Best oil for V8

V8Guzzler

V8Guzzler

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I have heard lots of rumours about oil... What is the best engine oil? My S4 does use quite a bit, so I bought a Redex oil treatment and it seems to have worked. Only needs a litre every 5k now not 2k!!

Thoughts and experiences please peeps :)
 
I use the ester-based Fuchs Titan Race Pro S 5W-40; most people use a decent 5W-40 to reduce the tensioner rattle.

When I enquired with Opie Oils about an additive for chain-driven engines they said:

I always advise against the use of additives, most of the time they are a waste of money, sometimes they are harmful as well. A good oil can give better results without the possible harmful side effects of additves.
Click to expand...
 
I've just done an oil change on mine and used some of the Fuchs as recommended by biyitch and so far so good.
I used some castrol edge 5w-40 the first oil change I did and that stopped the chain rattle but then it started coming back just after 3k. Then switched to Shell helix ultra, again in the 5w-40, that was smoother than the Castrol and didn't have any chain rattle after the 3k mark.
I tend to change my oil every 3-4k from what I have read about our engines and the close monitoring of the condition of my oil and I like to drive mine hard (when the engine is fully up to temp after 20 minutes of driving). Mine was using about a litre every 2k as well but I did have a slight oil leak which is now fixed. Maybe check around your valve covers for signs of a leak as the gaskets have been know to fail on all audi's not just the S4. Hopefully mine won't use any oil now.

Be careful with the redex stuff that it doesn't cause sludging. never used any oil additives myself so not sure what they say they do. do they say it fixes leaks?
 
Thanks for the detail. So you would use 5w-40 rather than 5w-30? The Redex treatment, just says it reduces oil usage (which it has) reduces engine wear, etc, but not leaks. Just add 1 litre to a full oil change. Mines due a service end of July so just wondering whats the best to do..
 
I'm happy to go by Opie Oil's recommendations - they know their fluids!

The VAG spec oils for this engine tend to be 5w-30 (not exclusively though, I think).

The full advice from Tim at Opie Oils for me was:

As you are not intending on staying on a long life schedule and are out of warranty, there's no real point on sticking with a VW spec oil. A very good choice for that engine is the Fuchs Pro S either in 5w-30 or 5w-40.

The 5w-30 is normally enough to keep the timing chain quiet due to the ester content, but go for the 5w-40 if you want to be sure.

I always advise against the use of additives, most of the time they are a waste of money, sometimes they are harmful as well. A good oil can give better results without the possible harmful side effects of additves.
Click to expand...

I went for 5w-40 and it's been great. I also used the same stuff (albeit a different viscosity) with my Impreza.

After I changed the oil last year I started the engine (and it rattled), drove home then, when I started the car the first time a few hours later, no rattle!

I'm due for a change in August and, since last year, it does still rattle sometimes but it's not as loud or long as before.
 
I normally order 2x5L and a 1L top up. The car takes about 9.7L or something
 
biyitch said:
I bought 10 L last year but only about 8.5 L went in.
Click to expand...

That's strange, I normally put 9L in, check the dipstick, then start the car to fill the filter and aux radiators and I always have to top it up.
 
Yeah, I was a little confused too but I didn't need to top it up for quite a while after that.

I'm due another in August so I'll get 10 again and see how I go.
 
Thanks guys...

Gonna get her booked in at C&R and ask them to fill her up with Fuchs 5w-40 then :)

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
 
Just got back from a jaunt to buy oil and was talked out of buying 5w-40 as the guy in the parts shop had worked for Audi for 8 years and said they would never use it and would recommend against it. The parts shop have recently moved from Fuchs to Carlube so went with the 5w-30 version of this. My car is about to reach 95k and does have good chain rattle when started cold but I dont want to cure this at the expense of the engine as it seems not to be a problem that doesnt harm anything. They reckoned that customers had ceased their engines by taking the wrong oil as it can affect pumps and all sorts. They even went as far as saying they got the customer to sign something to say that they wouldn't take the recommended oil!!!
 
Hmmm im thinking in that case to stick to 5w-30...

Fuchs???

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
 
V8FLETCH said:
Just got back from a jaunt to buy oil and was talked out of buying 5w-40 as the guy in the parts shop had worked for Audi for 8 years and said they would never use it and would recommend against it. The parts shop have recently moved from Fuchs to Carlube so went with the 5w-30 version of this. My car is about to reach 95k and does have good chain rattle when started cold but I dont want to cure this at the expense of the engine as it seems not to be a problem that doesnt harm anything. They reckoned that customers had ceased their engines by taking the wrong oil as it can affect pumps and all sorts. They even went as far as saying they got the customer to sign something to say that they wouldn't take the recommended oil!!!
Click to expand...

I wouldn't listen to audi! They say 20k is an ok oil service interval. I'm sure it says in the manual that 5w40 oil can be used, as long as it meets the vw 502 spec
 
Bigrichw,

What oil did you choose in the end. I've just ordered 10l of the Fuchs Titan Race Pro S 5W-40 Ester Oil.
 
In the end I used the Carlube 5W-30 and the start up rattle dissapeared anyway.
 
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