Porsche A40 spec?

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Just picked up a 718 Cayman which is my first venture into the world of Porsches. Coming from years of BMW ownership, the Porsche spec seems more straight forward as it simply calls for an A40 approved oil in 0w40, 5w40, or 5w50.

Porsche seems to recommend M1 which of course offers the readily available 0w40 FS oil. Is that what most Porsche owners are using? LiquiMoly seems to be a popular choice among Porsche specialty shops...anyone use/prefer that over M1? Anything else I should consider?
 
People will split hairs until the cows come home, truth is if it has A40 spec it is all you need. Mobil or Castrol 0w40 are good options, good oil, and among the cheapest in the spec. Liquimoly, Total, Motul, also good oils but more money for virtually no performance difference.
 
Good friend of mine got 718 Cayman 2 years ago and said it came with factory filled M1 0W-40, When I go visit I've seen stash of M1 0W-40, Castrol Edge 0W-40 and Penzoil Platinum Euro 5W-40 on his shelve in garage. He said the PP Euro 5W-40 he is using in hot summer months here in Nevada.
 
Originally Posted by Jimmy_Russells
People will split hairs until the cows come home, truth is if it has A40 spec it is all you need.


This. Lock the thread, nothing else needs to be said.
 
I was going to post my own thread but I can piggy back off this. I need A40 as well. Is it crazy to go with the 5w50 over 0w40? There is a sale right now that I kind of want to take advantage of. This car is new to me and was dealer serviced before. The manual states 5w50 for temperatures above -13°F ,of which that is the only weather the car is driven in. Car is garaged under 45°F. Above 40°F it may see use.

[Linked Image from photos.smugmug.com]


Always liked stout oils. For DE track events either way I am okay with changing the oil after the event. None this year due to the ongoing crisis.

If both meet A40 spec, and all things being equal, is a higher HTHS worth any value or is the thinner 40 weight more advantageous? Car is driven hard like it should, but outside of the track above 6k RPM for sustained periods is relatively small, but does happen. H6 howl.
 
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Originally Posted by gatorfast
Just picked up a 718 Cayman which is my first venture into the world of Porsches. Coming from years of BMW ownership, the Porsche spec seems more straight forward as it simply calls for an A40 approved oil in 0w40, 5w40, or 5w50.

Porsche seems to recommend M1 which of course offers the readily available 0w40 FS oil. Is that what most Porsche owners are using? LiquiMoly seems to be a popular choice among Porsche specialty shops...anyone use/prefer that over M1? Anything else I should consider?


You mean you've never heard of Porsche C20, A30, C30 and C40?
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I generally use the M1 5w-50 in ours which see nice weather only. A40 approved as noted and I admit to a bias for heavier oils.

Funny that I also use it in the diesel Land Rover...meets the requisite specs, but talk about two opposite ends of the powerplant spectrum.

Nice car, enjoy!
 
The whole European spec standards is a freaking nightmare and a hogwash - it's a stupiiid ICE that has been there for over a century why all these boutique soups.

The American standards are so simple backward compatible and just pure common sense.

Wonder what greatness is there in the Euro engines that other engine manufactures don't need. To me it is over-engineering & madness
 
Originally Posted by MaximaGuy
The whole European spec standards is a freaking nightmare and a hogwash - it's a stupiiid ICE that has been there for over a century why all these boutique soups.

The American standards are so simple backward compatible and just pure common sense.

Wonder what greatness is there in the Euro engines that other engine manufactures don't need. To me it is over-engineering & madness



Not entirely accurate. Domestics also have their own specs. API specs for diesels are not backward compatible. Euro specs are driven by emissions, FE, and sustained high speed driving.
 
Originally Posted by MaximaGuy
The whole European spec standards is a freaking nightmare and a hogwash - it's a stupiiid ICE that has been there for over a century why all these boutique soups.

The American standards are so simple backward compatible and just pure common sense.

Wonder what greatness is there in the Euro engines that other engine manufactures don't need. To me it is over-engineering & madness


I view all this madness as Pay for Play scheme. No different then ISO in manufacturing which I was part of close to 40 years and over half of those years in QA. It goes like this. Pay us one time fee ( in last place I worked before retiring) of $50K+ to be certified by folowing certain guidelines in your processes which are described in ISO standard (sort of like automakers requirements?) and then $10K or more for annual audit and this will guarantee extra sales to customers requiring that you're ISO certified.
Looks like no different with automakers collecting huge fees for letting oil co. put this or that approval on the bottle.

