Another Dumb Engine Oil Question About 10-40W

I really hate to bring up another question about engine oil but,,,,,,,,there is no way 0-40W oils is good for Southeast Texas weather. It is much warmer here than Germany ever was or is. I dont see how even 5-40W is good enough for our summers here. I now see in my owners manual it clearly says "generally higher than 50 degrees F, 10-W40, 15-W40, 15-W50". The car is a 2003 CS4, if that matters. I just spent a fortune on stupid Castrol Syntec 5-40W based on all the stuff I read about the proper oil to use on various forums before I read what the manual says. So my question is, should I use the 5-40W for this winter then just change to the higher W in the Spring? I know this sounds dumb but I was surprised the owners manual stated exactly what I had been thinking for oil in warmer climates.

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When it gets this hot down there: Or this hot: and when you go this fast in it: Let me know... All with 0w-40 or 5w-50 oil. Goodness. Relax. One engine (02 Boxster) is now over 260K miles and the other in an 03 Turbo is just a few hundred miles away from 100K miles. Going to get its oil changed next week and 0w-40 is going into the engine. I will think about next summer returning to using Mobil 5w-50 (not a typo for 15w-50) but the biggest incentive -- 5w-50 being cheaper (at a nearby Mobil oil distributor) than the 0w-40 oil sold by the dealer -- is gone now that the dealer is offering 0w-40 oil at a price per quart that is lower. And frankly the engines appear to thrive on Mobil 0w-40 just fine, thanks. Neither engine shows any indication the 0w-40 oil is too thin, too thick or in any usuitable. I mean it doesn't take an engine running crappy oil in high temp/high load conditions very long to react. Generally the engine is toast before you can answer the question what the heck was that? Your anxiety is partially fueled by the owners manual which is unfortunately not up to date and the text that catches everyone's eyes contains based on info released by Porsche to its dealers info which is now no longer valid and is wrong. There is a line directing you to your dealer for the what oil to use. So, swing by your local Porsche dealer parts department to ask if the parts manager or one of the senior techs will print out a copy of the latest approved oils list for you. Or join Renntech.org and get access to the latest approved oils list. There's got to be one oil on that list that can withstand the high heat <ahem> of your location. If the Castrol Syntec 5w-40 oil is on the list and without verifying this I think it is, you'll be fine, the engine will be fine. Sincerely, Macster.

Mobil 0w-40 here in the southeast where temperatures and humidity are on par with Texas. 121k miles with 3-4 DE events every year and daily driving. No issues and although I changed my IMS bearing I was told it was in good shape and didn't really need replacement.

there is no 10w-40 motor oil approved for your car. You bought an oil that will work. Here is a recent (if not the most recent) list of Porsche approved oils. You need to look at the A40 section, not the section for the Cayenne. http://www.pedrosgarage.com/Site_3/P...oved_Oils.html

I'm glad an oil question like this came up while I was lurking here. My 2002 calls for a vast range of viscs, inc some well-antiquated API specs. We hear about newer API specs no having the additive levels that are "traditionally used" in engines with high spring loads. This is NOT the case with the thicker API grades, 40 and 50 weights, their allowed additive levels are higher than 20 and 30 weights, and are completely suitable for our engines. I'm using some Havoline DS 10w-40 right now, an oil with a nice amount of moly. Pennzoil is another good 10w-40. High Miles oils are a great choice for engines with weak seals, it also features stronger additive packs. Although I have a huge home stash of oils, I bought 2 $15 jugs of Mobil Clean High Miles for another short oil interval, over the wintertime. I got one 10w-40 and one 5w-30 to mix. It's actually a solvent-dewaxed Gruppe-III base oil, what is usually considered "synthetic", by most standards. With the large capacity of 9q, you can easily run past 6000-8000 miles. I just happened to be doing some short changes since I just got the car. First run was with some strait 30 HD (diesel engine oil). This comes back to my answer to the OP....YES you can use 10w-40 dino or High-Miles. In fact, it may be the best choice. for seasonal weather. 5w-40 is fine too, but unless you are starting the engine near zero F OR going over 10k miles a change. imo, 2 changes of cheap oil will produce a better result than 1 change of more expensive oil....for the same cost. There is no substitute for physically draining out contaminates, fuel and water...which can rust on the IMC bearing race, if the seal is compromised. The best oil for high temps is definitely a 15w-40 HD. HT/HS of 4.3cP is more stout than a 5w-40 at 3.5cP (+150c). It won't burn off fast like a 0w-40, lol. Less consumption = less deposits. HD oils get the newest additive tech, while oils like Syntec 5w-40 are stuck in the formula that passed decades-old sequences. I intended to follow-up (and did on the 928 forum to the point of getting a lock). Last word is forget about tons of zink and 50 weight oils. Take a look at the newest add tech, Conoco's Titanium liquid that gets worked into the engine metals. Amazing stuff...comes in 10w-40 for $5/q. http://www.conocophillipslubricants....ium.aspx#/Home

