Which Oil For 172

[rich[182]]

Firstly, After 6 wks from new & 950 miles later Ive just checked oil level (even though readout on dash is ok) & its a shade over half way between min & max.

I saw my Renault dealer today, the guy in parts said they dont stock the ACEA A3 5W40 that Renault recommend in the Clio handbook and they were aware that several other owners had recently asked them which oil ?

He then said that I shouldnt mix different viscosities & said that if they didnt get some in then I should get some Magnetec GT1 5W40 ??

Anyone offer advice or confirmation of exactly what I should do

Cheers

 

[BigBoreBri]

Dont use magnetec... I used Elf Competition ST 10w40 recently and thought it was great, cheap from renault too!!

Part No : 8200033408 @ just under £3 a litre

Only alternative id go for is Mobil 1 but most people will agree its a bin thin!

 

[BRUN]

you could use Total Quartz 9000 5W-40 which is probably very similar to the Elf one as there the same company now

or you could use Shell, or Carlube Triple R, or Silkolene which is the one id go for

 

[rich[182]]

is the stuff renault put in synthetic or semi-syn ?

 

[CUP80Y]

Semi-synth.

Ive just found out my oil level is halfway between min and max, and it was only serviced 500 miles ago. I know if I take it back and say they didnt put enough in theyll say...well its not unusual..they do drink some....blah blah...and I know full well my car doesnt drink that much!

£180 and not even my full quota of lube!!! Oh and the paperwork was written so badly I still dont know what my tread depths are, and how long my pads will last.

 

[JAY172]

a good quality brand fully synthetic oil with a 10/40 rating.

 

[repoman]

needed to get some oil myself, halfords have got a sale on their fully synthetic 5w/40 £14.99 ok to use this??

 

[swelch]

I use Mobile 1 (0/40) no problems. I changed at 12000 from the Elf semi syn stuff.

 

[rich[182]]

Which is most important :-

1 - To still use semi-synthetic as per whats currently in the car

2 - Same viscosity ie 5W40

3 - OR do I HAVE TO use semi-synth 5W40

Is it bad to put some fully synt into semi synth ? Surely you should not top up with fully synth but only use fully synth when you do a COMPLETE oil & filter change ?

 

[tonykart]

For a race-engine on high revs I would go for full synth. at least 5W40 but peferable 5W50 (I use Elf excellium 5W50 (change every 7500 mls which is provided for us by RenaultSport in France, this oil is the best oil for raceclio´s they claim) We use this oil in raceclio´s and the last three years with 6 running Clio´s NO motordamage. Says enough I think ! one problem it will be a little expensive. Cheers

 

[CUPPY]

where could you get this oil from? how many litres does a clio 172 need to fill up ..might have a go myself..geting oil tray and filter 2mora

 

[BenR]

tony, circa what oil temps do you run in your clios as every 7500 miles for a racecar, even an unstressed one is a long time!

for oils, id run a thinner 0/5w40 in winter and summer a 5/10/15w40/50......but its really helpful to know what sort of oil temps compared to oil pressures your running at full chat though.

 

[tonykart]

No Ben if you refer to the race clios off course after every raceweekend we put new oil in. So the cars will have new 5W50 after 200 racekilometers. Oil T on raceclio´s will be max. around 120 Celcius. Pressure will be around 3 to 3.5 bars full. But that last one is a guess cause we don´t have pressure on the datalogging.

My own clio every 10.000 / 11.000 km I put in new Elf Excellium 5W50 FULL synth. of course.

I also know Renault tents to put 10W40 half synth. in the car (it´s even writen on the big Renault tags on the walls in the garage I visited yesterday)

So if a customer puts his car in for a service and doesnt say nothing it will be 10W40 if you´complain´ they put in 5W40. 5W50 wasn´t even on the list !

 

[BenR]

the elf competition 10/15w40/50 is good stuff, it lowered my oil temps ontrack by over 10 deg compared to crap mobil 1 15w50.....its got a far better thermal capacity!

my oil was up atbou the 120-125 degC ontrack and pressure was falling fast.

