What oil are you using?
Discussion
I'm going to try the K&N filter (KN2004) on a 1995 S4, and I'm debating the oil choices.
Any caveats or recommendations? (I searched the forum but got no results).
I'm in L.A. so I'm going to need something good for high heat and stop and go....
I like mobil 1, Agip and Royal Purple. I've looked on the forum for 'approved' oils but the only Mobil 1 I can find in 15w/40 is the extended life stuff....
Any caveats or recommendations? (I searched the forum but got no results).
I'm in L.A. so I'm going to need something good for high heat and stop and go....
I like mobil 1, Agip and Royal Purple. I've looked on the forum for 'approved' oils but the only Mobil 1 I can find in 15w/40 is the extended life stuff....
I use Mobil 1 15w50 supersyn stuff with a pretty Nascar picture on it. The sticker on the bootlid (trunk?) says Castrol RS 10w60 which was at the time the only recommended oil but tech moves on. Royal Purple is supposed to tbe rather good but its like rocking horse sh1t over here. Of course, the viscosity is important too but for hot climes I would consult a Lotus tech for which one. I would say though that as Lotus engines probably arent as finely honed tolerance wise as say a modern Lexus/Merc/Honda i would put the thicker stuff in.
Jimmythesaint said:
I'm going to try the K&N filter (KN2004) on a 1995 S4, and I'm debating the oil choices.
Any caveats or recommendations? (I searched the forum but got no results).
I'm in L.A. so I'm going to need something good for high heat and stop and go....
I like mobil 1, Agip and Royal Purple. I've looked on the forum for 'approved' oils but the only Mobil 1 I can find in 15w/40 is the extended life stuff....
Hey Teigan...
My only recommendation is that you change your Bio...it says you're from the United Kingdom... LOL
Jimmy:
Mobil-1 15W-50 is the only oil I've ever used in my last four Esprit (all turbos by the way) and I've never had an oil related issue. The 1990 Esprit SE I once owned is well over 75,000 miles on the original engine and turbo. That's how good Mobil-1 is.
Mark Pfeffer
1999 Esprit V8
Mobil-1 15W-50 is the only oil I've ever used in my last four Esprit (all turbos by the way) and I've never had an oil related issue. The 1990 Esprit SE I once owned is well over 75,000 miles on the original engine and turbo. That's how good Mobil-1 is.
Mark Pfeffer
1999 Esprit V8
Jimmy:
The "Extended Life" Mobil-1 is the same stuff we've always used, a true synthetic not a dinosaur bone (oil from the earth) hybrid like several other "synthetic" oils. The Extended Life moniker is simply marketing to the nascar crowd who don't know better.
What's scary is the idea of running an oil in a car for 10,000 miles (synthetic or otherwise). In all probablility the Mobil-1 would be fine for that type of mileage, but the filter would likely be well beyond it's capacity. With the average price of a car in The USA nearing $24,000 and many way beyond that, isn't a $30 oil change every 3K-5K miles cheap insurance? I'm not pointing fingers, just babbling. Just my $0.02!
Feff
The "Extended Life" Mobil-1 is the same stuff we've always used, a true synthetic not a dinosaur bone (oil from the earth) hybrid like several other "synthetic" oils. The Extended Life moniker is simply marketing to the nascar crowd who don't know better.
What's scary is the idea of running an oil in a car for 10,000 miles (synthetic or otherwise). In all probablility the Mobil-1 would be fine for that type of mileage, but the filter would likely be well beyond it's capacity. With the average price of a car in The USA nearing $24,000 and many way beyond that, isn't a $30 oil change every 3K-5K miles cheap insurance? I'm not pointing fingers, just babbling. Just my $0.02!
Feff
Yeah, I've got an OEM filter as well, but I think I'm going to have a go at the K&N...
BTW, is the OE transaxle oil SUPPOSED to be green? I'm changing it out right now and it's a crazy shade of British Racing Green with sparkly stuff in it (the box shifts fine and the magnetic plug was clean so no it's not metal shavings.... :-)
For the tranny I'm going with the only thing I can find in the US close to Castrol TAF-X - the Castrol Syntorq LT GM equivalent part #12346190 - well, either that or holy water - I'm still trying to decide.
BTW, is the OE transaxle oil SUPPOSED to be green? I'm changing it out right now and it's a crazy shade of British Racing Green with sparkly stuff in it (the box shifts fine and the magnetic plug was clean so no it's not metal shavings.... :-)
For the tranny I'm going with the only thing I can find in the US close to Castrol TAF-X - the Castrol Syntorq LT GM equivalent part #12346190 - well, either that or holy water - I'm still trying to decide.
jimmythesaint said:
BTW, is the OE transaxle oil SUPPOSED to be green? I'm changing it out right now and it's a crazy shade of British Racing Green with sparkly stuff in it (the box shifts fine and the magnetic plug was clean so no it's not metal shavings.... :-)
Are all the components in the gear box ferrous? If not, then the shiny stuff could still be metal. Only way to know for sure is to have a lab run an atomic adsorption test.
jimmythesaint said:
Yeah, I've got an OEM filter as well, but I think I'm going to have a go at the K&N...
BTW, is the OE transaxle oil SUPPOSED to be green? I'm changing it out right now and it's a crazy shade of British Racing Green with sparkly stuff in it (the box shifts fine and the magnetic plug was clean so no it's not metal shavings.... :-)
For the tranny I'm going with the only thing I can find in the US close to Castrol TAF-X - the Castrol Syntorq LT GM equivalent part #12346190 - well, either that or holy water - I'm still trying to decide.
The shiny stuff is brass from the synchros !
Please do me a favour an donot abuse the 2nd gear too much !
Marcus
www.PUKesprit.de
>> Edited by Paula&Marcus on Saturday 27th May 21:56
I installed the braided stainless line I got from JAE yesterday to hopefully forever remedy my 2nd gear fear.
The craftmanship and qualiity of the line are aces.
My crtitcisms of the kit are this;
The fittings were too big to go through any of the factory holes.
The fittings were all different sizes from OE so I had to manage more wrenches than seemed necessary.
The kit was missing the adapter to fit the line to the slave cylinder thus leaving my car disabled over the long, sunny, southern California holiday weekend.
So driving my 'other car' over the Memorial Weekend sounded a little like this;
"Ooh, wow, what kind of car is that!?"
"It's a 1980 Mercedes 300D"
"Who makes that?"
"Uh, Mercedes"
"Is it fast?"
"No, but it does run on vegetiable oil!"
The craftmanship and qualiity of the line are aces.
My crtitcisms of the kit are this;
The fittings were too big to go through any of the factory holes.
The fittings were all different sizes from OE so I had to manage more wrenches than seemed necessary.
The kit was missing the adapter to fit the line to the slave cylinder thus leaving my car disabled over the long, sunny, southern California holiday weekend.
So driving my 'other car' over the Memorial Weekend sounded a little like this;
"Ooh, wow, what kind of car is that!?"
"It's a 1980 Mercedes 300D"
"Who makes that?"
"Uh, Mercedes"
"Is it fast?"
"No, but it does run on vegetiable oil!"
Gassing Station | Esprit | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff