Hi, What would be the best oil to use Mobil one or Shell Helix I am in a warmer country the winter temp never drops below 16C 60F Thanks
I use the Shell per factory recommendation. There is nothing wrong with most other brands, I just use Shell.
Most synthetic oils with the recommended viscosity will be fine for normal driving conditions with regular oil change intervals. I personally prefer running Redline in the Ferrari due to the fact it uses ester base stock, and the engine seems to run quieter.
If you're in Spain, go with full synthetic oils from Motul, Total, Pentosin, or Elf. Shell Helix and Mobil 1 are not considered "full synthetic" in Europe.
Oil in Spain as availability of both Shell & Mobil can be difficult - Repsol do a 5W40 (Elite) which may be ok else the SHell Racing 10W60 may be a valid option (if you can find it) due to high ambient
"European blend" 0-40 Mobil 1 is fine for our cars and can be found in the States - It is a highest grade Mobil and meets many Euro car manufacturers specs, regular Mobil1 is lower grade and while it will not hurt your car, the Euro blend Mobil is a step up. Also, the "extended mileage, 15,000 " Mobil 1 is again a step up from regular Mobil and is ok to use, but does not meet oem higher level Euro specs. The standards for calling a oil full synthetic are more stringent in Europe, and most base stock for some oils called full synthetics can still come from Dino oil.......
Mobil wouldn't disclose as well as deny but it appears that they substituted group 3 base stock from better PAO (aka group 4) base oils years ago. In most European countries, only better group 4 and 5 base oils can be labelled "fully synthetic." This was the case a few years ago but regulations may have changed.
Since you are in a warmer country, you don't need the lower temperature viscosity of a 0W-40. A 10W-40 will be just fine and is slightly preferred because the amount of the add-pack will be somewhat less. As for brands, I always use Mobil 1. They started the synlube industry with their polyalphaolefin basestock and have continued to lead it.
Actually the Mobil 1 website recommends only the 0/40 Euro blend for my F car, a 2000 -360.....Or any 360. Anywhere. So a 10/40 is not recommended. In addition, as noted in my post the 0/40 is the highest grade/rated Mobil, closest to a full synthetic, grade 4 base stock, so why skimp on that for a $10 difference in price on 2 jugs. I understand the additives pack will be greater, but that is not always bad, different schools of thought on that one. While the greater the range of viscosity, thus more improvers, and a slightly faster viscosity degradation, you still start with a 0, not a 10 or a 5. Think of it this way, as the 0/40 ages and slowly turns into a 5/35, or even a 10/30 you are still ahead in the having a lower start up viscosity than a 10/40 - since that starts losing viscosity also, although it is at a slightly slower rate. There are some independent studies floating around on the net that a 0 viscosity is best for a lot of cars since that has the lowest start up ambient temperature viscosity, the most critical, since almost all engine wear occurs then. In these studies, the lower viscosity number was most critical, since it was found that at high temperatures and rpms even a oil like a 0/20 flowed and had similar psi as 30 or even 40 oils, but flowed much better start up due to the 0 Viscosity rating on start up. With 0 or 5 viscosity oil, at 65 degrees, I see start up oil pressure over 70 psi, pretty steep and a lot more difficult to push through the oiling system, and most importantly Lowered Flow levels, flow being way more important then psi. That 70 psi we see at start up actually shows how constrictive and syrup like oil is - signifying lowered flow to those engine parts. Pressure is only one indicator, oil flow is actually way more important, in particular on start up, so a 0 viscosity oil will be a lot easier than a 5 or 10 to flow through the system, getting lube to the critical parts faster. This regardless of outside temperature. High psi on start up is due to lowered flow, not good. That same 70 psi drops to around 25 at idle when fully hot, and bumps right up to 45/50 if the throttle is blipped, the 70 psi to 25 psi is purely viscosity change, but more importantly the corresponding flow. Btw 15/20 psi is all that is needed at idle, and 40/45 psi at high rpm is plenty, thus keeping the oil flowing.
Yes indeed. Most engine wear occurs in COLD starts. Living in a cold climate low viscosity oil is VERY important. Having a heated garage really helps. Most Fcars are well garaged. But every car that sits outside will benefit from being garaged. Usually the coldest temp of the day is at dawn. Hopefully your car is in the garage and has low viscosity oil. When I saw the difference between 30W and 0W or 5W on actually lubricating the engine in the cold...we are talking minutes not seconds. Of course Hitler learned this lesson when he tried to attack Russia in winter. He did not have multiple viscosity oil and his engines froze leaving him at the mercy of Stalin's defense forces. Nazi's had no mechanical advantage. Most people do not know that the reason why Hitler attacked Russia was his need for oil. Patton and the allies cut off his oil from the mid-east so Hitler was desperate to get Russian oil to keep his Panzers and other equipment moving. Germans were so short of oil their tanks could run on coal. that did not solve the lubricating requirements of the engines and other moving parts. Being trapped in Russia in winter was a fatal mistake. Had Hitler had multiple viscosity oil the outcome of WWII may have been very different.
