Can I switch oils now? Porsche C30 question

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Jul 6, 2003
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Boise, ID
My wife drives a 2011 Porsche Cayman Hybrid with the Audi V6 supercharged engine. Oil is spec'ed as Porsche C30 5W-30 and I have been using Mobil 1 ESP or Liquimoly 4200 5W-30 in it. The car now has 100k miles on it and warranty is long gone. Can I safely switch to something like a Castrol edge 5W-30 oil and move on? Something that is Gen 2 Dexos approved to protect the intake valves on this DI engine to the greatest extent possible? Rational is to be able to get a cheaper oil available at Walmart and other places.
 
You can probably get away with a ACEA C3/dexos2 oil (NOT the same as d1g2!) The dexos logo will be blue, not green :)

Napa has Valvoline MST 5w30 for $5.29/qt until 8/31. Part #787301

If you can find PP Euro L at Walmart, that should work, too

Castrol makes a C3-rated oil. It may or may not be included in this month's AAP oil change bundle.
 
My wife drives a 2011 Porsche Cayman Hybrid with the Audi V6 supercharged engine. Oil is spec'ed as Porsche C30 5W-30 and I have been using Mobil 1 ESP or Liquimoly 4200 5W-30 in it. The car now has 100k miles on it and warranty is long gone. Can I safely switch to something like a Castrol edge 5W-30 oil and move on? Something that is Gen 2 Dexos approved to protect the intake valves on this DI engine to the greatest extent possible? Rational is to be able to get a cheaper oil available at Walmart and other places.
Porsche C30 and VW 504.00/507.00 are interchangable. Mobil1 ESP 5W30 is probably best of the best you can find. I think Advance Auto Parts includes that one in $33 deal for 5qt with filter. I think AAP also has Castrol 5W30 C3. But, my preference would be Mobil1.
 
I'd be tempted to switch to Castrol Edge 0W40... Widely available, offers great protection, I doubt you will experience any oil-related issues with Edge 0W40. Here is a little read about Porsche oil certs/approvals. Quote below is from that article, I take it as C30 being the emissions friendly and MPG (every 0.0001mpg makes EPA happy) friendly. To keep EPA happy - C30 oils are good. To keep the engine internals happy - I'd go with C40/A40 oils. But chances are - in either case you'll end up selling/trading that vehicle for issues that have nothing to do with engine oil.

"A40 oils cover 1984 and newer sports car models, but with the newest vehicles, the C40, C30, and C20 standards have been introduced. Most notably, these new "C" specification oils provide protection against LSPI, or low speed pre-ignition, and protect emissions control devices. The C30 and C20 standards are provided for shared VAG platform engines that call for 30 and 20-weight oils, with thinner oils used primarily for improved fuel economy. "
 
504/507/C30 is a tougher specification and covers more than just after treatment service life. Fuel economy is not on the list. It's just as "thick" as 502/505/A40.

Where TBN depletion is not an issue, 504/507/C30 oils are superior.
 
I'd stick with Mobil 1 ESP. NAPA runs it on sale quite often. You can buy a year supply or more and stock pile it.
 
Cayman Hybrid?
Yes. Works quite well. Fuel mileage is around 25 - 28MPG on the highway and it has 385 horsepower, so it moves right along when needed. This is the first gen hybrid, so not a plug in and one can't run very long or very fast on straight battery power.

The brake pads have 100k on them without replacement and are fine, due in at least some part to the regenerative braking.
 
LOL, missed 2011.
Now that I rethink, it is hybrid, I would run as lightest as possible oil, probably Mobil1 ESP 0W30.
The 3.0t (which is supercharged) has also shown timing chain troubles. I think the 504/507 oils are better with regards to timing chain wear than 502/505 oils as well.
 
The 3.0t (which is supercharged) has also shown timing chain troubles. I think the 504/507 oils are better with regards to timing chain wear than 502/505 oils as well.
This is what I am talking about:
Or this, which I think it is same oil:
 
Last edited:
This is what I am talking about:
Or this, which I think it is same oil:
I know, I have run both in my TDI. Was just offering another piece of info to reinforce our position.
 
I bought the M1 ESP 0W30 a couple of years ago from NAPA and even though it did not say VW 504/507 on the back I checked with ExxonMobil website and I confirmed that it had the VW 504/507 approval (2018 time frame).
 
And I'm not sure what was on the containers at the time edyvw saw them, but the ExxonMobil website confirms that 0W-30 ESP has other approvals including VW 504 00.


Edit: sorry missed SR1919 post above.
 
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