Also, Mobil 1 High Miles is the current King of Euro oils. Yes, an oil that they CAN'T even get in Europe is the best product on our shelves. This is what I plan on using long term. All 3 grades are blended thick, and the 10w-30 and 10w-40 both meet the generic ACEA A3 spec for heavy oil. All mfg specs are based on this spec, but to gain mfg approval, for VW, it's a $500,000 royalty fee for 3 years. Not carrying the mfg spec makes the oil cheaper, and better. This sample of M1 HM has crazy high boron and overbase calcium...with a damn good slug of moly. The strongest add pack I know, $25/5q. It's an older API SL spec that allows even higher add levels than 0w-40, VW 504 oil, etc etc.

At the risk of heating up this discussion, I have 2 local indys that are using 10-40 and the one went so far as to relate that the only IMS failures he has seen have been on cars using 0-40 and 5-40 and firmly believes 10-40 does a better job of protecting the IMS bearing. All very confusing.

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And all cars suffering from IMS failures have rubber tires too. Really, the conclusions some reach... Since all Porsches that are at risk of having/developing an IMS problem come from the factory with 0w-40 oil and most owners stay with this oil the majority of cars that develop an IMS problem, any problem, are going to be using 0w-40 oil. Besides 0w-40, there are only two of other viscosities of oil approved. 5w-40 and 5w-50. There are a number of 5w-40 oils to choose from and only one 5w-50 oil so the few that stray from using 0w-40 oil are going to end up using 5w-40 oil. And a very small few are going to go to the 5w-50 oil. And then there are a very small number of owners who stray off of the approved oil reservation and run God only knows what oil. In this case unless the engine goes boom the instant it is started all we hear about is how this miracle oil quieted down a noisy engine, stopped it from smoking, sealed up leaks that made Exxon Valdez seem like a faucet drip and so on. Anyhow, naturally the number of IMS failures will be in engines filled with 0w-40 oil since most engines have this oil and the owner continues to use this oil as long as he owns the car and given the age of some of these vehicles the subsequent owner or owners will do the same. But consider the number of cars that have not had an IMS failure. This fact alone strongly suggests that Mobil 0w-40 or any approved 5w-40 or even 5w-50 oil plays no role in the IMS bearing failure. Engines with non-approved oils represent such a small sample size and compared to the number of miles covered by engines with the approved oils have nearly zero hours of engine run time and we do not know how the engines will fare over the longer term. Thus people are venturing to use oils to address something that is not an oil problem to begin with. In doing so they are almost certainly subjecting the parts of the engine that depend every nanosecond on having a good oil at the right pressure in and sufficent quantity allow these parts to survive thousands, hundreds of thousands of miles with no issues to risk from using a substandard oil. I have to say substandard because I believe that Porsche alone knows what oils are ok to use and which are not. It never occurs to those that recommend some other non-approved oil that perhaps the oil maker didn't submit the oil for approval because it fails to meets Porsche's standards or it was rejected by Porsche as not being good enough. Porsche has enough confidence in its oil selectioni to warranty these engines for 50K miles and in some cases 100K miles. It doesn't take a crappy oil nearly that long to make its crappiness known, to do its damage. Really, it is your car and you can choose to get your oil advice from whomever you want and whatever oil you want. But before you switch oils ask this person or business to back up their recommendation with some kind of warranty or quarantee no engine problems will occur, no IMS fialure will occur with this oil, and see how long that oil recommendation stands. Sincerely, Macster.

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I agree with everything else, but I doubt there is a very small number of owners who use other non approved oils...I think the number is much larger.... I use a cocktail.... 5 quarts of Mobil 1 10-40 High Mileage 4 quarts of Mobil 1 5-40 Turbo Diesel '99 996 convertible, bought the car with 30K miles about 2 years ago...now has almost 70K miles.....daily fun driver, commuter, etc....

