NEW OWNER: VW 503 00 or VW 503 01

[TS5RS]

This is my first post as the proud owner of an immaculate 2002 RS4 and the car is much better than my RS2.

The car went in for its 20000 mile 2nd VIS yesterday and I wanted to get some clarifcation on what is the correct oil grade. VW 503 00 or VW 503 01??? To cut a long story short I seem to remember a recent post on Castrol SLX stating that VW 503 01 should not be used due to the high running temps etc. The RS4 manual states that either 00 OR 01 can be used. I requested that Castrol SLX VW 503 00 was to be used for the oil change but typical Audi did their own thing and used Mobil Long life OIL = VW 503 01.

Questions:

1. Could anybody tell me what the technical differences are between VW 503 00 and VW 503 01?

2. Can either grades be used in the RS4?

I would appreciate any view.

[Golfather]

I had a oil lube done yesterday at Aston Green and they only use Mobil 1 0w40 on any RS or S model, regardless of service interval.
Its specified to 503.01

[Dippy]

Welcome and congratulations on your new buy.

A fellow member recently called me the "oil whore" so I suppose I'd better answer your post - at least as far as I can.

Now I don't know the actual technical difference between 503.00 and 503.01, however I do know about their application. I think you'll find that in order to use AVS, you need 503.01 oil. AVS cars have a viscosity sensor, so I guess that just means that the AVS programming is based on the viscosity degradation of a 503.01 oil.

Now it's also interesting to learn that your RS4 manual allows for 503.00 oil. Now my manual is a bit special. It disagrees with the UK manual. This is probably because my car was NOT supplied through the UK dealer network. I bought my car via a German dealer. So I guess that my English manual is the European generic English manual (there are many countries which require English manuals for their customers instead of the local language).

My manual clearly states that thou shallt only use 503.01 oil in thy RS4, S3 and 225bhp TT.

So I also guess that, as you suggest, 503.01 includes special testing for use in high performance cars.

So what does all this mean? Not a lot really unless you need to maintain a warranty and your dealer knows about this oil approval stuff.

Considering that Audi recommend that 0W30 oil be used, but now there is speculation (backed by actual evidence I guess) that this is too thin and can result in premature cam wear, maybe it's best not to look at Audi's rules too much and just use some good old common sense!

As you are no doubt aware, oil is the one of the lifebloods of an engine, doubly so for a performance engine, and trebly so with oil-bearing turbos (use your own multipliers if you don't like mine). So common sense says use a high quality oil brewed for performance cars and maintain that quality. You know what brands are high quality and you can make your own judgement on how often to change it to keep it good (but I average around 5K miles).

Now what you will find is that such oils are either already approved to 503.01 (Castrol Formula SLX and Mobil 1 for example) or would probably pass if tested. So that leaves you with the grading.

Generally the 0W30 Castrol is hard to find and expensive. Whereas the 0W40 Mobil 1 is common as muck and generally cheaper. As I mentioned before, 0W40 is likely to be a safer oil, so that's an easy decision.

But as I suggested, as long as you use a high quality fully synthetic oil and change it regularly, you'll be fine with any of the premium brands.

For reference I use 15W50 Mobil 1 as my summer oil as temps are rather hotter now!

As usual I welcome a good argument with anyone who wishes to disagree with me....

[TS5RS]

Thanks for the comprehensive reply.

It answers my basic question that I should not worry about using 503.01. just do not trust Audi main dealers.

For your information the workshop supervisor also stated that the manual was incorrect to say either 503 00 or 503 01 was okay to use and he showed me his job method sheets that clearly specifies 503.01.

Mobil 1 0w40 was used.

[sennaNSX]

Hi all,

Im not oil expert, but a bit of a anorak - I always found the 0w/40 too thin in my RB26DETT (GTR), never really trusted it to be honest.
I went for Royal Purple oils, both for the transmission and more importantly the engine. The grade that my GTR seemed to love most was 10W/30. Royal purple will even scan the residue of your engine oil and give you a diagnostic, not sure if this is gimmicky or not (there are arguments to say it is very useful). The use these scans to build up a spreadsheet of your engine wear and other clever stuff that is beyond me
I use it in my NSX too, though I drive that like a Morris Minor and there are no turbochargers on it, but I am a big fan of these oils.
None of this has anything to do with the RS4, 'sept for the fact that I'm looking to buy one soon and trying to learn as much as poss,

Thanks for letting me ramble,

Glen.

**http://www.royalpurple.co.uk/**