2.2 N/A ecotek 147hp model whats the best type of oil synthetic, fully synthetic and whats the best make ?


cheers

What's it's viscosity requirement?

erm....dunno!

try vx220.org.uk I'd imagine it will be 5w40. I would just stick some branded (duchams etc) in it. At the end of the day its an astra engine I personally dont think they really need especially fussing over when it comes to stuff like oil. Not as important as it is for the 225 as its not providing any cooling for a turbo.

A fully synthetic will give you more protection. Period.

But.... the nice thing about the VX (well - one of the many :wink: ) is that the engines are designed to haul around a tonne and ahalf of vectra all day so they're not really very heavily stressed in our little plastic cars. On that basis, AS LONG AS YOU DON'T TRACK IT any 'quality' oil that meat Vaux's specs should be fine.

I know a lot of the VX forum guys simply use Mobil 1 (0W/40W) for n/a's. Turbo's are a little more fussy - need to use a thicker oil to stop it getting blown straight out - a lot of people use Mobil 1 Motorsport (15W/50W).

If you have the engine mapped, or play with the internals (cams etc) then you'll need to start to think very carefully too - the 'standard' oil spec'd by vaux will probably not be good enough any more.

If you track the car then the oil becomes significantly more important. For starters you should really think of every track mile as equivalent to 3 road miles for servicing purposes. Also remember that track time is generally always at full throttle and high revs - i.e. the engine is under a lot of stress - so every little bit of extra protection helps. If you're using a good quality fully synthetic then as soon as it goes black is generally a very good time to change. Mine gets done every 3k at the most - more often if I think it needs it.

If you want to know more then do a search on vx220.org.uk for posts by 'oilman' (Simon at opie oils) - hours of reading and everything you ever wanted to know about engine oil! There's a lot there about the serious quality synthetics - motul, silkolene etc.

oh yeah fully synthetic goes without saying, I wouldnt put anything other than that in any car, I just wouldnt be overly fussy about the brand etc.

How long you had your VX then Mr M? had mine about 6 weeks now. Its better than drugs :D

Hi Jon - had mine nearly two and a half years now, for the bulk of which it has been my daily drive. Have to admit that at times it's been a bit of a love / hate relationship but I only have to get in and drive it to remember why I love it (it fairness most of the hate moments have been when I've still been in the garage at 2am in the middle of winter desperately trying to get it back together before a track day the next morning!)

It was supposed to be going when the Meggy arrived - with the new nipper I just knew I wouldn't get the time to drive it and couldn't bear the thought of it sitting there unused. The meggy's been here nearly two months now though and the new little'un nearly two weeks and the VX is still there! Can't bring myself to get rid of it. Just got to try and bring in enough work now that I can afford to keep it.....

Back on topic - yeah - I wouldn't use anything but fully synthetic either, but some (strange) people do. Always seemed odd to me that people spend thousands on a performance car and then skimp on oil saving thenselves - what- £20 a year? Never got that one myself. You need to be careful even with fully synthetics though - a lot of the high street brand names that claim to be fully synthetic aren't - iirc Mobil 1 is pretty much the only 'true' fully synthetic of the "high street" brands.

Flora :lol:

Flora :lol:

:lol: :lol: - yup - no doubting that that's fully synthetic!

The recommended grade is 5w-30

It will be either a semi or fully synthetic as there is no such thing as a 5w straight mineral oil.

Synthetic is best if you drive it hard.

Cheers
Simon