The Porsche engineers are a bazillion times smarter than me....so I follow the KISS principle (Keep It Simple Smarty): 1. Porsche published its list of approved oils. 2. I follow #1 (0W-40 for me) 3. Done. Have a great weekend everyone, nothing like an OIL THREAD to jumpstart the weekend

Mac, your use of metaphors cracks me up. My main concern is that I don't think Porsche knows or understands our Southern U.S. heat in the summer when they made the 0-40W recommendation. They simply do not have this kind of heat in Germany or Europe, which I would assume is the location of the majority of their customers. There is a huge difference in starting and running an engine in 32 degree ambient temp verses 100 degrees ambient temp. I am OK with using the 5-40W all winter but not sure about spring/summer. Another subject is my wifes 2012 Mustang GT calls for 5-20W but,,, that engine was designed to use this weight oil. Our 996's were not. Proof of this is in the factory manual that came with the 996 showing the standard weight/temp chart. This new 0-40W recommendation put out by Porsche is more of their Euro eco global warming BS. It was never intended for the older designed engines.

Just checked the approval list from a couple of posts above! WOOT! Liquid Moly (aka LubroMoly) is on the approved list!

Ok. The w-rating is simply a cold-cranking test at progressively lower temps. -20f -25f -30f. It literally has nothing to do with the performance of the oil when hot, with one exception, volatility. I GUARANTEE 15w-40 will burn off less than 0w-40. Mobil 1 0w-40 quickly sheers to a 30 weight, in about 1000 miles or less, so idk why everyone thinks it's the ultimate whatever. Porsche must recommend one oil for all climates and all conditions in the owner's manual, and have ONE oil to pass CAFE tests, guess which one, the lightest...Mobil 1 0w-40, giving the best mpg and also meeting the long-drain intervals. I doubt many of us do long intervals anyway. Also, like I said, we have oils here that are NA in Europe. Porsche doesn't run out and test every oil on earth to recommend the "best" one. They draw up criteria, like cold cranking, mpg and extended drain capabilities. Oil companies come to them and pay $.5m for a 3 year cert. Does anyone want in on that deal...? lol. Great oils like Brad Penn and AMSoil want no part of that, it would just add to the price w/no real benefit. All the Euro mfg specs begin with the basic generic ACEA A3 spec anyway, which is not difficult to meet. If you wanted to blend your own Porsche spec "Rennlist Super" oil, all you do is call Lubrizol and order the pre-approved add pack, and mix it in your bathtub with a specified base oil and BOOM, Rennlist Super Porsche spec oil....don't forget about the royalties though. If you don't care about .2 extra mpg, or cold cranking or extended drains, wtf do you want a spec oil for? 0w-40 has an HT/HS (high temp-high shear rating) of 3.5cP, 15w-40 makes 4.3cP. quite a difference. 40 weight and above represent a fluid intended to have an extra margin of visc to counter elevated oil temps. Putzing around in my Boxster automatic, I can easily run a mix of 10w-40 and either a 10w-30 in summer or a 5w-30 in winter. I have 2 jugs of Mobil Clean HiMiles, 10w-40 and 5w-30....an ideal oil for $3/q. The #1 starting point is the starting temp, secondly, the actual max oil temp. Above +20f or so, 10w-40 is perfect.

Sorry about repeating myself.

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Quoting from an old Porsche press release prior to the introduction of the Cayenne: "California is traditionally Porsche's largest single market, by far. Nearly 13 percent of the Porsches sold this year were purchased by customers here." The light cold viscosity of the recommended oils is intended to get lubrication to the complex valve gear as quickly as possible. That's money in the bank. At operating temps, your 0W40's viscosity is... 40. The intuitive logic of this, combined with Porsche's recommendation has always been enough for me. The Talmudic debates about oil on this board are essentially just for entertainment

I run 0W-40 in Texas heat and have no issues. My advice is run it year round and forget about it.

