[partyman66]

I was just over on theOilDropServer forms searching around for some UOA or personal input from people running German Castrol Syntec 0W30 in their 3RZFE-powered Tacomas/4-Runners. Unfortunately and much to my surprise, there was only one UOA(Used Oil Analysis) result posted for this specific combination of oil and motor, and it happened to be on a pretty old truck(1996 with quite a few miles) and there was no history of UOA results or any baselines to compare against on his truck... so his results don't really help much.

Does anyone here run this oil in their Taco/4-runner and have any input on it for this particular engine?(use oil analysis, or just general observations)

For some background info... My truck gets most of its driving in the winter months where temps are between 5 and 40 degrees and I change it at around 3000-3500 Miles always with full synthetic.... currently Mobil 1 5W30 paired with a Purolator Pure One oil filter.

I just picked up some of this oil this week for my other car because UOA results on this specific engine were unbelievably stellar... and I was hoping that the same might hold true for our Toyotas, so I could maybe switch the truck to it as well.

Thoughts/Experiences/Input?

By the way... Hi, I'm new here.

 

[Chris D.]

welcome to the site, please fill out your profile..

 

[sputnik767]

The German castrol syntec is the true synthetic if I'm not mistaken, unlike our Castrol Syntec which is a hydrocracked crude oil product. But my question is, why would you expect the German version of Castrol to be better than Mobil 1 or Amsoil for example? All of these oil are true synthetics and are likely manufactured in the same way, so the only differences I'd expect to see between them are the additive packages. I have personally never seen this version of Syntec around here, but from my experiences with Mobil1 I can tell you that when I change my oil every 6k miles or so, the oil is still very clean and bright.

 

[Chris D.]

I once didnt change my oil for almost 9K and the Mobil 1 still looked very lucid..
I did however change the air filter about every 2.5K

 

[partyman66]

The German castrol syntec is the true synthetic if I'm not mistaken, unlike our Castrol Syntec which is a hydrocracked crude oil product. But my question is, why would you expect the German version of Castrol to be better than Mobil 1 or Amsoil for example? All of these oil are true synthetics and are likely manufactured in the same way, so the only differences I'd expect to see between them are the additive packages. I have personally never seen this version of Syntec around here

Fortunately, We do have easy access to this oil where I live. They sell it at my local Auto-Zone... surprise, surprise. :headbang:

From the UMA reports that I've seen on the Nissan VQ35DE Engine as well as Chevrolet lS-1 Engines, the German Castrol significantly outperformaed Mobil 1 in lead content... which is supposed to be indicative of less valvetrain wear. The German Castrol was also more resistant to thinning towards the end of the typical oil change cycle in most reported UOA reports with these 2 motors. Another factor that weighs heavily on my mind is that the German Castrol is one of the thicker 0W30 oils out there, and Mobil 1 is one of the thinner.... and the VQ Engine seems to prefer a thicker oil(once again based on trends indicated by UOA results).

I don't want to give anyone the wrong impression..... so don't get me wrong about Mobil 1... Mobil 1 is fantastic oil and is a true Synthetic that can be had for about 22 bucks for a 5 quart jug at Wal-Mart. On the other hand, the German Castrol seems to be an ideal solution for motors that do better with a thicker brand of oil and are going to be driven in cold winter climates such as vehicles in the Northeast regularly experience and can be had for about $29 for 5 Quarts when purchased at Auto Zone. Amsoil would be superior to both of these oils, but carries a hefty price tag when you factor shipping into the cost, you're looking at about $43 for 5 quarts plus the inconvenience of having to wait for it to be shipped.

Those are the basic factors that I'm considering regarding this oil. My main area of concern is that I'm not really sure how the 3RZ handles thinner vs thicker oils and this is also a lighter oil than I currently run(5W30), but I don't think that will be an issue since it's going to be pretty cold here soon.

I haven't personally done too much experimenting with anything beyond Mobil-1 though... so I'm basing a lot of this off of theories and research of how these oils performed in other engines, for lack of solid factual data of these oils in use on our motors.

What do you guys think?

 

[Firdaddy]

although i'd almost rather not admit it ... my girlfriend managed to rack up well over 25K miles.. mabeyeven 30 on mobil one 0w40 before we managed to get her an oil change... the oil wasvery black no doubt but still very clean and very well.. on that oil we made a minimum of 4 round trips 500 miles each.. all with no problems.. engine still running great... so as another poster said why bother? i got the mobile one pure syntheric at autozone even:waytogo:
oh and i run 15w35 in my taco for the past 60K miles with no problems and i abuse the living heck outta it.. so it can handle thicker oils

 

[CelicaDRIFTER]

im using Shell Rotella 5w40 synthetic on my 2RZ

 

[boone88rr]

I run GC in my 1GR-FE. It loves it. Noticeably quieter than the Amsoil ASL I ran before it. Similar UOA results.

I don't think you can go wrong trying it. See how it feels and sounds. You'll know pretty quickly. You're not going to hurt anything. You can run it 5k to 6k miles with confidence.

GC is different from Mobil1 and Amsoil because of it's unique base oil. It's a combination of PAO and ester with it's own unique add pack (as noted above). Mobil1 and Amsoil are pretty much all PAO. Still good oil.

For the money GC is the best oil for me, it keeps my Taco quiet and the results are hard to argue with. Here's the latest one:

The first column is the GC, the third column is the Amsoil ASL.