Garage19

Just went to get some oil n filter for the rot box and halfords have got a special deal on: 5L their brand 5w40 fuly synth half price at £14.99!

Got to be the cheapest fully synth available. Offer ends on monday though.

MAD EVO 4

SamERST

Is it any good though ?

Ginge !

they do that deal every bank holiday and have been for about 7 years

James

who makes halfords oil?

Moose 130

but it's not real synthetic is it!

Fudgey

iTrader: (4)

i thought halffords oil was esso stuff?

did they have any cheaper oil doug?

the sx uses nearly as much oil as petrol

dave cos4x4

iTrader: (5)

cheap enough.


But would you ut it in your engine?

MAD EVO 4

No way

Garage19

No.... thats why it's called fully synthetic...... what else do you think it is then??????

BILLY

Saw this advertised today in paper. Surely if it's fully synth it's gotta be half decent

Twellsie

iTrader: (1)

i did see Castrol GTX Magnetec in Focus (Do It All) or whatever it is called now for £16.49

James

Morrison's petrol station sells Megnatec for £18-99 i think, it's still cheaper there than what i can get it trade at the motor factors at.

frog

Ask oilman on here and he'll explain it all in detail...

iirc Castrol RS and Mobil 1 are not 100% synthetic even though they are claimed to be, that's down to the specifications an oil must meet to be labelled as synthetic, those specs don't actually require the oil to be synthetic - go figure....
Silkolene PRO S however, it fully synthetic (no gimmicks), according to oilman.

Paul J

Quote by Oilman if interested:

Halfords 5w-40 is hydrocracked

Halfords oil is made by Esso currently and to a minimum spec/budget.


Below is an article written by John Rowland, Silkolene/Fuchs Chief R & D Chemist for 40 years.

Quote:

Costs of synthetics vary considerably. The most expensive are the “Ester” types originally only used in jet engines. These cost 6 to 10 times more than high quality mineral oils. The cheapest synthetics are not really synthetic at all, from a chemists point of view. These are in fact specially refined light viscosity mineral oils known as “hydrocracked”. These have some advantages over equivalent mineral oils, particularly in lower viscosity motor oils such as 5w-30 or other oils with a low “W” rating such as 5w-50 etc and they cost about 1.5 times more than good quality mineral fractions.

We use several different grades of this base oil, where appropriate. This is the “synthetic” which is always used in cheap oils that are labelled “synthetic”.

Yes it’s a cruel world, you get what you pay for!

Now, you may ask, why are these special mineral oils called “synthetic”?

Well, it was all sorted in a legal battle that took place in the USA about ten years ago. Sound reasons (including evidence from a Nobel Prize winning chemist) were disregarded and the final ruling was that certain mineral bases that had undergone extra chemical treatments could be called “synthetic”.

Needless to say, the marketing executives wet their knickers with pure delight!
They realised that this meant, and still does, that the critical buzz-word “synthetic” could be printed on a can of cheap oil provided that the contents included a few percent of “hydrocracked” mineral oil, at a cost of quite literally a few pence.

So, the chemistry of “synthetics” is complex and so is the politics!

The economics are very simple. If you like the look of a smart well-marketed can with “synthetic” printed on it, fair enough, it will not cost you a lot; and now you know why this is the case.

But, if you drive a high performance car, and you intend to keep it for several years, and maybe do the odd “track day”, then you need a genuine Ester/PAO (Poly Alpha Olefin) synthetic oil.

This oil costs more money to buy, because it costs us a lot of money to make, very simply, you always get what you pay for!

Unquote:

Paul J

Mobil and Castrol mentioned above are proper poa synthetics

MAD EVO 4

oh it all makes sense now

neilm

To be honest, if you are changing it every 3000 miles anyway I dont think you can go wrong.


I've gone for the Ford 5/40w fully synthetic oil in recent years because thats exactly whats recommended by ford for their car, but I am sure there is a load of bull talked about oils and a degree of 'synthetic snobbery' going on...

If the oil is £29.99 for 5 litres to start with that puts it up there with the other main stream brands... see the 'You get what you pay for' comment above.

The fact its on offer at £14.99 is just a bargain..... you could change it every 2000 miles and still be up on the deal.


Personally I think too many people are too quick to knock Halfords...

