Engine oil Shell or MOTUL

Rotella T6 is great oil (lots of STI guys run it) and I wouldn't hesitate running it in my R... except that it isn't VW 502 approved... so warranty is at risk if I had a failure in the engine.

The biggest advantage is that it's CHEAP and works well. I don't run it in my R...yet. I am still under maintenance free. I do run it in my Stage 3 B5 S4 and in my 1991 Audi 200 though. Haven't sent the oil to Blackstone for analysis, but haven't had any issues either.

Motul is quality stuff. I had a MK5 and drove it about 90k miles and I put Motul every 5k and my car always performed well.

All I know is my dealer used 5W30 Castrol throughout my free factory serviceand I burned oil like crazy, since I have switched to Motul VW specific 5W-40 I have yet to burn anything noticeable.

The extra fuel is indeed from my mainly DD of the R, but using Rotella is just fine.

Rotella T6 5w40 in my R is running great

Just did the oil change last week... the 5w-40 didn't seem to like the unusually cold temps we had here over the winter... now that it's warming up outside the Rotella seems to keep a lot of the mechanical clatter of the engine down and it runs like butter.

After break in, I started using Rotella 5w40 synthetic, as I got better mileage with it. It's looking like a 5w may be way too thin for these old motors, and perhaps I should have stuck with a 15w40!

I would highly recommend the Shell Rotella 5-40 full synthetic. You can get it at Walmart, $22 for 1gallon. It is designed for diesel engines and meets or exceeds the recommendation by VW.

Mobil 1 lacks the zinc for sure! Many people I know in Honda circles have done alot of oil research, as the flat rockers pads of the H22 VTEC engine get eaten away, especially with high lift cams. Most of us now run either Brad Penn, or Royal Purple HPS oil. I run the Rotella T6 in my Subaru and Acura, but the older Honda engine I still don't trust it.