Royal Purple HPS is a good choice. If you get a change each year or after 5000 miles, you can opt for XPR.

If you don't feel comfortable running such oils, use the Penzoil of the two. I have seen it foam, but not to the extent of the Shell.

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This. It is definitely a big red flag, and if I was in the OP's shoes, I'd contact Ferrari customer service. It is beyond scetchy.

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Yeah, I like Royal Purple in my other cars, that's certainly a primary choice for me. I typically run the HPS, as that's the good stuff right there.

Since I haven't done a change yet, I'm just topping, I wanted to try and use what was in there instead of mixing. I'm going to put in the Pennzoil, it's basically the same. 2k miles in and it's eaten probably a quart or a little more.

Also, while service wouldn't tell me what they were putting in the car, the parts department was more than happy to. They went and looked at what was stocked and were happy to confirm the Pennzoil Platinum Euro Full Synthetic 5W-40. So I'll just go ahead and use what I've got sitting in my shop.

 

The oil brand and type is a moot point for the first seven years of ownership from new. My dealership uses the Pennzoil Euro 5W-40 made from natural gas. I know this because I requested a couple quarts when I bought the car. It was funny that they said no one ever asked before. When I asked him why didn't they use the SHELL HELIX ULTRA Racing SAE 10W-60 oil in the manual he took one of the bottles and scratched out the 5W-40 and wrote 10W-60 on it!! Doesn't matter if you are a typical owner and Ferrari does the annual including oil change.

 

Lol, nice! That's probably what I would have done myself.

I'm going to let Ferrari handle the maintenance for the first seven years, I just want to keep the oil level topped up myself. I'm an avid DIYer, and have a huge shop, so I like to try and do some things myself. I just want to stick with whatever they are using.

 

10w60?
What?

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Read for yourself:

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/1110293/Ferrari-2012-F12-Berlinetta.html?page=35&term=shell&selected=1

 

That can't be right. That seems way beyond anything sensible. That's what people run in 600+ cid 2500hp blown engines with huge clearances and solid lifters.

Is that from an F12 owners manual? I'll have to cross reference that with the manual I have here tomorrow. That made my head spin. 10W60. That's a first.

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That's the official Ferrari owners manual. Its the same as in my bound manual and matches the sticker under my engine hood. I have used straight 60W in modified engines back in the 70s. Back then oil would thin to water when hot and there was no multi-viscosity. I have not done the oil myself in the F12 since it is covered under the 7-year and now the extended Ferrari warranty that includes the annual. Maybe next year I'll start doing it myself and address it then.

 

Oil weight is going to depend on climates too. So in a very hot climate you might see some heavier weights of oil. My 2006 M3 used 10W-60

 

True but 10w60 is not a common street oil. Interesting to see that they have changed to a more normal 5w40.

Not surprised about BMW. They have always used tons of oil.

But what really puzzles me is this. Most often, the heavy stuff is for large engines with very high cylinder pressure. Moe
Re often than not, tight tolerance race engines run oils in the 5 and 10 weight section. The oil in some naturally aspirated race engines are like water with a weight of Zero. I know this is not a race engine, but still. I understand 40 weight, but am still sometimes wondering why not 30 to get parasitic losses down. 10w60 is a heavy oil to move after all. I believe the Lusso runs 5w40 as well.

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In the UK they use Shell. They give you a bottle secured with Velcro in the boot.
I have 4 bottles now as I have never needed to top up.
Its the other way, I had to have the dealer come out and remove 2L !! The car was smoking on startup so I did the full check procedure and it was 2" above top level, so much for the 190 point check, it also came with faulty front parking sensor!
They said fill only to half way on the dipstick and it will still have 11 L in it.

 

Yep, dealer did tell me only halfway on the dipstick. Out of curiosity, how many miles do you have on the car? Mine has consumed ~2 quarts in 2000 miles

 

On my Superfast I had 1600 miles with no oil consumption. Just got an F12 so I can't tell you much on that yet.

 

Browsing V12 owners manuals gives this information:
550 Maranello: 5W40
575M: 5W40, and 10W60 for "hot climate or track use"
599: 10W60
F12: 10W60

 

Did you go from an F12 to and 812 and now back to an F12?

 

I’m glad I’m not the only one that’s seeing my 812 consume oil. I think the consumption you are seeing is similar to how mine has been. I just recently had an oil change at the dealer and afterwards following oil check procedure to the T- dipstick has thick line to slightly before minimum and thin strip towards max. I’ve never really seen it be a thick line to the middle of the min/max. Curious if you have.

At one point the engine was not sounding right and had quite loud lifter tick. This was probably after putting 5-6k miles on it. The car didn’t tell me it was low on oil but after putting a couple quarts in it was fine.

 

Because I’m a nerd, I read the entire owners manual pouch. All the little booklets in there, I read them lol. Anyway, the manual says check every 1000km (624mi) and it estimated it will consume approximately a quart in that time. My oil check has indicated 1qt per ~1000mi. I’m just beyond 2000 miles now, and will check every 500. My dipstick shows solid fluid up to the middle.

I’m curious about the other owners checking their dipsticks or the dealer not telling them about the oil consumption. It’s in the owners manual that it WILL consume oil. Either people are not paying attention, being blissfully ignorant, or not getting the full story. I can’t imagine their engines aren’t consuming oil between changes

 

When you see 10 year old cars with 5,000 miles or less on them its quite understandable.

 

Yes indeed. Although it is how a hybrid as it has Superfast wheels.


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Thanks. Dealership mechanics do mention that they will consume oil but that since much of engine hand built it varies car to car. I’m wondering if people changing the oil are paranoid not to overfill which is why I’m never seeing dipstick in the right place. Will add a quart and retry this weekend.

 

Touché lol. I don’t think that counts here since these people aren’t driving their cars whereas this is info for those who do drive their cars enough to consume oil

Talking with the head tech at my dealer he said their goal is to be in the bottom 50% between min and max on the dipstick. Usually the bottom 25-40% is where it ends up. Overfilling causes oil to get in the intake manifolds, on the throttle bodies, and the air filters. That’s probably why they tend to keep it closer to min than max