I wonder if the B5 community can come up with a test-supported recommended oil brand/weight list -- and post it in the info forum. IIRC, those oil-test kits are only $20 for a lab analysis. It would be cool if we could get several dozen members to have their oil tested and then post a chart of the results (with comments by AA, if we can talk her into it).atomicalex said:Ask any of the boutique oil vendors for their engine sequence data. They don't have any.
While the base formulations of these oils are very good, they are rarely tested under the engine sequences as that testing is very expensive (buy a motor, run the crap out of it, tear it down for measuring, toss it) and apparently our friends at these shops don't care to spend the money. If I get one more 4ball result from these guys, I think I will self-combust. They don't even run HFRR, the current state of the art in engine oil bench testing.
I'll stick to guys with oil research programs that are on par with my lab.
AA - what's your opinion of the oil test kit from http://www.blackstone-labs.com/free_test_kit.html Is this the right analysis to do for our cars?