Which of these oils will be better for my car?
- Thread starter raynist
- Start date
You cannot tell which oil will be better from those two simple analyses.
What specifications do they meet?
What specifications do they meet?
edyvw
$50 site donor 2025
There is MUCH more to an oil than simple VOA or UOA.
This for all intended purposes could be some mineral oil that would be cooked in EA888 in Golf R.
What will actually make an impact to your engines longevity is the tune. Stock is best for engine and turbo life. Lots of VW Golf R, GTI and GLI owners do a software tune on these cars which can impact the engine life unlike comparing one VW 504 oil against another.
I'm not telling you what to do with your car, as I have an APR tune on mine and an upgraded Sachs clutch kit including a Sachs traditional flywheel.
I'm not telling you what to do with your car, as I have an APR tune on mine and an upgraded Sachs clutch kit including a Sachs traditional flywheel.
What VW spec does your owners manual tell you to use? 502? 508? Follow that and change every 5000 miles with a new filter.
The one with Moly in it is the one I would use. My old Boss Molly always said you can't get too much Moly.
Both meet the 504/507 VW spec
Both of them
504/507 which both oils meet.
I definitely should have given more info and probably shouldn't have posted late at night when i was falling asleep - unfortunately it looks like I can't edit my original post to include more info.
Both of these oils are full synthetic european formulas that both meet the vw 504/507 spec among many others.
I didn't want to name the brands due to brand bias, but one of them is Mobile 1 0w30 European formula and one is Pennzoil Platinum Euro LX 0w30.
Maybe it doesn't matter at all and they are both perfectly fine which would be great too.
Car was bought brand new and has about 1100 miles on it currently. Not looking to tune it, at least not while it is under warranty.
Both of these oils are full synthetic european formulas that both meet the vw 504/507 spec among many others.
I didn't want to name the brands due to brand bias, but one of them is Mobile 1 0w30 European formula and one is Pennzoil Platinum Euro LX 0w30.
Maybe it doesn't matter at all and they are both perfectly fine which would be great too.
Car was bought brand new and has about 1100 miles on it currently. Not looking to tune it, at least not while it is under warranty.
If they both meet spec, then they both will be suitable, and you just can’t tell from a VOA which one will be “better”.
When you see the elements that make up the oil additives, you are seeing a reduction of complex chemical compounds. You don’t know exactly what they were, just how much of each element was present.
It’s like taking a short story, and tallying how many of each letter was used, without being able to see the writing.
Then trying to figure out which story was better based on how many letters were used.
You simply can’t tell - if one author used more “m”s than the other, was the story better? Or worse?
By reducing the actual additives to their components, you’ve got no idea what the additives were before that reduction.
Certifications and testing will tell you what to expect from those additives, but an elemental analysis will not.
When you see the elements that make up the oil additives, you are seeing a reduction of complex chemical compounds. You don’t know exactly what they were, just how much of each element was present.
It’s like taking a short story, and tallying how many of each letter was used, without being able to see the writing.
Then trying to figure out which story was better based on how many letters were used.
You simply can’t tell - if one author used more “m”s than the other, was the story better? Or worse?
By reducing the actual additives to their components, you’ve got no idea what the additives were before that reduction.
Certifications and testing will tell you what to expect from those additives, but an elemental analysis will not.
It sounds like I wasted $50 then
I will use the Pennzoil since it is supposedly made from a cleaner/purer stock. The Penzoil was sample 1.
Open to other suggestions if there is something proven better that meets the VW 504/507 specs.
I wouldn’t say it was wasted. It’s interesting what they find compared with what the manufacturer specifications are for things like viscosity.
It’s just that it’s impossible to tell what the original components were in the oil when you reduce them to their basic elements.
People like to look at oil analysis, and say things like “oh, that’s a lot of calcium, it has a very strong additive package“.
But the fact is you don’t know in what form that calcium was present before the chromatograph reduced it to calcium. I could throw a Tums or two in your crank case and get great calcium levels, but that doesn’t mean that the oil is gonna do well in service.
It’s just that it’s impossible to tell what the original components were in the oil when you reduce them to their basic elements.
People like to look at oil analysis, and say things like “oh, that’s a lot of calcium, it has a very strong additive package“.
But the fact is you don’t know in what form that calcium was present before the chromatograph reduced it to calcium. I could throw a Tums or two in your crank case and get great calcium levels, but that doesn’t mean that the oil is gonna do well in service.
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edyvw
$50 site donor 2025
Both are good, but IMO Mobil1 ESP 0W30 would be my choice if going between these two oils.It sounds like I wasted $50 then
I will use the Pennzoil since it is supposedly made from a cleaner/purer stock. The Penzoil was sample 1.
Open to other suggestions if there is something proven better that meets the VW 504/507 specs.
It has a lower VI, it has a complex mix of base stocks, a lower pour point indicating both PAO and GTL, and it is readily available for cheap in local Walmart.
Price or availability would not be a problem as they are both the same price at my walmart. According to the results above it looks like the Penzoil has the lower Viscosity or am I reading that wrong? Penzoil is sample #1 above.
edyvw
$50 site donor 2025
KV100 is irrelevant. What matters is HTHS (look around here, what is it).
Both oils have a minimum HTHS of 3.5cP. Both will have slightly higher than 3.5cP, considering their base oil makeup.
You cannot go wrong with either oil. You won't be able to determine which one is "better." Both are top oils you can find off the shelf.
If you think you can claim one is better than other one, you are fooling yourself.
If you want something special, go with HPL Euro or Amsoil 5W30 AEL. But they are not approved.
As soon as my warranty is up I am going to use one of those. Don’t want to take the chance of VW denying a warranty claim. Have used amsoil in my other cars for years.
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