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Really, as long as you select w-rated oil appropriately, a sufficiently light visc is exactly that. So, a 15w-40 at 50F is the same starting visc of say, 0w-40 at +30F...see? I wish someone who comes out with this contention cold just lay out a number for acceptable starting visc. I'm sure 1000cSt would be fine. I like to stay above 5000cSt, 10,000cSt as the absolute floor. If this graph doesn't explain it well enough, there is no point in continuing. I hope to make it simple by explaining that you, the owner, is capable of selecting oil specific to your climate, not one single "fits-all" solution. There is a reason these other grades exist. Unless one of these people who "heard this or that from someone", can further refine and define exactly how thin the oil needs to be for correct valvetrain function, this is a closed issue. Why someone would think the more robust grades would be too thin for starting in the middle of summer is beyond me. Here's another graph... We see how the various grades are within a few degrees of being the same visc at startup, it's barely worth thinking about (in moderate temps). The only exception is a grade inappropriately used in the wrong temp range. (Syntec 0w-30 has the same visc curve as M1 0w-40) No one wants overly thick oil, this would mean turbo lubrication too, which imo, is more of an issue than valvetrain pressures. I'm going to start my car with 10w-40 in about 20C, what is that, a few degrees or 5cSt thicker than 5w-40 would be? Get real.

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I assume you're talking to me, in which case I'd suggest you find another audience. Here's a little reality check for you, and it has nothing to do with oil: a lot of the choices we make in life are about managing risk. When it comes to motor oil, my experience has been that my options are between Porsche's consistent recommendation, and an endless, rancorous shouting match among strangers on the internet who make all sorts of claims about their bona fides and toss up an endless parade of clipped "evidence" and vague recollections from college chemistry classes, while never achieving consensus. Even if by some chance you did know what you were talking about, a sane person would still bet on the car company. Sorry. It's just pragmatic. I'm very well aware of the variety of factors in a manufacturer's oil recommendation, but I'm still putting my money on the entity with the most to lose by being wrong. Respectfully, that's not you. As to the "reason other grades exist", well, it might surprise you to learn that lucrative businesses can be built on gullibility, vanity and false claims. The existence of other grades of oil marketed to Porsche owners proves nothing. There. Now it's a "closed issue".

So, you have no technical nor science background, you should have just said so.

I don't either but i'll go with what Porsche recommends.

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Clearly, you have, since only real scientists and engineers know that angry, abusive rhetoric is the best way to authenticate a claim. I'd urge you to re-read my post: I'm not discussing the merits of your argument. I'm saying that people have been arguing about this here and on other boards (and about other cars) since there was an internet. And whenever a debate is this vitriolic and this endlessly inconclusive, a sensible person backs slowly away from the crazy people and makes the perfectly sensible choice to follow the recommendation of the manufacturer who has the most to lose, and the most practical knowledge of both lubricants and the specific needs of the engine it designed. It may or may not be the "best" choice, whatever that means, but it will be the surest. Geez, this is what you're thinking about at 1AM?

I do have a technical and science background, with training in Tribology. I also go with one of Porsches recommendation, in my case Castrol Edge 5w-40, the last 2 changes. I used Mobil 1 0w-40 for all the previous years. Frequent changes with a filter, like 5-7k, or a year, what ever is first, with occasional oil analysis is more important. And again, viscosity has nothing to do with actual lubrication protection, just how easy it flows.

Wow, lets all be civil about this. The bottom line is I cant go wrong with Castrol Syn 5-40W in my climate, right? Thank you all for your opinions.

5w-40, 10w-40, 15w-40.... I'm not sure what's to be gained with a 0w- oil in a hot climate, and nobody has really tried to explain. but you know what they say... $80 worth of oil every 5k-6k, that's funny to me.

Yea you'll be fine Castrol Syn 5w-40 is on the approved list so dump it in. By the way when are you going to post pics of your new C4S? You did get it didn't you?

Mr. audi...you do realize the purpose of the oil is to both provide lubrication AND to provide cooling (esp. for turbos)...BTW I am quite technical and in none of the graphs you provided was there any accounting for measurement error...these are plots of means (measured how?) and since there are no estimates of variability accounted for it just doesn't tell the whole story. Feet in the freezer, head in the oven...on average you feel just fine...LOL

Of course people who don't know otherwise should use spec oil. There is always that guy who will use corn oil or something. As for comparing different viscs of SPECIFIC oils at different temps, my friend Widman cooked-up a graphing calc for this. Feel free to give it a shot, as long as the pretty colours don't distract you. http://www.widman.biz/English/Calculators/Graph.html It's really easy if you still know science stuff from jr high school. lol.

