Type of Oil Recommended

[Tallic]

I am having my oil changed this weekend. What type of oil does everyone recommend?

I was thinking Mobil1 European Car Formula 0W-40 Synthetic Motor Oil.

Any thoughts?

[freshcut]

I would just suggest using what Lotus recommends if you have it available. I currently run Mobil 1 15-50, but only because 5-50 isn't available locally. I'd hate to have to deal with engine failure just because I wanted to save a couple bucks on oil. Looking at the recommended oils, I don't see any that call for 40 for the V8. And certainly none that are 0W for the 4cyl or V8.

[Tallic]

Thanks for the info.

[Trevsked]

Further to this thread what do others run? Anyone running Castrol Edge 10/60 like the 4 cylinder cars? . I ask as I have it on the shelf.

Trevor.

[karmavore]

Royal Purple 20W-50 in my S4.

Royal Purple

Edited January 16, 2011 by karmavore

[Bibs]

Recommended oil

Trev, that's all I ever use, it's what the factory recommend and is a high quality oil.

Lucas, that's not an oil tested by Lotus in your engine. Unless you've done the sort of testing Lotus did, I'd add a caveat to any recommendation.

[karmavore]

Well....

I'd like to see what oils they tested and why they chose what they did.

I'd also say that there are some popular oils used by Esprit owners in the US (eg: Royal Purple, Redline, Amsoil) that may not be available in the UK and Europe.

[GavinT]

Valvoline Racing VR1 20w/50 in my S1 plus I add a bottle of ZDDPlus to boost the ZDDP levels. Adding a bottle of ZDDPlus significantly reduced the cam noise. I change the oil every 12 months regardless of the mileage. I do use the Lucas fuel treatment.

[fmxa]

A fair few of in the USA have been using Red Line Synthetic (http://www.redlineoil.com/Default.aspx) for many years, but as Bibs said it's not factory approved for the simple reason Lotus can't test every oil in the world.

There's a good discount for Lotus Ltd members at Portfiield Brakes in Costa Mesa CA (http://www.porterfield-brakes.com/) for Red Line oil and these guys also make great pads for the Esprit. May be Bibs could negotiate a discount for TLF?

Edited January 16, 2011 by fmxa

[miket]

royal purple10w-40 in my esprit turbo

[Trevsked]

All,

Should have made it clear but thought as I started to post this from the V8 tech room it would show. somewhere. I am asking about oil for a V8 not the 4 cylinder cars. I suspected it would be Edge but thought I would check.

Thanks.

Trevor.

[gghc87]

Recommended oilTrev, that's all I ever use, it's what the factory recommend and is a high quality oil.Lucas, that's not an oil tested by Lotus in your engine. Unless you've done the sort of testing Lotus did, I'd add a caveat to any recommendation.

notice the wiki link is showing the mobil oil for the 4 cylinder as Mobil one 15w/40 just wondered if this should read Mobil one 15w/50 ?

[karmavore]

Also, m1 changed their formulation a couple years back, right? Does that invalidate the recommendation?

[fmxa]

I was also wondering about the Mobil1 reformulation, and if it was specific to the US?

[oilman]

Mobil has changed some of their oils fairly recently. The Mobil 1 0w-40 now meets some updated specs and is now called Mobil 1 New Life. Mobil 1 15w-50 has been discontinued and replaced with a 10w-60, not a good decision I believe as the 15w-50 was quite popular. A couple of others have been updated and renamed Synt S-->Super 3000, Super S --->Super 2000.

Just because Lotus haven't tested an oil, it doesn't mean it's not suitable and it doesn't mean that it's not a better choice than what Lotus recommend. Manufacturers are paid by oil companies to promote their products (Castrol-> Ford & BMW, Mobil-> Merc & Aston, Shell->Ferrari, Caterham->Comma, etc etc etc) and it often comes down to the highest bidder supplying the oils. Redline were mentioned above and they are a company that don't get involved with the car manufacturers, but I would use their oils over pretty much every thing on the market.

Cheers

Tim

[Trevsked]

Tim,

Thanks for the update. Mobil 1 10/60 will be popular with Esprit owners as an alternative to Castrol Edge 10/60 I would think.

Trevor.

Tim,

Ordered some gear oil from the site but don't see a listing for oil filter or fuel filters so couldn't order these. Have these been missed or not available? Its for a 1999 V8 Esprit.

Trevor.

[Bibs]

...have you tested it to a level more involved than just putting it in the car? Has the oil been analysed after it's been removed? Have the gears been checked for wear? Has the CWP been checked for wear?

Or do you just like the fact it shifts better...

I'm not in a position to risk such expensive parts such as the engine and gearbox on untested lubricants. I'm sure that there are lots of wonderful new oils that do wonderful things but until I see empiric evidence that it's in any way better than what's being used now I'll stick with what Lotus told me to.

[ads_green]

I have worked with one sports car manufacturer who were paid to use brand X and then binned it and filled up the empty cans with brand Y as they wouldn't let that oil near their car.

I think truth be told any modern proper fully synth (not just in name) will be an excellent choice of oil and won't cause undue harm.

It's still important to get the right grade though and I find the link to the wiki quite worrying - the range of oils there are pretty much from one extreme to the other.

I mean the difference between 10W/60 and 5W/30 feels like it'll be huge.

[Bibs]

The wiki info is also here...

http://www.lotusespritworld.com/EGuides/ETechnical/oil.html

That's info from the factory.

[rogerch]

I've always treated this as my Bible, and never deviate. Esprit World

It's worth noting that when I bought my car the compressions were all over the place (mentally I was up for a rebuild) I immediately replaced all the fluids, using all Castrol products as per recommendations, including Edge 10/60 oil. The compressions came good (should have seen the treacle that came out of it, a certain Shell product) no further proof needed, don't scrimp on oil. I've been regularly chucking .9 bar boost through mine for the last 2 years.

Add up you're annual maintenance cost, and ask yourself, "does it make sense to economise on oil?"

[oilman]

We've been offered Royal Purple oils to sell and the UK supplier is on the same industrial estate as us so it would be easy, but we've had a few of their oils analysed and they aren't anywhere near as impressive as their advertising suggests. Their oils showed high sulphur content, which in the heat of an engine can produce acidic compounds, leading to increased wear. As their oils aren't great and cost a lot more than pretty much everything else, we can't see a reason to sell them.

Mobil 1 in the UK are 100% synthetic oils. Their 0w-40, 15w-50 and 5w-30 oils have 100% PAO synthetic basestocks, they are not modified mineral oils. Other Mobil oils, ones that aren't labelled as Mobil 1, are made from modified mineral basestocks.

Cheers

Tim

[karmavore]

Interesting stuff...

but I think we all need to get real . I think for most of us choosing an oil is about marketing and professional reviews. In all my oil changing years I don't think I've ever actually noticed a different between brands.

[oilman]

It's doubtful that you would notice any difference, but it's not so much what you notice, it's more about how the car is protected by the oil.

[karmavore]

Exactly...

So when people ask "what oil do you like" it's about reviews, price, availability... Nothing objective, first-hand.

[oilman]

They are different. In the US, some of the oils are ester based, none of the UK versions are. I can't comment on Japan as I don't know what they have over there.