And here's catch 22.
Let's say you don't use their approved oil but some cheaper brand similar in performance, base stock, detergent and antiware additives and something happens with your engine, your warranty service will be denied regardless if it was fault of the oil or some mechanical failure not even oil related.

I don't know much about oil and all this approval process, what's involved and why.
The rant above is what I sort of suspect what is going on.
 
Originally Posted by MaximaGuy
The whole European spec standards is a freaking nightmare and a hogwash - it's a stupiiid ICE that has been there for over a century why all these boutique soups.

The American standards are so simple backward compatible and just pure common sense.

Wonder what greatness is there in the Euro engines that other engine manufactures don't need. To me it is over-engineering & madness

It is actually very simple, you just need to read manual. If it says for example BMW LL01, then you buy oil that is approved BMW LL01. It is actually less complicated then ambiguous recommendations in Asian and American vehicles where it is left to you to make educated guess which oil is best suited for your engine.
I worked on these approvals, and once oil is approved, you can use it with confidence.
Where you get confused is that this is BITOG. We split hairs. We are looking needle in the haystack.
 
Originally Posted by js1956
Originally Posted by MaximaGuy
The whole European spec standards is a freaking nightmare and a hogwash - it's a stupiiid ICE that has been there for over a century why all these boutique soups.

The American standards are so simple backward compatible and just pure common sense.

Wonder what greatness is there in the Euro engines that other engine manufactures don't need. To me it is over-engineering & madness


I view all this madness as Pay for Play scheme. No different then ISO in manufacturing which I was part of close to 40 years and over half of those years in QA. It goes like this. Pay us one time fee ( in last place I worked before retiring) of $50K+ to be certified by folowing certain guidelines in your processes which are described in ISO standard (sort of like automakers requirements?) and then $10K or more for annual audit and this will guarantee extra sales to customers requiring that you're ISO certified.
Looks like no different with automakers collecting huge fees for letting oil co. put this or that approval on the bottle.

And here's catch 22.
Let's say you don't use their approved oil but some cheaper brand similar in performance, base stock, detergent and antiware additives and something happens with your engine, your warranty service will be denied regardless if it was fault of the oil or some mechanical failure not even oil related.

I don't know much about oil and all this approval process, what's involved and why.
The rant above is what I sort of suspect what is going on.

Approvals are actually very cheap. Though I think GM is in that pay for play game.
BMW, VW, MB approvals are around $4000.
 
1.) Seems at $15 per 5 quart jug for Dexos 1 … no big deal …

2.) And anyone looking for super duper oil that does not want the cost of approvals built in ?
it can be found for $50/gallon …

3.) Just saw Mobil 1 euro rolled back to $22/jug

Houston, we don't have a problem ...·
 
Originally Posted by gatorfast
Just picked up a 718 Cayman which is my first venture into the world of Porsches. Coming from years of BMW ownership, the Porsche spec seems more straight forward as it simply calls for an A40 approved oil in 0w40, 5w40, or 5w50.

Porsche seems to recommend M1 which of course offers the readily available 0w40 FS oil. Is that what most Porsche owners are using? LiquiMoly seems to be a popular choice among Porsche specialty shops...anyone use/prefer that over M1? Anything else I should consider?


I had been using Mobil One 0-40 euro in my Porsche and tried Castrol 0-40 euro. Became much quieter. Mechanic put LiquiMoly 0-40 in and it became quieter still. Just my experience.
 
Originally Posted by willbur

I had been using Mobil One 0-40 euro in my Porsche and tried Castrol 0-40 euro. Became much quieter. Mechanic put LiquiMoly 0-40 in and it became quieter still. Just my experience.


Interesting, thanks for sharing. I have been a long-time Castrol 0w40 user (owned many BMWs before my recent move to Porsche). I may just continue using it on my 718 as it carries the A40 approval and most on here seem to prefer it over M1 0w40 (although admittedly splitting hairs).
 
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