Ariel.Club Forum

Thanks Henry!
I changed thread subject

Hi Autobackup,

The only Oil we recommend for the Atom is Castrol 10w40 Magnatec, or 10w-60 Edge. We were recommended this by Honda and will stick to it - i understand that it is not available there. If we recommend anything else and it has adverse effects, we would be in trouble! It isn't that we are loyal to Castrol - we have just used it ever since it was recommended to us, and we have never had a problem with an engine to to oil degradation.

Having said that - any good quality performance oil rated 10w40 or 10w60 should do the job. My guess is the 10w-60 would be a better grade for you - we run this in our race car and in the 3.5R.

Waterless Coolants:

Our opinion is that they don't offer a significant improvement for the Atom.
The best thing to fit for hot country temperature control is an Oil Cooler. Cooling both the oil and the coolant prevents one from driving the temperature of the other up.

Is your car a 245, or 300/310?

Thanks Henry - interesting interjection!

However can you also recommend a list of suitable engine oils for an Atom 3.

At my Atom's last service I was forced to switch to Redline 15W/50 High Pro (fully synthetic) racing oil (megabucks!) as unfortunately Castrol Magnatec is almost unobtainable in Cyprus - the reason for this (or so I was told?) is that in the past some local high performance cars have encountered splitting problems due to the high ambient summer temperatures here - so as nobody buys it there isn't a market for it!

Next Question
Have Ariel experimented with, or had any experience with, water-less cooling fluids as I was wondering about their efficacy in comparison to possibly retro-fitting the addition tropical radiator option?

A previous thread elsewhere in this forum came up with all sorts of dire predictions ranging from poor co-efficient of cooling (seems strange since the boiling point is so much higher) to poor thermal transfer properties not to mention various other problems!

PeR4,

As mentioned above (and in our email chat) Honda MT3 Gearbox oil, or if you cant get that - Castrtol SMX-S Gear Oil.

The Castrol stuff is what we used to put into the Atom 2 Gearboxes until Honda Updated the Spec of the 'box for the Atom 3 and we now put Honda MT3 in all Gearboxes. Atom 2, 3, 3.5 and Nomad.

This is more for the benfit of any others searching for AA2 Gear Oil! 

I sincerely hope that that Mobimec's technical advice/competence is hopefully rather better than their absolutely appalling website!

However, that said, one cannot but observe a certain bias in their website towards 'pushing' both used and new BMW parts which is understandable in that they mainly only deal with BMWs so they have a vested interest in discouraging the use of other manufacturers 'bits and pieces' including, I suspect, alternative lubricants?

EVERY manufacturer's owner's manual 'recommends' which lubricants should be used in various car components simply because they want to do their very best to keep future repeat sales 'in house' (as I said previously individual lubricant manufactures usually strike a 'sweetheart' deal with a car manufacturer precisely for this reason!). This does not mean that another manufacturer's lubricants aren't perfectly compatible/suitable!

All I can say is that, from many years of experience, technical 'experts' frequently recommend items/parts/lubricants for their own pecuniary benefit rather than for any real technical reason.

Incidentally the Mercedes handbook recommends one manufacturer's oils and lubricants in the UK however I have, by chance, just discovered that the Mercedes owners handbook for cars sold in Cyprus recommends an entirely different manufacturers oils and lubricants (both the same grade however) - explain that!

The info about choice of oil for the older BMW limited slip differential I got from: http://www.mobimech.com
He rebuilds differentials and gearboxes for racing and track day cars, mainly BMWs.
As well BMW informs in the carspecific manuals.

Do you 'know' from personal experience that Honda (or any other) top quality transmission oil will destroy a BMW's transmission or has a BMW main dealer or 'techie' simply told you this?

One thing is for sure - BMW don't make any oils or fluids so they are simply re-badging some other oil supplier's product - usually with a hefty mark up!

- I have an old BMW M5 V8 Touring and from personal experience I have been told all sorts of things by BMW main dealers (such as only certain 'licensed' M5 dealers can safely maintain an M5) that on closer examination turn out to be more for 'protectionism' rather than for any reason founded in reality!

As an example I was definitively told by the 'official' Reading BMW dealer workshop manager (Cooper Reading) that my  extended warranty would be completely invalidated if I had it serviced/maintained by Grosvenor Motors in Reading (an independent authorised BMW specialist) which, after I directly checked with BMW UK, turned out to be a complete and utter load of 'porkies'!!

I rather suspect that this might also apply to the other various bits and fluids supplied by BMW franchises?

[quote="autobackup"]
What oils and fluids are used in a particular car are more usually down to a 'sweetheart' supply/advertising deal between the oil company and the car manufacturer rather than any real quality considerations as generally there is very little difference between the various higher quality oils and transmission fluids!

However, that said, everyone has their favourites and/or preferences - usually more influenced by friends, acquaintances, word of mouth and car forums such as this one rather than any real quality differences between the best products!
[/quote]

Yes, I agree. Oil discussions are often best after some beer

I'm curious how Hondas limited slip differential works fine on oils that will destroy the BMW limited slip differentials, at least the "older" units with friction plates. "Old" as until around year 2000.. Must be very different mechanically.

What oils and fluids are used in a particular car are more usually down to a 'sweetheart' supply/advertising deal between the oil company and the car manufacturer rather than any real quality considerations as generally there is very little difference between the various higher quality oils and transmission fluids!

However, that said, everyone has their favourites and/or preferences - usually more influenced by friends, acquaintances, word of mouth and car forums such as this one rather than any real quality differences between the best products!

Thanks Jeff 

Ariel just responded that they use Honda MTF-3, and recommend Castrol MSX-S gear oil if the Hondaoil isn't available.

Beeing used to BMW which recommends oils with special friction additives for their limited slip differentials, I'm wondering what is different about the Honda limited slip diff that it works on "just" a good gearoil?

The GM manual syncromesh fluid is also excellent.  Actually, it may be as good or "better" than the others mentioned.

Thanks!

[quote="PeR4"]
I'm not very good at searching here I think

I got an AA2. The Owners handbook suggests AMSoil Synthetic Manual Syncromesh Transmission Fluid 5W-30. Is this oil good also for the gearboxes with the Honda limited slip differential?
[/quote]

Looked into it ages ago. The AMSoil or the Honda stuff is equally as good. Get the cheapest

Honda MTF3 is the usual choice for the gearbox.