[devarshi84]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Pardon me, but doesn't the car run cooler on highway runs, unless you are speaking of ghat road driving? I was under the impression that stop-and-go traffic in city conditions causes higher temperature and wear-and-tear on the engine.

In stop and go traffic its mostly the gearbox and clutch that takes the most hit. The engines are running at lower rpms only. On the highway the engine hits the higher rpms where the cooling system starts getting taxed. The wind and cooling system fights to keep the engine cool along with oil. Oil shearing starts at higher temps as the additive packs starts getting depleted.

And like somebody mentioned here, the real major wear and tear on the engine is during startup. A normal daily ride doesn't really need fully synthetic oils costing 4-5K per oil change.

Originally Posted by hserus

So ok, additives - especially those claiming ceramic coating etc - are most likely voodoo. Do you favor using engine oil flushes, or is just draining your engine for say ten minutes more adequate to fully clean out old oil?

Engine oil flushes help clean the engine. They are not additives. It is not advised on older engines as the seals are worn and the spaces around engine are filled with deposits retaining compression. Alternatively the blocked pipes are a problem and require cleaning.

I would suggest relying on good oil (all oils have detergents to clean the engine albeit in smaller amounts). Flushes do help in newer cars upto 100000 kms. Again if the said engine in question is known to have a sludge problem, I would want to use flush after every few oil changes.

[devarshi84]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

I think 5W30 is a semi-synth. Please check on my thread

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...silver-15.html

You will find multiple entries of invoices with 0W30 (Synth). I have also, checked the can twice. It was API-SM and not API-SN though.

Just rechecked. No 0w-30. Only 0w-20 which costs 1200 per ltr. Dont' know if it has to do with the area served.

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by devarshi84

Just rechecked. No 0w-30. Only 0w-20 which costs 1200 per ltr. Dont' know if it has to do with the area served.

Honda India is now also happy with 0W20. So you need not get worried.Go with it. 0W20 has been Ok in other countries incl the US for quite some years.

[devarshi84]

put this in my honda jazz. its semi synth and costs 1/3rd of idemitsu. i would want to assume the tech is shared with Idemitsu since they are made by the same company. its a group3 oil.

my splurge on Indian brands continues from Veedol to Savsol with good results

[sgiitk]

Savita not only manufacture many Idemitsu oils, they also market them. This may be under their own label or of Idemitsu. I remember somewhere a post explaining the relationship of Idemitsu and Savita. I am unable to pick it out in a hurry.

Originally Posted by devarshi84

put this in my honda jazz. its semi synth and costs 1/3rd of idemitsu. i would want to assume the tech is shared with Idemitsu since they are made by the same company. its a group3 oil.

my splurge on Indian brands continues from Veedol to Savsol with good results

Good to see the 0W20 becoming API-SN. I used Mobil1 once but then decided that the extra cost does not justify using that in preference to the Honda oil. Also, SAE30 is be a bit more economical that API40. Now API 20 should be even better. My Civic goes in for its annual service later this month (waiting to get some cash to pay) and then I will see what I get.

[devarshi84]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

Savita not only manufacture many Idemitsu oils, they also market them. This may be under their own label or of Idemitsu. I remember somewhere a post explaining the relationship of Idemitsu and Savita. I am unable to pick it out in a hurry.

Yes. It's a similar relationship to GP and Repsol and Veedol and INEOS. They share the same facilities and raw oils. The only reason why I decided that this oil might be a good choice. I am little bit worried about the thin oil burning up.

Originally Posted by sgiitk

Good to see the 0W20 becoming API-SN. I used Mobil1 once but then decided that the extra cost does not justify using that in preference to the Honda oil. Also, SAE30 is be a bit more economical that API40. Now API 20 should be even better. My Civic goes in for its annual service later this month (waiting to get some cash to pay) and then I will see what I get.

I did not get this from Honda, it was from a local Savsol dealer. Cost me 1200/- for 3.5ltrs. The immidiate effect compared to 10w-30 Veedol were the complete lack of NVH in the cabin post a 30 kms drive. Instant FE went up by about 2.5kmpl.

Two things to note though. It seems to be self specified API SN and ILSAC GF5 based on Idemitsu Formulas. It is a semi synth based on Group III (which is not a bad thing in my opinion).

[nitrous]

Originally Posted by devarshi84

I am little bit worried about the thin oil burning up.

I drive an R18 Civic in the middle east and the oil grade mentioned in the owner's manual is 5W40. The grade mentioned in the owner's manual pdf found online mentions 5W30.
I wonder why Indian Honda Civics are running 0W20.

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by nitrous

I drive an R18 Civic in the middle east and the oil grade mentioned in the owner's manual is 5W40. The grade mentioned in the owner's manual pdf found online mentions 5W30.
I wonder why Indian Honda Civics are running 0W20.

