Originally Posted By: Garak
I'm with BobFout on this. While an approved lube is the preferred and most fail-safe option, it's not the only one. One can go out of spec with careful reasoning, and Red Line 5w-30 is much, much more a Euro type 5w-30 than a North American ILSAC 5w-30. Given prices in the States, I'd stick to M1 0w-40 or the like. But, if specified oils were unavailable for some hypothetical reason, and I were forced to choose outside the box, Red Line's higher HTHS stuff would be a very reasonable alternative.
My concern isn't about harm to the engine at all. My concern would be the price of Red Line.
Of course, if for whatever reason I did not have a chance to get my hands on approved oil, I would go with whatever is best. Like I said before, I have no doubt RL is good oil, maybe even better, who knows, but it is indicative that they are not having any approval from anyone. I do believe that their oils would do good, probably provide better cold starting capabilities, protect turbo etc, but I think due to additive pack, they actually cannot meet standards. Are those deposits or something else, who knows.
And that is the point, why paying $11.95 for 1qt of RL when you can get 5qt of M1 0W40 for $26?