I believe the motor is more forgiving as to the type of oil it uses than the owner of the car. I think it's always been that way. I also know of no instances where a motor failure of any kind could directly be related to to the brand and viscosity of oil used.

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"I'm not sure what's to be gained with a 0w- oil in a hot climate, and nobody has really tried to explain." Assuming you are not kidding... The "0w" is the oil's viscosity at 32F. The 2nd number is the oil's viscosity at high temp (212F IIRC). If you live on Crematoria a 0w-40 oil would be inappropriate. For those of us that live on Earth a multi-viscosity grade of oil is just what the Dr. (Dr. Porsche) ordered. As for spending $80 every 5K miles on oil/filter services... My 02 Boxster has covered 260K miles and has received oil/filter services every 5K miles. That works out to 52 oil/filter services at a cost of -- using that $80 number -- $4160 in oil/filter servicing costs. Given a couple of months ago a replacement engine for my Boxster -- with a suitable "core" -- was priced at $17K not includling labor I can drive a million miles and still have spent less on oil/filter servicing than a replacement engine costs. Sincerely, Macster.

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For some reason I can't access the latest approved oils list on Renntech.org. The tab under which the link to the list should be instead always always takes me to the forums page. So I can't be sure the oil you name is on the approved oils list. Join Renntech and look at the approved oils list for yourself, or ask someone else with Renntech access to confirm the oil is on the approved list and if it is you and your car wil be fine with this oil. Or look at one of the bottles for an 'A40' which is the tag which signals the oil meets Porsche requirements and is on the approved list. Updated: I installed Firefox and was able to get to the Approved oils list from earlier this year, March or May and Castrol Syntec 5w-40 is on the list. Its approval certificate is good to Nov 19, 2012. Sincerely, Macster.

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+1. I can actually think of a few reasons why very frequent oil changes for this engine are a good idea. Personally, I've never even used mileage as a guide. I change the oil seasonally. It's probably worth reminding people, too, that recommended oil change intervals for German cars are as long as the manufacturer feels they can get away with, since they pay some kind of carbon tax on a car's estimated lifetime oil consumption.

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wut? More like -35C SAE J300, learn it.

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You must be doing something right if you're needing a replacement engine. $4100 would cover some pretty dramatic engine servicing of hard parts, but if you rather spend that on excessive oil changes, (without any UOAs), go right ahead.

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fwiw, Shell Rotella has done engine teardown documentation of seriously high miles engines, this one with over 500k... http://www.shell.com/home/content/ro...ducts/tpl_pro/ A good deal of documentation there. As I said, running a $2 15w-40 is NO compromise for a summer oil. Most of the cars here will need nothing more than a 10w-40 for winter. I'm happy with my Mobil Clean Hi-Miles for $3/q. Choosing a good oil visc goes hand-in-hand with periodical oil changes, of say 6 months. Summer oil, winter oil...not too complicated for most men. ftr- I don't agree with this chart, verbatim, but it is what it is. Porsche's chart is more conservative, but what do Russians know about cold weather? See how 10w-40 and 15w-40 go HIGHER up the chart than 5w-40? Where do you think 0w-40 would go?

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Admittedly English may not be your first language, but Macster did NOT replace his engine he simply quoted the cost of one ...I believe he did say he has over 260K on his...you should do more reading and less posting of charts that anyone can find on the net. If you want to get into technical aspects of lubricants, I suggest you go argue with the folks at Bob the Oil Guy . Much more entertaining.

There's nothing to argue, but thanks!

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Btw... +1 for the chronicles of riddick reference!

Could we please simplify this? I do NOT live in Germany, Russia, or Europe. Even in winter here, it rarely gets below freezing. If it does, it is usually just for a few hours. Its the summers I am worried about. It stays above mid to high 90's for months at a time. Im talking heat very unlike the dry heat you get in Arizona. I really dont see the point or relevance of Europes weather. So I assume 5-40W is fine here for winter but no way in hell I would run 0-40W anytime of year here.

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Seriously. As if I'm going to ignore Porsche and take my oil advice from an Audi fan with a <150 post track record.