 

[tonykart]

With oil filter a 172 needs 4.75 l of oil. You can get this oil from your local Renault dealer but mobil1 or valvoline full synth. will do too. I use this cause it´s also used in Clioracers and provided by Rsport. There is basicly no difference in winter or summer oil. The first figure tells you something of the viscocity of the oil when cold and the last figure tells you something on the visc. when hot. So 5W50 means at low temp. ok for the engine and at high temp. still very good lubrication of the engine.



cheers

 

[BenR]

yes, but running a 15w50 in the winter really doesnt help your cold starts when your at or below 0 deg. And summer track work i wont be running a 0 or 5w base.

 

[CUPPY]

so just to check to fill up completely the car needs 4.75 litres of oil!!!

 

[BenR]

not much really......a valver will most of the time ue a tad over 5 if you drain it properly.

 

[CUPPY]

cheers mate thanks for that...which oil do reanult use for servicing etc..am i better keeping with the same oil..is this the same as the one above at 3.00 per litre!!!!!!!!!!

 

[BenR]

depends, each dealership might have a contract for supply with anybody they choose.

Most use castrol magnatec i think, us in HK use mobil....dunno, ask.

 

[BRUN]

most dealers use whatever they want.........My local seems to use Mobil Super S which is a semi-synth usually 10W-40

 

[tonykart]

dealers here use ELF oil and Ben since 2000 we only use 5W50 the season starts in april till september. But we also have a midwinterchampionship and we are doing some 6 hours races with only one Raceclio. The only thing we change is a nice set of AP brakes in the front. We still use 5W50 and the outside temp last January 4th was 2 degrees !!



cheers

 

[BenR]

yes, but coldstarts arent the most common thing on racing cars......

 

[JAY172]

we use elf 10/40 fully synthetic at work and a 172 with oil filter holds 5 litres of oil.

 

[BRUN]

Quote: Originally posted by JAY172 on 18 January 2004

we use elf 10/40 fully synthetic at work and a 172 with oil filter holds 5 litres of oil.

are you sure mate ?.........from all the info ive got, Elf dont make a fully synthetic 10W-40

 

[tonykart]

jip brun is right 10W40 is semi synth. and thats what Renault puts stock in the RS.

@BenR you r right serious what we do, 5 minutes before the track opens we start the cars, drive to the gate standing there for 2 minutes and warm up the tires for about two laps. And than all the way....

 

[rich[182]]

for topping up then whats best, does it have to be 5w40 semi-synth so its identical to whats in

dont wanna change type of oil until service time or if i decide to do a change each and every 5k

 

[JAY172]

the oil in our large tank is defo fully synthetic and is either elf or esso.

 

[tonykart]

5W40 allways is full synth. because a low visc. oil will never get a visc. of 5 when not fully synth. topping up you just put in the same oil whats in !

 

[swelch]

Ive been running Mobile 1(0/40) for over 1k miles now with no probs. Engine sounds sweet and it hasnt needed topping up yet and I drive it quite hard.

Whats with the too thin comments ? Surely it is good to have the oil thin at low temperatures so it gets round the engine quicker on start up. It is the same viscosity at high tems as most of the other oils mentioned above.

 

[tonykart]

viscocity of 50 just means when the oil is hot(around 120 degrees C) the lubrication of all turning parts are 100%. And I believe you no problem you will run it with no problems. I only use 5W50 I am now on my oilchange after 10.000 km (6250 Mls) and the only amount of oil I had to top up was 0.5 L !!! If I refer to my tuned willy it was 1 L every 600 mls !!



I personaly would NEVER go for 0W.... its too thin and leakage will be greater. We use the 5W50 for race purposes and NEVER had engien failure (Image running 1 engine for three seasons and that for about 50 Clio Rs and NO damage)

 

[BenR]

the viscosity change of mobil with temps is quite poor, its gets VERY hot as its thermal capacity is far worse then manyother oils. Not as good as its cracked up to be.

easiest way of thinking about oil is....i.e 5w50, is a 5w basestock that has the viscosity of a 50 oil @ 100C.