Hey?,
I was going to do an oil change on my B10 (A15T) over the weekend, and found I had not enough BP corse+ (engine oil), so I went down to the local BP and found only CASTROL products. I enquired with the attendant who had virtually no automotive knowledge so I went home with no oil.
I rang one of the BP technical boffins and he told me that they stopped selling BP lubrication products in Australia may last year, He did however recomend CASTROL Edge sport 25w-50 sugesting that this product was more than up to the task.
I`v run corse+ for over 9 years in the old girl and consider this is the main reason she has held together.
Another fellow recomended MOBIL 1 ?
Has anyone got any ideas on other products ?
I bought a bottle of the CASTROL product just to get it going ( The advertising claimed Victor and Ben Bray use this product in their dragsters)
I`m sure there is a way of getting my faithful corse+ (maybe from over seas
?) but this could be costly, Is corse+ avalible in other countries?


On another subject What`s the go with datsun blue? My A10 from my `67 1000 is a different shade of blue compared with my A15 from a 80 somthing vanette. Did nissan change the colour at some stage?

I've always used Mobil 1 in my A14Turbo, and i have never had a problem with it, but i did chnge the oil every 3 months when it was been driven on the road and it is still a relitively new engine, only about 2000 miles on the clock but it was driven hard.

A mate of mine who is a mechanic always uses Penzoil in his SR powered 1600 and he swears by it!

The only thing i can suggest is buy a good quaility oil, and in this case you get what you pay for can't be any more true.

Penrite HPR-15 gets my vote. HPR-30, if the engine is a little tired.

BP own castrol now or vice versa but I think thats right? so it's almost scenrtenly the same product just get the castrol with the same viscocity and addetivs.

Yeah that`s what BP`s boffin said BP and CASTROL joined forces 8 years ago,
He also said that up until only a couple of years age corse+ was rated at 25w-50 (as opposed to 25w-60) an that CASTROL had no plans on producing it under their name.
He also said that BP was only producing lubrication products for Agricultural, marine, and aviation.
(What kind of oil do cessna`s run?)

never had a problem in my cars with magnathech for the daily and castrol 20w 50 for the a series (except my most recent change of shell cause i was cheap and needed oil desperately, never again)

What I'm about to post might sound 'weird' but it is fairly accurate nonetheless. Oil viscosity ratings aren't actually specific numbers, as their grading would suggest. What that means is there's a 'range' of viscosity measurement for each number. Perhaps the best way to say it is this - it's possible that one oil is at one end of the allowable range for a 50 oil, and one at the other, so one is much 'thicker' than the other, but both have the exact same rating.

On top of that, the interesting thing is that oil viscosity is not necessarily directly linked to its film strength. On other words, a 'thinner' oil can provide as much protection and keep the moving parts separated by that oil film just as well as some thicker oils. Additionally, a thinner oil will be able to travel through the oil circuitry/bearings quicker, which actually means it can potentially transfer heat away from the bearings better.

So basically you can get the same protection with an oil that is 'thinner' (or if bearing clearances are tight (and by tight I mean that relative to the specified allowange for some other engine make/model, not that they were accidentally put in there and there was insufficient clearance) if they are tight - a thicker oil might actually be detrimental.

I mention all that because BP corse plus happens to be an oil at the very 'thick' end of its classification, so it's thicker than other oils of the same viscosity/index. Generally speaking, it's an option when an engine is worn to the point it's consuming oil, and it can help on that sort of situation. It's _definitely_ about as far as one should go. the 'treacle' or honey like oil additives 'seem' good, but they neglect things like the fact that cooling for valve springs (and lube) relies on oil splash to a certain extent, and cam/lifter foot oiling especially does, and those types of additives might indeed be detrimental there - and actually shorten the engine lifespan.

Far out, what else - diff oil viscosity is not measured with teh same criteria - and what might be a big surprise (it used to be a backyard 'bodgy' option to put about 1:4 of diff oil vs motor oil to an old engine that was using oil) is that whilst it's thicker at room temp, at actual engine operating temps, an 80w/90 diff oil thins out more than 20w/50 engine oil, so it can be counterproductive (not to mention that other additives in diff oil - necessary for the extreme pressures, adn the fact that hypoid gears actually slide across one another, they don't just engage against one another like a gearbox gear does- that make it a bad idea for engine oil)

What next - the bigger difference between the two ratings of oil - i.e. the 20w50 vs say 10w/60 - well the greater the difference between those two, means there are more viscosity index improvers in there. It means it's a thin (and hence is easily pumped so it is there quicker after startup from cold) at room temp. As it heats, tiny 'things' in the oil sort of 'unwind' so they keep the oil thicker at higher temps. These vi improvers can and will get roughed up and basically destroyed with extreme use, or just long term use. So the greater the distance between the numbers, the sooner they'll deteriorate, and you end up with an oil that is far inferior to the condition when you first put it in there.

