tom7 Posted February 6, 2004 Share Posted February 6, 2004 I wonder if they told you if the engine run on the manufacturers recommended oil also demonstrated the same qualities 😳 Just mischief making 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dino ferrana Posted February 6, 2004 Share Posted February 6, 2004 Nick Halfords Synthetic and Comma Syner Z are not very similar they are simply made by the same company. Same grade but different bits and pieces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Passmore Posted February 6, 2004 Share Posted February 6, 2004 BEST OIL FOR CATERHAM'S Just been reading the chat started off by a reference to Mobil 1 . This is a coincidence because I have just returned from a training session this week at Comma Oils to get briefed up on the why's and wherefor's of how Comma became the preferred / recommended oil for Caterham Cars . All Caterhams , new and used , road and race , leave the premises with a sumpful of Comma . The reason is that it is best for the engine and the use owners put their cars to . It is quite simply , in two words - VEHICLE SPECIFIC – it is especially formulated and unique to the needs of Caterham cars , no other oil , including Mobil 1 , serves the engine better than Comma’s “ Caterham Fully Synthetic 5w50 Motorsport Oil ” . The main reason Andy Noble asked me to go on this training session , as 7 Club Team member with a liaison role between Caterham Cars and the Club , was to enable me to write a impartial in-depth article for Low Flying about this exact subject . I will be liaising with the editor to see if I can get this in March issue . John Passmore [link man] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casbar Posted February 6, 2004 Share Posted February 6, 2004 How can it be impartial, if you were asked to go by Caterham cars, and its a deal between Caterham cars and Comma Plus not all members are running around with K engines, and if Comma is so good for K's is it also the preffered oil for Land Rover, MG and Lotus? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Walker Posted February 6, 2004 Share Posted February 6, 2004 John I have never heard such a load of old toss in my life. Almost as bad as your Barnby Wheels article. Can`t wait for your article. Are you on commission BTW? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul McKenzie Posted February 6, 2004 Share Posted February 6, 2004 Oh Dear, John, if you ever did have any credibility, I think you've just lost it Klaus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irrelevant Posted February 6, 2004 Share Posted February 6, 2004 The reason Caterham use Comma is becasue they made a commercial deal - that's why any car company uses any oil - obviously they will use a suitable type, but from the range offered by their partner. There may be the odd exception from some very small, very specialist companies who don't have the negotiating power. To say Comma is the best oil for the engine/usage a Caterham gets - having only been on a Comma sales, oops, I mean training course, is possibly a bit naive IMO. I don't think it's wise to do what I would hope is an impartial article about the best oil for Caterhams without some additional research - an article on Comma though is fair enough! J351 TPE . . . battered old X/Flow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom7 Posted February 6, 2004 Share Posted February 6, 2004 As I said a page or two ago, despite Norman taking the pi$$, the oil (grade)recommended by the engine manufacturer is the correct for the engine. All the 10's of thousands of hours in testing by the maker of engine and oil result in a suitable product. For example, when Lotus announced their oil deal with Castrol (or whoever) they had to seek permission from Rover Engineering BEFORE I could give the OK for them to sell it as recommended. Castrol's chosen grade was tested and the OK given. At this time Rover's oil deal was with Texaco and they recommended Texaco. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Woods Posted February 6, 2004 Author Share Posted February 6, 2004 Good stuff everyone - keep it coming Dino - Halfords Synthetic and Comma Syner Z are not very similar they are simply made by the same company. Same grade but different bits and piecesCan you elaborate ? - I'm curious as to whats different and what the effects of the differences will be (BTW i think synerG is the equivalent rating to the halfords stuff but I dont want that to cloud the issue]. Getting back to where we started, it still seems to me that the case for Mobil 1 over any other good quality synthetic is unproven . There is lots of anecdotal evidence that says engines last well on it but as some have already pointed out there is nothing concrete which suggests that they'd be any worse off if they used a similar oil. Nick Red and Black 1.6K supersport Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Posted February 7, 2004 Share Posted February 7, 2004 mobil 1 and mobil 1motorsport, is this correct or is it mobl 1 [0w/40f/synth] and mobil motorsport 15w/50 f/synth as I do not think there is a mobil 1 motorsport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dino ferrana Posted February 9, 2004 Share Posted February 9, 2004 With the Comma Caterham oil we are not simply talking about a recommended grade from the Comma range but a bespoke oil just for Caterham. This is is a little different from the standard use this grade from this manufacturer on most cars. Nick I have no idea what the actual differences are between