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Skittish Toombs. +1

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All back of the bus +2

I don't understand why these discussions always seem to take a turn toward the ugly. For anyone who thinks this issue has been discussed adnauseum, I believe the option to read and move on is available. I thought the OP asked a valid question, and from the viscosity charts in this thread, I have to wonder if the temperature in his area ever gets cold enough to even "see" the benefits offered by the lower weights. Maybe that is the better question? I am not an engineer but I have done enough work to realize manufacturers sometimes, hopefully infrequently, make mistakes. And sometimes decisions by manufacturers are made for other reasons, e.g. does Ford recommend 5-20W in their new cars to enhance engine longevity or to obtain better CAFE numbers. And Porsche is not immune. That said, unless evidence to the contrary is produced, I agree the manufacturer's recommendation is usually the best advice to follow, which gets us back to the reason this question was asked.

Seriously, can we fit a sheet of paper between the various 40 weight oil grades thru the start and warm phases? Hard to say, because they actually overlap and intersect. Throw the 30 and 50 weights off the graph, going up through operating temp, and the differences becomes meaningless. A divergence of +/- 5C or +/-5cSt visc in a half-cold engine is a non-issue. Really, can you tell if the oil you use is 70 degrees, or is it 75 degrees, by the apparent visc...? I kinda doubt it. I think the vast majority here can easily interpret the info I presented. It's just a matter of wanting to *learn* more than wanting to defer to an authority figure, repeating what they are told, ad infinitum. I'm used to dealing with people who accept and appreciate valid oil information, excuse me for being curt.

FWIW, when I bought my car, I knew I would DE it from time to time. So I spent some time over on that forum researching what they use or recommend. While there is seldom a consensus on "oil" threads, I came away believing that for the track, Castrol Syntec with Edge 10-40 (or whatever the new name is) would be fine. I change it very 2 events and it comes out as clean as when it goes in and the filter is just as clean. YMMV

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Me, too. Especially from a credible source.

Ah yes an oil thread! I use Mobil 1 4T (10W-40) and I'll not apologize for it.

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me too...but I use it for my Hayabusa

I was at a DE this weekend and we had sessions that ran for one hour. At speed my car still had oil pressure between 4-5 bars and at idle when we pulled into the pits it was still over 1. This was using 0w-40 with outside temps in the mid 70s. I don't doubt that some other oils might be just as effective but if the M1 was breaking down in higher temps wouldn't I see my oil pressure consistently lowering itself throughout the day?

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Thank you.

The oil in our cars is not just used for lubrication of high temp moving parts, but also as a hydraulic fluid for the variocams, for instance. This has to be taken into account. It's not just for flowing at -32F. If it's ok'ed by Porsche, then use it, if it's not ok'ed by Porsche, then use it....it's your car, do what you want. Why ask opinions from a few guys that have owned their cars for a few years, versus relying on the manufacturer that designed the engine and it's variations for generations? I don't get it...

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lol.

I'm standing on my head reading these graphs.....I'm about to pass out.

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Easy fix.... turn your computer upside down

After reading all the graphs I decided to put synthetic 15w-40 in my lawn mower.

"I don't think Porsche knows or understands our Southern U.S. heat in the summer" Porsche NA is in Atlanta... I'm guessing they do as much hot weather testing as the next company.

Anyone else using ATF in the Power Steering? I have a graph for that too...

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By factory manual I believe you are referring to the owners manual? If so that is woefully out of date, and does tend to fan these discussions long after the embers should have grown cold. If you elect to ignore the recommendation to use Mobil 1 0w-40 and wish to use another oil, there is a sentence that applies. I can't quote it verbatim but in short it directs you to your dealer for a list of approved oils. The USA market is if not the the biggest market followed by the European market which includes Germany, it is very close. The far east market is on the upswing and it if keeps growing in size soon all car designs/features will be dictated by what that market area likes/wants. Porsche tests its cars in the heat of the USA southwest and in South Africa. SA is gaining in favor because the local authorities are more accommodating giving Porsche carte blanche to take over some sections of roads in the northern territories. Speed limits are suspended (well not enforced) and also important is the automotive photogs/press are excluded except by invitation. (The same applies to the areas in which Porsche cold tests its cars.) Porsche would have no market other than Germany if its cars expired in the heat of well, warmer regions than the heat found in Germany. You have elected to discount in fact outright dismiss the oil recommendation by the only entity that is any position to make an informed recommendation, an entity that has the most riding on its recommendation, that has the most to lose if its recommendation is wrong. You have dismissed the science/engineering of the company that designed/tested/manufacturers and warranties the car you purchased. One has to wonder why if you believe Porsche so lacking in this area you why you bought a Porsche in the first place unless you believe all car companies are equally incapable of knowing which oils are ok to use and it is a case of 6 of one, half dozen of the other. I have to wonder if when you get a medicine prescription you then go to the 'net and ask for advice on what medicine should you really be taking for this condition. (No doubt there's going to be an 'aspirin fiend' willing to advise you.) Anyhow you have foresworn logic in your oil selection process and elected to make your selection from all the oils available. So make your selection. Sincerely, Macster.