All4it

moonstone mike

halfords own oil .... reminds me got to change the oil in my lawn mower

Moose 130

you use it in your mower

frog

Quoted from oilman in a previous thread here: https://passionford.com/forum/viewto...165&highlight=

"Does it matter that Castrol RS 10w-60 is not a proper synthetic? Well probably not to those that don't care for the difference but for those that have large amounts of money tied up in a "special" car then of course it does, it's important if you wish to do the best for your car."

neilm

'Cos obviously they have their own refinery run by spotty dickheads like their shops...

xr2fatturbo

i wouldn't put halfords oil in any engine! even if its the last stuff on earth!

can't be as bad as tesco value motor oil tho

Rich_w

IMHO
Anything thats uprated should run the best Oil you can get. As it defeats the point to spend all that money going to Stage 3 say, then have an oil that (like for like) increases resistance in the engine.

But for ordinary cars, Halfords will suffice.

On Neils point about people slating Halfords, imagine if they didnt exist? Where would we be then? Where would the chavs take their Saxos to get 6" exhaust pipes and "banging systems"

DazC

iTrader: (1)

As people have mentioned Castrol and Mobil 1...

Castrol RS is a hydrocracked oil (modified mineral).

Mobil 1 is fully synthetic, as well as the Silkolene.

Oranoco

Who wants a laugh?

Pop into Halfrauds and ask the spotty Corsa driving fuckwit for a synthetic oil and state you want a Ester/Poly Alpha Olefin oil and not a hydrocracked mineral oil and watch the little oik twitch in confusion

James

lmao, i might just try that, when i went into buy my road angel the lad came over "can i help blah blah blah" so i said yeah whats the difference between the compact and 2? he told me that basicly the 2 was better as it will detect laser guns, this was of course after he had picked up both boxes and read the sides of them.

I then pointed out that you can upgrade the compact after buying a laser detector which he replied, "oh can you, i don't know about that"



funny as fuck!

Stealth Bomber

Halfrauds staff do their best, but the rule remains: never buy Halfrauds own-brand anything!

My last mistake was buying Halfrauds own brand "alloy wheel wrecker" oops I mean "alloy wheel cleaner", it turned a slightly dirty set of wheels into a set that needed a refurb

neilm

thats bollocks... their Professional range of tools are excellent value for money... anyone who can offer a lifetime warranty on their goods must be confident its a good product, otherwise it would be commercial suicide.

The key to engine oil is how often you change it... and for the price of the Halfords stuff you could change it every 1500 miles so your engine would be running on clean fresh oil all the time....


Oil is like Coca-Cola & Pepsi.... you might swear by Mobil 1 but you couldnt pick it out in a taste test.....

neilm

On a Sunday morning when you need a headlight bulb or a fuse or some nuts and bolts or some anti freeze

People are quick to slate... but I bet its the first place they go on a Sunday when they need the little things that keep the car right.... or when they are fitting a stereo and need some connectors...


Or when you are bored and just need someone to wind up....

Chris Honeywell

Exactly m8
most of our cossie motors blow up melt or need a rebuild long before any halfords oil cause it damage

Paul J

The 10w-60 may not be poa the 0w-40 is tho

Oilman again:

Matt Lewis

iTrader: (2)

still cheap

Tangodeltasierra3

I use fully synthetic from Costco wholesale, £11.79 for 4 litres, it's badged as Chevron 5w-40 but its made by Texaco, is approved by Daimler Chrysler so cant be that bad either...

oilman

If you've a stock car, used on the road - no problem.

If the car is tuned and running higher bhp or you track it then don't go there, use a decent oil as it's the first line of defence for your engine.

The more serious your car, the more serious the oil that's required as you have moved outside of the manufacturers oil spec envelope.

At the end of the day they are your cars and it's not my money down the tubes when it all ends in tears!

Cheers
Simon

Garage19

Just to point out when i say rot box, i mean my £50 Nreg diesel festa

It was only two quid more than the cheapest mineral goop they did.... therefore a bargain in my eyes!

S3an

my mate has used this for 40k miles in his saph cos, without a problem, so i used it in my escos and it runs sweet as and ive done 5k in mine, mind you ive changed the oil 3 times. i went and bought 3 the other day

Fiecos Dan

i pay £12 all inc for 5 ltr's of Morris fully.