Any suggestions Marylanders?

TIA!
Sean


98 A4 1.8tqms APR1.bar, K&N

I'm in CT and I just switched to Mobil 1 10W-30 for the winter. 15W-50 is good for the summer, especially if you take it out on the track once in a while, but maybe a little too thick for winter.

and Mobil 1 is a synthetic oil so it won't get as thick as dino oil in the cold. Also since your chipped I assume that you like to drive hard and turbos want heavier oil when they get hot. If you examine your manual you will see it needs to be consistiently pretty cold to make 5W-30 worthwhile. We haven't had that kind of cold winter in awhile.

You didn't mention where in Maryland you live. My advice to you would be considerably different if you live in Garrett county vs Balitmore, but I can only assume that you live in DC/Baltimore area. For what it's worth I will be switching to Mobil 1 15W-50 and running it year round at my next oil change. I live in Annapolis.

JDietz
'97 A4 1.8TQMS

My manual says the oil must have API certification of SG or SF, alone or in combination with other designations. No such thing on the market today. Those designations are obsolete and SJ is superior.

If your using "Energy Conserving oil" such as sythetic, then 15W- is not even an option according to the owner's manual.

Doing a bit of research on the Mobil 1 website- the 10W-30 is good down to -40F and (and up over 400F), which is good enough for me here in Massachusetts.

Motor oil (synthetic -vs- dino; what weight to use) certainly is a "hot button" topic....here's my $0.02....

I had been running Mobil-1 15w-50 here in Suburban Philly up until a year ago or so. Then I read some more stuff and decided to try something lighter in the winter. Picked up some Mobil-1 10w-30 and I noticed that the engine seemed much more willing to rev and just seemed "happier" with the lighter weight oil. I've now switched to 10w-30 for the warmer seasons and I'll run Mobil-1 5w-30 in the coldest months (Jan & Feb). YMMV,

Andy Hedin
'97 A4 1.8Tqms + stuff

I'm running Mobil 1 10W30 in my truck, although it does not have a turbocharged engine and is irrelevant to this discussion.

My mechanic said to use 15W40 (usually labeled a diesel oil) for turbocharged cars, which jives with Audi's factory recommendation. He said that he does have some customers that are using Amsoil series 2000 0W30 w/o problems. I'm considering using this stuff in my truck at the next oil change interval, as you can run 1 yr. service intervals with this stuff (esp. w/ a NA engine).

I plan on using either Mobil 1 15W50 or more likely, just 10W30. I think 15W50 is a bit too wide of a viscosity range for the oil to be free of having a ton of additives. If I want, I can run Amsoil 15W40, which is perfectly fitting Audi specs.

TM