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sorry...sorta ot as a youngter i lived in place where they cold tested the cars. yellowknife, northwest territories. every winter in the coldest most harshest time of the year the parade of porsches would blast up the highway to our little city and still keep heading north (i forget how far north theyd go). it would be end of january, constantly -40 celcius, maybe 2 hours a day of daylight. man it was cold. then one fine week, a parade of these fancy european super cars with a gaggle of crazy germans would show up. i think the fanciest car in town was a bmw...most other vehicles were trucks (mine, being that i was not yet old enough to get a drivers license was my snowmobile that i drove to school and treated like a car!). it was a nice bright spot in my winter. your little note there just reminded me of it.

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I think I saw this addressed on the Mobil 1 website. It said Mobile 1 0-40 should handle all climate conditions from the Mexican to the Canadian border. I am in Oregon and use 0-40 in a 1988 928 S4, 60K, 2003 Cayenne Turbo, 126K and a 2013 Boxster S, 3K. Compression checks on the first two Porsches showed virtually no compression loss from new. Change oil and filter every 5,000 on the Cayenne, every 500 to 1000 miles on the 928 S4 (bought a lifetime oil change contract from the Porsche dealer in 1992 much to their regret.

Using a 0-W40 oil for summer in SE Texas or Mexico is just plain old ignorant. 5-W40 will be my winter oil and 10-W40 will be for summer. Just like Porsche said when they sold the car. Common sense.

Quotes source post: 10020510

Because things have changed since the build dates/years of the 996, Porsche released a NEW/UPDATED list back in 2010 (not sure if you saw this in your research): http://www.pedrosgarage.com/Site_3/P...oved_Oils.html 0W40 IS approved by Porsche for all temp ranges. I am most definitely more ignorant compared to Porsche so I follow their recommendations. P.S. But the beauty of the freedom of choice is just that.....

Quotes source post: 10020510

Name calling = No credibility.

I am running this. I am in brutal hot and humid north Florida. Car appears to be loving it.

My original owners manual clearly says "generally higher than 50 degrees F, 10-W40, 15-W40, 15-W50." Therefore this spring and summer I will be using 10-W40 as it will certainly be above 50 degrees F at all times. The "new" info says 5-W40 or 5-W50, so whats the problem? There has not been some huge new oil info discovery since my manual was printed. What has happened is the BS rhetoric for higher fuel mileage from the eco-terrorist crowd. I dont give a rats butt if my car gets 15MPG as long as the engine is properly lubed and protected.

Quotes source post: 10020972

Some of the owners manuals written on april fools day had that in there.

Honestly, formulas change, based on the additives and friction modifiers. The same exact "model" of oil may be different enough in composition because of viscosity levels. Porsche may have retested the lastest formulas and decided 5w-40 instead of 0w-40. I only change my oil once a year, and drive year round, so it's 5w-40 castrol edge for me.

Perry, I agree but you should change your oil at least every 3 or 4 months if you dont drive enough miles. Once a year is risky. Also I seriously doubt that Porsche retested oil in 2010 for the 996 model run (1998.5 to 2004). Its just who paid them enough to be on the current list. I also use Castrol Edge and it made their list anyway so Im good.

I went with Mobil Super HiMiles, 1 jug of 10w-40 and 1 jug of 5w-30. All the manual calls for is API SJ, it's quite a leap to think A40 or some exotic spec is needed for short intervals.

Quotes source post: 10019451

Thats awesome! Whats a lifetime oil change contract cost?

I don't get to drive my 996 (or any personal car) too much, lucky to get 3-4k miles a year on it. I just live too close to work, and I try to only drive it if I can get at least 10 miles on a trip from cold. Sure as heck not going to change my oil more than once a year with that few miles. Why would anyone? When I do change it, it looks pretty clean and Blackstone lab tests show I could have gone many more miles on it, but I know I need to change it to avoid acid build up.

Quotes source post: 10025447

Agree 100%...like you, ANNUAL oil change only for me