the oils but the SynerG/Z will have some other additives in it which may have various benefits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheds Moderator Posted February 9, 2004 Share Posted February 9, 2004 I believe that oils are a little like washing powders - the manufacturers use similar ingredients *within a product type* and get a similar result. Obviously I'm not saying that a cheap and cheerful mineral oil is as good as the quality offerings, but I do believe that an oil rated (say) semisynth 10W40 SJ/CE ex Castrol is as good as one rated the same from Comma or Duckhams. The independent tests to establish the rating verify this. I agree that while a BMW engine run for 100k on Mobil 1 will be as new on stripping, it probably would be on Comma's best or Castrol's. I (and subsequently a friend) ran a 2L Cav to 190k without it burning any oil and without any maintenance other than decent oil. Everything else fell apart around it but the motor was sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dino ferrana Posted February 17, 2004 Share Posted February 17, 2004 Have a look at this link for lots of info on oil from an independent guy. here BOS oils may well meet the grade when they are new but some will not hold their grade for a whole service interval. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dino ferrana Posted February 17, 2004 Share Posted February 17, 2004 I guess this technical article will be rubbished as Mobil 1 doesn't come out as the best (Comma isn't mentiond BTW). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beelzebub Posted February 17, 2004 Share Posted February 17, 2004 What's the best for my k series then 🤔 The Comma stuff that Caterham recommend & what I've been using, or Mobil 1 🤔 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dino ferrana Posted February 17, 2004 Share Posted February 17, 2004 I will get shot down again for this no doubt. Comma developed the Caterham oil for the K-Series taking account of the duty cycle we put them through. This means the oil is designed to cope with the K-Series demands it needs a low number for cold starting (Mobil 1 motorsport is rated at 15W and this is too high and will lead to damage). It also will cope with the high temperatures and revs that track days a long "enthusiastic" road use bring on. It is true that many manufacturers recommend an oil specifically for their engines due to a commerical deal and there is nothing special about it. The Comma/Caterham situation must surely be regarded a little differently as we are assured that the oil was specially formulated just for Caterham. There is no equivalent product in the Comma range so we must assume that this is true. If you are using it for the road mainly then you won't go wrong with some Comma Syner stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nifty Posted February 17, 2004 Share Posted February 17, 2004 Interesting Dino, why should a K series in a Caterham have differing cold starting requirements to a K series in any Rover/other application?? I'd have thought that we, the enthusiast in our precious toys will be more forgiving at cold engine temps and therefore the oil grade when cold would be more important for the general user *confused* Keep off the straight and narrow 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted February 17, 2004 Share Posted February 17, 2004 I think Dino's point is that you need the low number for cold starting - and this is an extremely rare requirement for racing (hence the starting point at 15...) Having said that, I'm not sold on the idea that the CC stuff is significantly more appropriate than the Halfrauds synthetic that I use given my typical duty cycles... Keep BC free and open for ALL. Membership No. 43xx Alcester Racing 7's Equipe - 🙆🏻™ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Woods Posted February 17, 2004 Author Share Posted February 17, 2004 Comma developed the Caterham oilare you sure ? synerG is on sale in every motor factor in Norwich and i know for a fact that there arent that many 7's in norfolk. More likely is that they checked that SynerG wouldnt wreck the engine before signing a sponsorship deal with Caterham (not that theres anything wrong in that). Anyway, its my thread and you're all still off topic The question was Whats so special about Mobil 1 ??" and so far nobody has given me anything that can quantifiably answer my question, there is lots of anecdotal evedince but thats it. Surely by now someone must have found some independent tests or trials or some oil specialist independent analysis ?? 😬 😬 Nick Red and Black 1.6K supersport Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dino ferrana Posted February 18, 2004 Share Posted February 18, 2004 Nick I wasn't talking about Syner-G or Z but the Cateram oil which is a seperate product and IS custom developed for Caterham. Read the article which I linked and it does mention there are some better oils than Mobil 1 according to indepedent tests. It also mentions what the various additives can do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david nelson Posted February 18, 2004 Share Posted February 18, 2004 dino I have just called CC midlands as i need to change my oil (it black ofter only 2600 miles and low) I am unable to get CC oil local, well just found some in witney so i off there. but CC said to use mobil 1 motor sport 15-50 aas 15-50 was the prefered grade for K-series. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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