Phil- Your WWII history is a bit off since Hitler invaded Russia in May, 1941, way before the US entered the war, and the UK was still getting its rear ends handed to them in North Africa in 1941 and was no threat to German oil supplies at that time. Hitler invaded because he was an idiot, against all recommendations from his general staff. Good thing for us he did invade, or we would have been fighting an extra 3 million or so Germans. The trick for using oil in Russia in the winter was to mix gasoline with the oil to lower the viscosity. As the engine warmed, the gasoline evaporated. No emissions control back then and it just went out the breathers. Did not do much for engine life, but it worked. Used by both the Germans and the Russians. Hitler was defeated by a combination of weather and unsupportably long supply lines. Same thing that defeated Napolean.
Compare the viscosity index of the synthetic oils in question. I think Mobil1 o-40 has one of the better V.I. viscosity index. There is no difference between a 0-40 or 5-40 at warm oil temperature. The difference is that when the oil is cold the 0-40 will lubricate better than the 5-40. The 0-40 will be the faster of the two oils in terms of flowing at cold start up.
Yahoo! Answers - Why did Hitler still invade Russia despite warnings of Napoleon's failure in 1812? Oil-fields, coal, iron and steel ore mines were becoming increasingly useful for production purposes. Hitler felt it was essential to claim these resources, which would fuel his goals. The Russian army was certainly not unprepared for Germany's invasion, but their problem was technology. The T-34 Tanks were horrible machines, badly armoured with limited firepower and lacking quality parts. Often you could see welding marks on the finished product. Thousands of these were produced, but they were little match against the Tiger, Panther and Jadgtiger tanks the Nazi's built. German tank units were slow, but carried massive weaponry, boasting excellent armour due to good manufacturing. The ONLY advantage the T-34's had was special engines which didn't freeze over. Not everything went according to theory, though. Despite Hitler's intentions, the Wehrmacht and Schutzstaffel failed to reach Moscow in time, being situated 30 miles away. They were not adequately equipped for the freezing, demoralizing winter weather. The temperature reached minus 46 degrees, and German infantry lacked quality uniforms to keep them warm. 750,000 soldiers died from the climate alone, more than actual fighting. 'd like to include this section so you understand that there was NO war on "2 fronts". Austria was peacefully 'inter-merged' into the greater German Reich under the 'Anschluss'. Moravia, the Sudentland and Bohemia were next to be annexed, with Czechslovakia following. On August 31, 1939, Poland was invaded by the Wehrmacht. By September 3, Britain and France declared war on Germany. On the 27th of September, the capital of Poland, Warsaw, was seized. In the next 6 WEEKS, the Wehrmacht, in conjuction with 2000 light Panzer I/II tanks, would crush French resistance. The Maginot line, a heavily defended French fortification near the 'low countries' was bypassed easily. Nazi squads poured over the Belgium border instead, through the 'Ardennes' (a dense forest region). The fortress of Eben Emael was supposed to stop the bulk of the Wehrmacht, but it was attacked by German glider teams. French High Command predicted it would take the Wehrmacht 4 days to cross the Meuse River, but they had crossed it in under 24 hours. French contigents quickly gave up and the British evacuated some 330,000 troops from Dunkirk, to Southern England. The invasion of France was an absolute victory for Hitler, establishing complete supremacy of Eastern Europe. 2,000,000 prisoners of war were captured. Fallschirmjager were dropped over Rotterdam in the Netherlands and other key strong points, backed with air support. Spain, Switzerland and Portugal were not involved, plus Italy was considered 'Axis'. There was literally no opposition in Europe by late 1939. The United Kingdom's oil fields, harbours, production warehouses and air fields were being constantly bombarded by the 'Luftwaffe' (German air force). The invention of the radar helped detect Nazi aerial raids, but Britain suffered immensely. 50,000 tonnes of bomb was deployed on England, 60% of which was on London alone. I hardly call this a war on two fronts.
Phil- We know all that. Your point that Patton had anything to do with Hitler's invasion of Russia misses the mark by about three years. Hitler wanted Russia's resources, but he had no pressure on him to go after them from the UK or the US in 1941. The only place he was getting his rear end kicked in that timeframe was by the Royal Navy at sea, and that does not help much in Russia, the Ukraine or East Europe. It did help later when we allied with the Russians and ran convoys around Norway to Russia.
As I recall my in my Aviation Mechanics schooling, some military aircraft had an oil dilution system on Radial Piston engines built into the aircraft. The switches for dilution had a safety guard that was safety wired with brass safety wire (easy to break) so that if the pilot decided to dilute the oil there was a tell-tail sign that it was done to other pilots or mechanics.
