Volvo spec brand recommendations?

[Ddubya]

Not debating the pros/cons of the recommendation (and most Volvo owners are aware of the ring issues with the 2015.5 and earlier years), but Volvo rather recently changed the recommendation for the 2.0T in my 2017 S60 and a lot of other model years from A5/B5 5W-30 to a Volvo spec (RBS0-2AE) 0W-20. At one point in time Castrol Edge Pro was the only producer of this spec, but now these oils are available from Motul, Liquimoly, Ravenol, and interestingly enough, Havoline.

Recommended OCI is 10K miles, but I'm doing 5K, so I am taking it to the dealership at 10K service intervals, but having oil changed at an indy Euro shop in between the dealer visits and providing my own oil. The Volvo dealer uses the Castrol oil, but it is nearly impossible to find at retail, so I am trying to decide which oil to purchase for the "in between" oil changes. It's a dealer owned former demo car that we purchased as a CPO car with 5K miles on it, so it has a fairly comprehensive warranty in place and just recently had the 20K service performed.

Knowing that they all meet the required spec and I'll likely be fine with any of the approved oils, any recommendations for what brand to use for my "in between" changes? Ravenol is a C3 oil that also carries a BMW Longlife-17 FE+ approval. The other ones seem to only carry the Volvo approval. Thank you in advance for your feedback/opinions, and everyone stay safe.

 

[amblerman]

If the volvo dealer is using the proper Volvo spec oil and I was looking for a good oil for in between changes, I think i'd go with the cheapest of the choices you have that meet the spec.

My opinion isn't based on any testing results or opinions about any of the oils themselves.

However, the oil is spec'd for 10K changes and you're doing 5K changes. Therefore, if it was me, I'd probably feel confident that any of the Volvo RBS0-2AE would be absolutely fine for 5K. That would then lead me to going with the cheapest of the choices.

Oh and I'd also add in that I'd go with the one that was easiest for me to obtain.

I have been following the whole debacle of the special Volvo spec that was near impossible to get until recently. Quite strange.

I have a 99 Volvo so I'm lucky that any oil sold today works for me (pretty much).
-A

 

[K20FA5]

I've been using the LiquiMoly Special Tech V in ours. It's really easy to DIY and that oil can be found online with free shipping for a good price. Seems to work just fine.

 

[Kamele0N]

Originally Posted by Ddubya
Ravenol is a C3 oil that also carries a BMW Longlife-17 FE+ approval. The other ones seem to only carry the Volvo approval. Thank you in advance for your feedback/opinions, and everyone stay safe.



This one....since if it is ACEA C3...it also automatically means that its HTHS is also @3.5 minimum...

 

[NuttCase]

I doubt there is such a thing as a 0W-20 C3 oil - the KV100 / HTHS combination would be a challenge.

I believe the Ravenol you refer to is the UVSO Eco Synth EFS which is a C5 oil and PAO based. Top drawer oil for sure but would expect it to cost more than the others and may be hard to justify for relatively short OCI especially since the dealer reverts back to Castrol every 5,000 miles.

Ravenol EcoSynth EFS 0W20

 

[Ddubya]

Originally Posted by NuttCase
I doubt there is such a thing as a 0W-20 C3 oil - the KV100 / HTHS combination would be a challenge.

I believe the Ravenol you refer to is the UVSO Eco Synth EFS which is a C5 oil and PAO based. Top drawer oil for sure but would expect it to cost more than the others and may be hard to justify for relatively short OCI especially since the dealer reverts back to Castrol every 5,000 miles.

Ravenol EcoSynth EFS 0W20


Yes, you are correct. I either misread that or mistyped. Thanks for the replies everyone. I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet, but have a few things to consider in the meantime. We average about 8K-9K miles a year on that car, so no hurry at the moment.