So where I was going with that, is that obviously go with manufacturer specs for the oil, but if you have a choice of a few oils that fit the bill, generally the one with less gap between the two rating numbers is the go. On top of that, since the vi improvers inevitably degrade, no matter how fantastic the oil is, it's important not to leave it in there too long, no matter if it turns a darker black or not. I'd go as far as to suggest (and this is also because the a-series is a very good design, and isn't actually particularly 'hard' on oil (the hemi 6 in contrast is far harder on it, and some oils are compromised with as little as a day spent driving hard - like a visit to an open day at a racetrack) - anyhoo, what is generally _far more_ important than brand of oil is that it is changed frequently.

You don't need to go beserk and change it every 1000km. Not at all, but using a relatively more affordable oil and changing it every 5000km is in fact generally better at maximising engine life than a more expensive oil every 10,000km. I used to change oil and filter very 5000 on some other cars I've had (minis for example) and tended to (by that change of maintenance alone) get as much as double the life out of the engines as seemed to be the norm.

My honest take on things (and I've currently got a 1200 coupe, 1973 model, still on original engine, and not using oil) is that Id worry about the right grade of oil, and more frequent changes, but not so much any brand loyalty.

There's a _really_ good website that explains oil tech (and if I've made any slipups here, certainly take what you read at that site to the bank) :

bob is the oil guy

If you have the time and curiosity it's well worth a look.

Ironically questions about 'which oil' (specifically brand of oil, but sometimes viscosity) come up in the aus.cars usenet group. Amongst the lunatics and trolls, there are also a few engineers, and engine machinists, with extensive experience with engines, and perhaps more importantly race engines and other highly stressed scenarios, and this is the general consensus of the group (admittedly they could word it a little better than I could).

Wow! cheers dude,
I`v always changed my oil and filter between 3-5k.
Indeed corse+ is a very "thick" oil and I belive that it is this "thickness" that allows it to maintain its viscosity at very high engine temps (red hot turbo).
Thanks for your thoughts on this subject in relation to the a-series you seem to know your stuff.
I think i`ll try the CASTROL edge sport 25w-50, and see how iy goes from there.

I have used Penrite HPR-5 in my Xtrail since new and it has been great. It is reasonably priced at $50 a container and the car now has 100k on the clock and no problems to report.

Had a micra that I serviced on the cheap every 10 000 km. Used a Gulf Westen oil @ $12 for 4 litres on sale at Auto one and had no problems. The bigger issue was with the oil filters. Have tried cheap ones and these are not worth it. The micra would suffer from low oil pressure, sucking in the sides of the filters etc. When using nissan or rycos I have never had a problem.

So any reputable oil at the right viscosity should be fine, just spend some $$$ on a good filter. Not 10 for $15.00 on ebay like I did.

I have used Penrite for years too, and it has always been good! As has been pointed out above though, I'm sure brand is fairly unimportant if you buy a known good quality brand.

I second that filters are really important and can certainly stuff engines in a hurry. Even Rycos can be problematic... I have run them on my 1200 for the past 9 years and never had a problem, but on both my BMW 323i and my mother inlaw's Hyundai Excel they have been junk! The BMW showed oil pressure problems immediately, so I swapped it back to a factory one and have used factory filters ever since (no harm done as the engine was only run for a short period of time - also, believe it or not, a BMW factory oil filter from the dealer costs $12 - cheaper than the Ryco!). My mother inlaw's Hyundai (Alpha 2 engine) was another story though with the motor developing noisy lifters after using one for 10000km. Turns out that there is a Honda filter that will screw onto the Alpha engine, but the anti-drainback valve pressure is wrong and causes the cams and lifters to be starved of oil. Many aftermarket manufacturers didn't bother developing a filter specifically for the Hyundai engine and just added Hyundai to the fitment list on the back of the filter they developed for the Honda engine. I haven't had a look under the rocker cover of the Hyundai, but I shudder to think what the cams are looking like under there. The engine is still going fine for now with a Hyundai filter (and a tap tap tap in the top end).

The oil pressure problems in the BMW are also anti-drainback valve related.