# Penzoil ultra



## v8282w (May 13, 2002)

My last car was a 02 337. I used mobil 1 from the first oil change up until 60k when I found better oil. The better oil was penzoil platnum then later penzoil ultra which I absolutly loved up until my transmission blew with 178k on the odometer. The motor is still perfect and I attribute that to the penzoil. I would like to use the penzoil in my new 2011 gti 2.0t but on the back of the bottle it does not list the vw 502/ 504. I am trying to hold onto this warrenty as long as possible and I am also going to be doing my own oil changes. To my questions. Does the penzoil conform to the vw requirements? If I use the penzoil anyway will it void my warrenty, have problems later. What oil is covered under the new vw requirements and is it any good. I found the penzoil through www.bobistheoilguy.com I havent asked there yet but it is a great oil site. What do you guys in the know reccomend?


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## v8282w (May 13, 2002)

P.S. I will change my oil every 5k no matter what vw says. 10k intervals in just dumb, I KNOW I got 7k out of the penzoil ultra, which is the best oil I have used thus far, but I wouldn't go 10k even using the ultra nevermind some nonsense castrol.


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## saaber2 (Jul 15, 2008)

Word is that the pennzoil 5w40 ultra is the same formula as pennzoil 5w40 platinum. It is hard to find. Here is the spec sheet. http://www.pennzoil.com/documents/PENNZOILULTRAEuropean5W40.pdf 

If you try it, definitely do a used oil analysis so we can see how it performs. The key is how well it does with fuel dilution. We don't really know yet how well it does in a fuel-diluting engine lik the FSI or TSI. There are some good oils out there that can perform great in some engines but when the same oil is used in a fuel-diluting engine it doesn't perform nearly as well. So far the ester-based oils have been out-performing the PAO based oils on the 2.0 FSI.


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## v8282w (May 13, 2002)

I dont really understand why the tsi is a fuel diluting engine. Was my 1.8t awp also? Cause the ultra worked great in that motor. I have never had any oil analisis done before, how much does it cost? Turn around time? Can you recomend a good company? What is the exact requirements for the 2011 tsi according to vw? Which oil would you reccomend according to these requirements? One last thing is do you have a link to any info on the ultra being the same as the platinum. I did notice longer oil change intervals when I switched to the ultra over the platinum in my last car. These are all going by feel of the motor btw, but I am usually pretty good with feeling the motor friction. Thank you very much for your insight.


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## saaber2 (Jul 15, 2008)

The TSI is direct injected, so that is the biggest difference vs the 1.8t. Also a U.S. car does not run in lean burn mode like in Europe and what we have seen for the FSI is that PAO-based oils which may do fine in other engines do not hold up very well in the fuel diluting FSI. U.S. cars produce more fuel dilution due to their burn mode. 

If you must use a vw 502 approved oil your choices are the standard PAO based oils which are all built "down" to the 502 specification. Oils such as Castrol syntec 0w30, Mobil 1 ow40, various motul oils, lubro-moly, pentosin, total, etc. They all perform very similarly with the possible exception of syntec 5w40. Looking at the over 100 UOAs we have for the 2.0 FSI, syntec 5w40 has lower flashpoint, greater loss of viscosity, and higher wear metals (as shown in a UOA anyway which is only part of the picture). But it is only 100 UOAs total for the FSI and is not conclusive. 

The ester based oils out there right now are renewable lubricants biosyn and redline. These have shown to be superior to the PAo based 502 oils on UOAs, although there is little data on the renewable lubricants oil. I also assume the Motul 300V would perform well due to it's largely ester basestock but there is no data on it yet. The small oil companies such as redline and renewable lubricants don't have VW test their oil due to cost. I have been told that VW testing costs around $250,000 per formulation (e.g. 5w30 or 5w40), per spec. (e.g. 502, 504, etc.). It cannot be done by an independent lab and must be done by VW. So for these small companies the cost of the oil would be astronomical if they had VW test their oil. The 502 spec is a low standard to meet. 

Also regarding the differences between ultra and platinum, my comment about them being the same formula is only for the 5w40, not the other formulations. I'd have to dig up the source of that info. as I can't remember off the top of my head.


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## donjuan1jr (Oct 8, 2008)

Theres a penzzoil ultra euro formula that meets spec, but its super hard to find. They can be had on amazon for 50 bux per 6 quarts.


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## v8282w (May 13, 2002)

Thnx alot guys. I am still alittle lost but I will try to do some more research and see what I can come up with. I am thinking about going with the ultra in a 10w-40 10w-30 whatever I can find and then send it to black forest and see what happens after 5k.


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