No I don't work for Silkolene, I am a Distributor of their products amongst others including Castrol, Mobil, Fuchs and Total.

Knowing this broad range of products I can make comparisons on cost/quality and of course have my favorites based on good technical information.

There is so much misinformation on the internet about oils and it's about time someone with a broad knowledge posted some facts. I don't post information from the sales "blurbs" as I'm as sceptical as anyone else of salesman (even though I am one), I run an oil distribution business and advise many car clubs and forums of the correct and best oils to use based on facts.

Regarding your question on esters, I know for a fact that Silkolene use polyol grades. They cost more but are better than diesters.

You can find a lot of technical information on oils here http://www.opieoils.co.uk/lubricants.htm

Hope this helps

Cheers
Simon

 

Wow great reading, got anymore of that report?

So would you recommend a specific make of oil for us Scooby owners? Silkolene, Castrol, Mobil-1?

 

Has anyone done a vote to get a better idea of the most popular oil?

 

Yep, full transcript here.

http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/showthread.php?t=346896

Cheers
Simon

 

Mobil 1, Castrol GTX and Shell are all very good oils, Subaru UK recommend Shell Lubricants......

 

OK, lets look at the facts:

Forget the brands for a minute, lets talk about the right oils for your Scooby.

I DO NOT go along with the use of 10w-60, IMHO, those using it are ill informed and doing so because of bad advice as there is no technical justification for this grade and it is not recommended in any information that I have seen for all cars since 1993.

If you look at the thread "lubricating a Subaru" you will see that 10w-50 is recommended and I would add to this 15w-50 and 10w-40 depending on your driving. You could also consider 5w-40 if you have a standard car which is a daily driver doing a lot of cold starts but I would not use 0w or sae 60 oils.

You need to use an oil that suits the style of driving that you are doing and is recommended in the chart in your handbook which shows different viscosities for different temperatures. You will find that a "safe" temperature range for the uk is usually listed as -20 degC to plus 30 degC.

The standard recommendation would be for a 10w-40 but there are reasons to use lower "w" rated oils and higher "sae" oils and the main considerations would be as follows:

5w-40 instead of 10w-40.

Better cold start protection as 5w circulates better than 10w being a thinner base oil and still maintaining sae 40 when hot.

10w-50 instead of 10w-40

Better protection when hot if your driving is enthusiastic and includes track days or driving when the engine is stressed. You could also consider 15w-50 here as well but bear in mind that there is a trade off with the 15w cold start protection.

So why do I not agree with the use of sae 60 (apart from the fact it's not recommended by Subaru) well, quite simply, its too thick. Ok granted you'll get good oil pressure but this is measured as resistance not flow and it's flow that matters.

More important than viscosity itself is "shear stability" a measure of the oils resistance to "shearing/tearing" with use and you need to consider the quality of the oil you are using. By this I mean that a "shear stable" 10w-50 will out-perform an inferior (hydrocracked) 10w-60 because it may be giving sae 60 protection when new but could thin within a couple of thousand miles of hard use and will only be a 10w-40 whereas a quality 10w-50 PAO/ESTER based will resist shearing for a much longer period, protecting your engine better.

So there it is, use a quality oil from a supplier that knows about the oils they sell and take their advice on the best oil for your car.

There have been and will be many debates about 10w-60 here but I personally as a "professional" in the business cannot endorse it's use from a technical standpoint, I also have chemical analysis on many oils and know the facts about certain "popular" oils that really are not what they are "cracked up" to be. You have to look behind the facade and there are oils out there that merely trade on a name but are in reality "average" when chemically analysed.

Cheers
Simon

PS. I have my flame proof suit on!

 

the american haynes manual recomends 5w30 fully synth for the legacy EJ20 turbo charged engine (and also heard of subaru main dealer saying so) , so thats what i've been using in my MY93 standard impreza WRX.

There is a local company to me, Caldo Oils, which blends its own oils using a base product from either castrol or mobil (can't remember) to quite a high spec.

http://www.caldo.co.uk/

 

Ok I have just rebuilt my engine and I'm I'm toying with Silkolene 15W/50 Pro R Ester Synthetic or Motul 300 comp 15w50.
I do a couple of track days and use the car probably twice a week on short trips of say 30 miles.
Or would you reccomend 10W/40.

Please help me through the oil mine field

 

What car do you have? (model/year would help)

Tony

 

Holy thread resurrection Batman!

As above, what model/year do you have and is it modified?

Cheers

Guy

 

Impreza 96 sti Jap import.
Only mods are induction kit and decat pipe.

 

I've just stocked up on Castrol Fully syn 5w/30 as I use mine everyday so cold starts are gonna be all the time now.

But judging on what Simon has said, maybe I should have gone for a 10w/40 or 10w/50 coz my car is modified and I do drive it hard (plus I have the anti lag on all the time)...

 

5w30 is a big nono on classics, so if you have a classic i would get it out of there asap.

Tony

 

5w-30 is too thin for the classics, go for this one

10w-50 oil

and put the Castrol on Ebay.

Cheers

Tim

 

So
Silkolene PRO S 10W-50 Ester Synthetic Oil For High Performance Engines
Is the oil to go in my 96 classic?

 

Luckily, Costco do refunds on oils so thats on its way back this weekend and I'll be after some of that 10w/50 engine lube!

 

You're a life saver Tony, thanks mate

All you guys offering your helpful advice and knowledge are true gents!

 

ive recently purchased silkolene pros 10w 50

i used it in my pulsar and it suited me, drove that engine much harder than the scoob

 

Costco do the Castrol 10w 40 as recomended for the classic 8 litres for £30

also do mobil 1 0w 40 £22, Remember they were doing castrol edge 5w30 for £3 per litre

 

Thats what my local dealer has been putting in my classic 5w 40 helix, what will it do to the car

 

The thing is (and oil experts correct me if I'm wrong), but 10w/40 semi syn seems to be the most versitile oil and most suitable for a wide variety of cars, so if that went in the scoob it wouldn't be the worst that could happen?

However saying that I'm going to take heed and order up the 10w/50 Silky Pro from Opie

 

Yes, it's ideal

 

Yes you are correct, 10w-40 as a viscosity will go in most things in the UK as will 5w-40.

Not so much in the last 10 years but prior to that 10w-40 was for pretty much everything.

Cheers

Guy