I know the oil subject has been done to death several times but I cannot find any postings on Comma oil
Parkers the parts people can offer me Comma Synter D for £27 or their own brand of fully synth 5W40 for £20 for 5litres. The guy assures me this is bottled for them by comma and is the same stuff but without the fancy bottle.
So is this stuff any good and would you guys use it?
Our car is a 1999 MK2 1.8 RS roadster.
My other options in Fucsh 5W40 at £30 for 4 litres.
Since owning the car (2+years) i ahve always sworn by Halfords own brand 5W40 fully synth but at £35 a pop now I was seeing if there was a more cost effective alternative.
To be honest Tony, I’m not sure that anyone can give an opinion based on personal opinion. How do you judge how well an oil is performing? Does it get dirty quickly, does it retain it’s viscosity…how many engines have we heard of blowing up because of using cheap own brand oil…I just stuff in Mobil1 and change it twice a year.—
Just to add, I ran 3 consecutive Ford diesels back in the UK, each one did over 150k miles, used little oil between changes [10k miles] and I used the own brand stuff in the local motor shop. Can’t remember it’s name but it was cheap. I believe that an older diesel has a far worse operating environment than out normally, pampered '5 engines
I changed my oil a couple of weeks ago. I used Comma 5W50 Motorsport that I got off ebay for £25 delivered, Redex Engine Oil Flush from Wilko and a genuine Mazda filter from MX5Parts. If Comma Syner-G 5W40 had been cheaper at my local motor factors then I would happily have used that instead.
HLA noise is about the same as it was with the Mobil 1 0W40 that was in previously and hot oil pressure is about the same.
Syner-D is marketed as a diesel engine oil. Syner-G is the equivalent viscosity (5W40 fully synthetic) and is for petrol engines.
I am yet to be convinced that the retail price of many branded oils is a true reflection of their quality. Many years ago I used to use Vauxhall’s own semi-synthetic 10W40. With a generous discount from the local Vauxhall dealer this was just about the cheapest oil that I could buy anywhere in 5L quantities (with the probable exception of CarPlan 20W50 from Asda - nasty!). I maintained my family’s “fleet” of cars using this oil and never had any problems during the 100s of thousands of miles that we covered between us.
I am not sure why certain Mobil 1 oils appear on the product pages on Comma’s website, in apparent direct competition to some of Comma’s own branded equivalents, but I can probably guess…
I see your point on how do you judge an oil, I suppose I phrased the question badly and should have said is it suitable for fast road use in the MX5 and has anybody had any bad experiences using it. But I think you have kind of answered my question already cheers.
I do change the oil twice a year as a matter of course, so I think I will pop down to parkers and buy a tub of their own branded 5W40 fully synthetic and see how it goes. HLA noise on the mark 2 isnt a problem as I understand they changed from hydraulic lifters to shims on the MK2 engine. Might be wrong of course but never hear HLA noise yet on ours.
I really just wanted a bit of reasurance that by going for the Comma prodcut that the car will be fine, which I kind of know it will.
I do agree that the branded oils around these days are way overpriced! But I do tend to stick to branded stuff due to their reputation that they like to hang on to. So I know I’m getting a level of quality at least. but I think this time I’ll go out on a limb and try the parkers / Comma fully synth 5W40. if its ok then I’ll be pleased as it will save me a smal fortune.
Comma and Halfords oil are both made by Esso, but to slightly different specs. Comma oil isn’t the same as what is supplied under a Esso or Exxon brand. I think a lot of these oils use recycled ingredients. They’re fine.
Alternatives; Mazda’s own branded oil (made by Total I think) is surprisingly cheap from the dealer At shows, you often see odd stuff going cheap. I got a bunch of AC-Delco branded il that was 2 months out of date.
Also look for Miller oil; decent quality, and reasonably priced.
No doubt, Oilman will be along soon to tell us what fools we are for not buying Fuchs oil, or whatever.
Keep forgetting about Millers. I try to support the local economy, but despite the Millers plant being only a few miles from my home their engine oil products are hard to find locally. Strange really, because their diesel “power booster” and other additives are everywhere.
I am currently using Castrol Magnatec a genuine Mazda filter I don’t seem to have HLA what ever that is could you explain (doh) and that was 6k ago and I will be changing oil and filter before I park the car up for the winter although I wont have done the manufactures recommended oil change mileage of 9k,so I will be shopping round,
oh what happened to Duckhams oils (used to be Green why !!) I used to use this in my Lotus Cortina all the time, though I found it a bit searching and it found all the openings to leak out of you could imagine and more.
Duckhams was withdrawn from the uk market following a deal between BP who Owned Duckhams and Mobil as in 1 . Spookily enough was discussing this with someone who worked for Duckhams at The Bromley office today at Brands Hatch!
The green was a result of the unique detergent package and or Dye for marketing purposes. I used to swear by QXR during the mid 80s back in my rallying youth!
