AMSOIL 5w30 in all of my rides since 1993.

 

I just had my 2000 A6 4.2 serviced for 80,000 mile at Carlsen Audi in Palo Alto, California (The car has less than 75,000 miles, the service light was on for the annual servie).
The mechanic told me that they put in regular oil (Not sure if it is 5W 30 or 5W 40), and it will last for 10,000 miles before the next oil service. He says that Audi engin is different than others.
Can anyone confirm this?
For an A6 4.2, would you recommend synthetic?

 

The service report says the oil was replaced with Castrol 5W-30.
It didn't mention anything about synthetic.

 

Finding a suitable synthetic oil in the 5W-40 range here in the US that isn't formulated for diesel engines can be problematic. If your oil says anything about 'soot control', then it is more than likely a diesel oil, and not on the approved list. BTW, you have to look at the stamp on the oil and see which industry standards it complies with, just saying 'Mobile 1 5W-40' isn't going to cut it, and more than likely that is a diesel oil.

Now I'm not saying that running a 5W-40 diesel oil is a bad thing, I do it in my Mercedes and Audi regularly when I can't find the VAG approved oil. In fact, a favorite oil of mine in the Shell Rotella T synthetic 5W-40, which is a diesel oil. It doesn't however, have the right additive package in order to address longer oil change intervals for gasoline engines, and thus I don't use it for any intervals longer than 5000 miles, mostly change it around 3500 - 4000 miles.

I did order some european standard Pentosynth 5W-40 synthetic oil off the internet, but I'm not always going to want to do that, and this could get a bit pricey when you add in the shipping cost... so I need another solution...

Whoot! I went to GI Joes last night and found out that they carry Amsoil, including Amsoil's european car formula oil... I love that store!

 

This is some information I ran across. I have not tried it yet, but considering.




Lubro Moly additives and motor oils, developed over the past 40 years by the German company Liqui Moly GmbH, will give you superior performance modeled after the company's extensive experience with racing cars and boats. Look no further for additives that will keep your car running at peak levels while preventing premature wear and deterioration. These quality products for your German imports are specifically tailored to BMW, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen-Audi.

Many Lubro Moly products include the exclusive Molybdenum Disulfide (MoS2) anti-friction lubricant. The MoS2 anti-friction agent is an oil-insoluble additive that protects metal parts long after oil and grease have done their job.

If you're looking for an outstanding synthetic, energy conserving motor oil, look to Lubro Moly's Voll-Synthese. This advanced motor oil:

supports the most severe driving conditions,
helps with cold starts,
gives better fuel mileage,
provides resistance to shearing and breakdown,
maintains excellent oil pressure and
permits superior wear protection.


-NUG