Help me choose oil for heavily modded VW Golf 1.8T

[orienz]

Hey guys,

I have an Volkswagen Golf IV GTI 1.8T 2002. It originally had 150bhp, right now it's at around 400bhp, it's heavily modified (big turbo, injectors, manifold, IC, exhaust etc). I have had this car for a long time and I drove it on big turbo for around 20k miles.
Just a few months ago I had engine completely rebuilt. I changed rods, pistons, new rings. Engine head had also been swapped to one with bigger exhaust ports. I did compression test a few weeks ago and it had perfect compression (190 psi on all 4 cylinders) and I want to keep it this way.

So far I used Valvoline SynPower 5W-40 or 0W-40, depending on what my local stores had but always SynPower. Here is the list of oils I CAN get locally without problems and list of oils I am considering. I need you to tell me if these are any better than Valvoline Synpower for my engine.

Liqui Moly High Tech (1307-5L) 5W-40 (full synthetic)
TOTAL Quartz 9000 5W-40
TOTAL Quartz 9000 ENERGY 5W-40
Almost ANY Castrol oil
Almost ANY Mobil 1 oil
ARAL Super Tronic 0W-40 (i use this in my MB E320 CDI, it's 229.51 approved)
ROWE HIGHTEC SYNTH RS 0W-40

Thanks for your help you guys. I really don't know much about oils and would appreciate any input you might have. Thank you!

 

[bmwtechguy]

Any chance your engine builder has a recommendation? He may have a better idea of which oil will keep that extremely modified engine together. If you were here, I would recommend Redline or one of the Schaeffers or new Amsoil racing oils. I don't know anything about most of the oils you have listed.

 

[BobFout]

I'd go with TOTAL or LiquiMoly.

 

[scurvy]

Originally Posted By: orienz
Here is the list of oils I CAN get locally without problems and list of oils I am considering. I need you to tell me if these are any better than Valvoline Synpower for my engine.

Liqui Moly High Tech (1307-5L) 5W-40 (full synthetic)
TOTAL Quartz 9000 5W-40
TOTAL Quartz 9000 ENERGY 5W-40
Almost ANY Castrol oil
Almost ANY Mobil 1 oil
ARAL Super Tronic 0W-40 (i use this in my MB E320 CDI, it's 229.51 approved)
ROWE HIGHTEC SYNTH RS 0W-40


Can you get Mobil 1 5w40 Turbo Diesel Truck? That or 0w40 should be excellent for your 1.8T (neverlose).

 

[Audi Junkie]

Easy, Rotella T 5w-40 HD

You want HT/HS of 4.1, not 3.5 like gas engine 5w-40s have.

 

[orienz]

turbo diesel truck? wow, why this one?

I can get this Mobil 1: http://www.mapodo.de/ole-nach/alle-viskositaten/motorol-0w-40/mobil-1-0w-40-4-ltr-6-73-ltr.html

There is also Mobil 1 New Life 0W-40, don't know what the difference is.

I don't think we have Rotella here, who makes this? The thing is that lots of oils are the same as in USA but under different name.

bmwtechguy, no recommendation from builder, he says Valvoline synpower 5w-40 that i used prior to build seemed to be fine. I am just looking for better alternative if there is one

 

[Audi Junkie]

Shell Rotella. Find out what diesel synthetic 5w-40 the heavy Volvos use.

 

[orienz]

No Rotella over here, all we have is Helix (listed as oil for gasoline and diesel engines), and something called Rimula (for trucks).
http://www.shell.com/home/content/se-sv/...2004_12_28.html

 

[Audi Junkie]

Yep. Does it come in 5w-40 or just 15w-40?

Any diesel-rated 5w-40 should have the extra high HT/HS (high-temp/high-shear) rating.

What kind of cold start temps do you see?


btw- the Euro Oils section will have a lot of info...

http://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=48&page=1&PHPSESSID=

 

[orienz]

By the way I can also get MOTUL 300 V POWER 5W40, is this suitable and/or better than the other ones i listed?

 

[Audi Junkie]

Euro 5w-40 oils for passenger cars are generally very good. No reason to think it would not work fine for you. The HT/HS rating necessary for the Euro A3 rating is 3.5cP at +150c. Diesel 5w-40s have a higher HT/HS of 4.1, which should help keep wear under control in your ~heavily~ modded engine.

I always say, mod the engine, mod the oil. Increased specific output requires a more robust oil. Would the Motul 5w-40 work, probably, but only a used oil lab report can tell for sure. I recommend getting one with whichever oil you choose, but the heavy-duty 5w-40 is a safer bet as a starting point. A lot of guys would go strait to a 50 weight oil, I'm taking an incremental approach, with 5w-40 HD being the inbetween step.

 

[Audi Junkie]

Oil temp is an important variable as well. Do you exceed +100c? That's the temp the oil's visc is measured (for the label). Get above that and the oil thins down.

Plug your temp and the visc of your oil into this graphic calc to see where you are at. You want to stay above 9cSt.

http://www.widman.biz/English/Calculators/Graph.html

 

[orienz]

The thing is that I also daily drive this car, my wife takes it to work and back every day...so at least 3-4 cold starts. It drives like stock. I had to make sure driveability wasn't affected because I need this car to take me to places as well as perform at the track.

Temperature always stays at 90C (thats what coolant gauge says anyway) but EGT can get pretty high (around 800C-900C or so) and since oil is cooling turbo as well maybe this can get problematic. Maybe i should run an oil cooler? I don't have oil temperature gauge.

I am seriously thinking about trying Liqui Moly High Tech (1307-5L) 5W-40 (full synthetic), I read some great reviews here.

 

[Thermo1223]

First do so get an oil temp gauge.

A long time ago I bought gauges from here www.42draftdesigns.com

A stand alone oil cooler would certainly be good for those track days.

Anything that is a 5w40 would be decent as long as it's synthetic. Only a oil temp gauge and UOA will tell you if a 50 is warranted for track use to keep the oil in grade w/ temp.

 

[mechtech2]

190 lbs cranking compression is a LOT for a turbo'd engine!
Do you have a variable intake cam on that car?
That could make it OK.

 

[orienz]

170-190 psi is Audi 1.8T new engine spec I think. I will try to get an oil gauge as soon as possible.

 

[puredrive]

My gti made 387whp on a GT30r. Running 580cc injectors. Back the the fueling was really [censored]. So the oil will get quite a bit of fuel in it

I tried quite a bit of oils. Best one was amsoil 5w-40

was the lowest temp

 

[Hoosier_Daddy]

if the synpower worked so well, why switch?

 

[orienz]

Because I gotta go all the way to Denmark to get it, can't find it anywhere near and can't order it online. All other stuff I can order online and it comes to my door directly

I am thinking to try Liqui Moly High Tech (1307-5L) 5W-40

 

[orienz]

Guys, is Liqui Moly High Tech (part number: 1307-5L) 5W-40 base 4 oil? How does it compare to Valvoline Synpower 5W-40?