114mph at that track

Road Atlanta is one of the best tracks in the south maybe the best. I was at Barber in Alabama over the weekend and there were guys there from Tennessee. It’s definitely worth the drive!! I remember guy had an AMG GTS and it was quick!! His buddy was driving this C6 Z06. They were pretty cool.

 

In smaller markets there is indeed often only one or two sources for fuel that winds up at the pumps of every brand. In larger markets this is less common but there is still some overlap. Gas is a commodity, and the base stock is standardized.

The additive package, including detergents, is typically added directly to the tanker as it is being filled.

 

Exactly, otherwise I’ll just listen to the people who designed the car lol

The best performance the car can deliver as a stock unit. That’s what “optimum” means.

If somebody can show me something is BETTER than what the engineers used when they designed and built the car then I will get that. So I use better than OEM tires and brakes and oils and things like that.

In the German world they use oil specs. So it’s not enough to just use a 5W40 oil, MB specifies their 229.50 or 229.51 spec (yes, those are different). Will any 5W40 protect the engine? I’m sure but the engineers who built it felt it was important to have a specific spec oil so that’s what I run. The M176 engine I have calls for 229.51, and that’s harder to find than 229.50 and even many dealers use .50, nope I use .51. That’s actually the diesel spec oil. The engineers didn’t make that recommendation for giggles lol.

In Japanese cars there’s no such thing. Manufacturer says OCI Of 10k, but for a car I am going to keep I would do 5k. Lots of solid evidence that makes a difference in ultimate long term longevity since MB engines have a history of bore scoring which leads to loss of compression.

I enjoy maintaining my cars properly.

 

You need the .51 spec anyway for NOACK and HTHS with the turbos and rod loads and bore scoring under high thermal load. Dealers who don't use that are stupid or lazy, or like VW with an idiotic blanket recommendation for 502.00 spec oil for many cars that should be using 504.XX spec.

I use 511.00 since it's has wicked good HTHS and fuel resistance and the 40w pumps like a 30w spec. I just change it at 5k on case of sulphuric buildup from US gas. Annoyingly the W12s used to have their own oil spec but it got superseded by the newer 504 specs, in the US though it's just a 502 spec.....

 

I agree it should have what the manufacturer suggests for whatever reason they suggest it. Even my independent mechanic has to order the .51 spec oil for me they always use .5.

It’s like Lexus using bulk shop oil vs using TGMO, you have to specify it.

That’s why I take issue to this idea that the engineers for the LX specified 91 for “marketing purposes”. Engineers don’t do that lol.

So, will my car be okay with the .50 spec oil? Sure. Will an LX be okay on 87 octane? Sure. Would I consider those cars well maintained with those things used? No. To me a car is well maintained when it is maintained to or beyond what is recommended by its designers.

 

Wow didn't know that. What's the difference between 229.50 and 229.51? Is one a slightly heavier weight?

10k oil intervals are insane to me. I would never do that. Unfortunately lots of people will follow that interval.

 

It’s the additive package, the oils are also slightly different weights.

MB actually doesn’t specify a weight, only that spec.

On modern cars that hold a lot of oil and if you’re only going to keep it a certain length of time it’s fine.

I did 10k OCIs on the S560 because I figured I wouldn’t keep it. That big valve cover gasket repair I had was caused by “clogged oil separators” and my mechanic said 5k OCIs would have kept that from happening. I will do 5k OCIs on the S580. Both my LS460s I did 5K OCIs even though they specified 10k, I also used higher end than spec oi, I ran Schaefer’s 0W20 and Amsoil filtersl. On the Mercedes I use MB oil or Liqui Moly and the OEM MANN filter.

 

Weight actually doesn't matter at all when it comes to German engines, it's all about spec. You can have a 30 or 40 and perhaps even a 20 weight oil and if all can meet a given spec they are able to be used.

That said certain specs do require a minimum HTHS and that's often linked to higher weight oils.

 

wait, what?

beginning to feel like one has to be a scientist to get an oil change.

my lc is once every couple of years, and my ev is nada, so not a big thought in this guy's head.

 

Don’t have to be a scientist, just do what the scientists say to do lol

In your LC I would change the oil once a year regardless of the mileage driven.

 

I'll admit I had to look up what HTHS and NOACK meant lol.

Super simple for me. As long as any modern 5W-30 synthetic is used I don't analyze my oil too much.

 

The LC is not using an advanced engine anyway so you can use literally and synthetic XX-30 weight you want. You don't have any advanced system that require fancy oil since engine is fundamentally from 2006 with nothing more exotic than oil squirters as the VVTi-E system doesn't use oil at all and the exhaust side is simple.

You just have a lot of oil and nice scavenge pumps

 

I did the engine oil analysis a few times when I had the IS then realized it was my commuter, wasn't being driven particularly hard, and I wasn't going to try to stretch my oil beyond the recommended intervals and stopped doing it. Numbers were great though

 

Mercedes now now has .52 and you can buy it off the shelf. No need to go to MB





Japan absolutely has their own spec. Chrysler, GM and Ford are all similar including the Japan manufacturers.

 

.52 isn’t the right spec for this car though. .51 is harder to find. Just have to order it online.

They don’t require a specific spec, just a specific weight. Toyota absolutely has a formulation that they created, TGMO (Toyota Genuine Motor Oil) is formulated by Mobil to Toyotas specs. There’s not a specific spec per engine they require though like the Germans.