for those who are into using German Castrol, it is currently on sale 30% off at Canadian Tire.
For those who do not know what German Castrol is:

It is a true group IV PAO synthetic oil, unlike all other castrol syntec blends which are group III hydrocracked oils and are NOT true synthetic.
German Castrol has shown fantastic results on UOA (used oil analysis) with extended oil change intervals, and is a heavy 30 weight oil (approx 0w37.5).
it is called german castrol because this 0w30 syntec is the only one which is made in germany, and it is a completely different oil than all other castrol syntec blends.
many german car enthusiasts use it and love it.
you can read a lot more about it on bobistheoilguy.com

how to find it:
go to canadian tire or wal mart or anywhere else you buy your oil from. look for castrol syntec. then look for the 0w30 flavour. look on the back of the bottle (this is the important part) and confirm that is says "made in germany". it will also say something like "not for outside the Americas". this is german castrol. the good stuff.
if it says "made in USA" or any other country, it is NOT german castrol, and is not a comparable oil. in fact, the made in USA stuff is complete garbage.

 

Just thought I'd bump this up, Castrol is on sale again at CT for $6.99 a litre. I just picked up 10 litres of 0w30 for myself

 

Did you happen to notice if the 5W-40 was on sale and if they had some?

 

It is all 1L bottles of syntec on sale.
Mike, why don't you try the 0w30? It is a much better oil than the 5w40. It is true group IV PAO, vs hydrocracked group III. If it is 40 weight you are after, 0w30 syntec is a heavy 30 wt, and is actually about a 38 wt oil, plus it flows better on start-up giving quicker better protection and easier winter starts.

 

why do dealerships use 5W-40 if the stuff you are using is better?

 

First of all, let me say this- I don't think 5w40 is a bad oil. I have used it, and I think it is actually an excellent oil. However, it is a group III oil, and by virtue of this alone is not as good as the 0w30 which is a group IV oil. Second, the used oil analyses show it to be a better oil.
Why don't the dealerships use it? Good question... I think is is because they get a better deal on buying the 5w40 due to the fact that the 0w30 German castrol is only available in 1L bottles, whereas you can get 5w40 in the 4.4L jugs (which are usually cheaper on a price per liter basis).

 

interesting. Thank you for the response. Just 2 weeks ago i went to downtown Audi and bought the 5-40 and they actually use 1L bottles when they sell it. It was 11 bucks a jug. I am most definitively going to go and load up at CA tire.

 

Thanks for the info Jordan. Great write up!!

 

Is it possible to identify group IV synthetics by the labeling? I'm sure there are many people who think they are still using a full synthetic with Mobil 1, but it's hard to tell from the label info. Other than Made In Germany, is there anything on the Castrol label? As I understand it, they can't label Group III as synthetic in Europe, so I'm not questioning that it is, but would like to know if it can be readily identified.

Jim

 

There is nothing on north American labels which will distinguish between groups III and IV. Unfortunately in north America, the courts ruled that both can be labeled as synthetic. I wish that they would have also put a caveat that they must specify the type of synthetic (group III, IV, V etc).