There are various options incl the one you mentioned. My Civic came with (I think) 0W30 (synthetic) initially. This is why the first oil change was at six months and not three. So I have stuck with Synthetic ever since. As for 0W20 I was wondering, since the US Honda specified it on their site, and Arizona is probably hotter that anything in India. Must have been the reluctance of Honda India. I will see what they fill in my Civic later this month.

[devarshi84]

Originally Posted by nitrous

I drive an R18 Civic in the middle east and the oil grade mentioned in the owner's manual is 5W40. The grade mentioned in the owner's manual pdf found online mentions 5W30.
I wonder why Indian Honda Civics are running 0W20.

Honda dealer confirmed their use of 0w-20 Fully Synth Idemitsu. Also, now they have a Synth 0-20 too as the fully Synth is very expensive.

Even Maruti Suzuki uses 0w-20 to boost FE numbers on its cars. (shell hx8 and Servo MGO)

A vast range of 0w-20 oils are now available readily from Total, Servo, Savsol and others.

US auto car makers have jumped to 0w-20 (rumoured that all Jap brands use 0w-20 from Idemitsu in different formulations). But I wonder why Euro car makers are not jumping on the thinner oil train. The castrol Synthetic oil case is a classic example of why I don't want to follow the American Oil specs but European ones.

Also not to be forgotten is how We are following US fuel dilution system with Ethanol (5% for now but will soon be 10-15%) which is important for the kind of oil we use.

[hserus]

Don't forget that fuel in india is often adulterated with things that are quite other than ethanol. Go to a village / highway fuel pump and you might find kerosene mixed into the fuel too.

Please correct me if I am wrong - The US oils will require a very clean and high quality fuel to be filled which I seriously doubt is going to be the case in India unless you fill Shell.

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by hserus

Don't forget that fuel in india is often adulterated with things that are quite other than ethanol. Go to a village / highway fuel pump and you might find kerosene mixed into the fuel too.
... unless you fill Shell.

I think we have two endemic problems - Kerosene (or Naptha in petrol) and under measurement. I for one will take the latter as a lesser evil.

Shell is not there everywhere. RIL is often not there in cities. As Shell buys from IOC, it shows that adulteration often occurs in the retail end of the chain.

[hserus]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

I think we have two endemic problems - Kerosene (or Naptha in petrol) and under measurement. I for one will take the latter as a lesser evil.

Shell is not there everywhere. RIL is often not there in cities. As Shell buys from IOC, it shows that adulteration often occurs in the retail end of the chain.

Theft during distribution (siphoning fuel from tanker trucks and adulterating there) is rampant as well, not just at the retail end of the chain.

Company owned / operated COCO outlets are fairly ok as a rule but not too general a rule. There's one such outlet near my apartment that doesn't have too good a reputation.

[Rama Naveen]

Guys wanted to bring this to notice of Bhpians.
Today I happen to meet one car engine oil dealer in Tirimulgherry area, opposite Lane to Maruti showroom and then second left.
I enquired if they had 5W30 full synthetic oil for my TataBolt petrol car.
Instead they suggested me of following brand Gulfstar and confirmed that this oil can be used in any car and most frequently used in BMW.

They also guarantee that engine would be butter smooth and definitely one can drive up to 15000 kms with high levels of refinement.

Did anyone ever tried this product and are they saying the truth?

[hserus]

To start with that seems to be a 0W-40 oil. And API SN/CF ACEA A3/B4-12

Same spec as shell helix ultra - and for that the recommendation is closer to 10k km / one year whichever comes earlier.

So if that quality checks out .. then worth it. What does it cost?

[devarshi84]

Originally Posted by Rama Naveen

Guys wanted to bring this to notice of Bhpians.
Today I happen to meet one car engine oil dealer in Tirimulgherry area, opposite Lane to Maruti showroom and then second left.
I enquired if they had 5W30 full synthetic oil for my TataBolt petrol car.
Instead they suggested me of following brand Gulfstar and confirmed that this oil can be used in any car and most frequently used in BMW.

They also guarantee that engine would be butter smooth and definitely one can drive up to 15000 kms with high levels of refinement.

Did anyone ever tried this product and are they saying the truth?

Gulfstar is a lesser known name. It is not necessary that a BMW recommended oil is good for your car. But does Bolt/Zest engine need BMW LL01 (A3/b4) which I think your Bolt takes (I dont know) or BMW LL04 (A1/B1) which this gulf star is?

Tata Bolt recommended oil IIRC is 5w-30. You should go thinner for winters. 0-40 is even thicker affecting cold starts leading to wear and tear. You can look at castrol start stop 5w-30 semi synth. It is a pretty thin 5w-30. I just poured in Savsol 0w-20 semi (SN, ILSAC GF-5) in my Honda for winters.

If you want to stick to a 40 grade fully synth, try out Mobil1, Shell helix, Petronas 7000 or Veedol Syntron. These are all SN a3/b4 with Merc 229.5 and BMW ll-01 reco.

A Semi should be good enough for 10000 kms. For the 40 grades, you can easily stretch to 20K under normal driving conditions as these are long life oils. They also cost double of a semi synth.