[volvjoe]

A number of companies have 0w-20 that meet Volvo's specs. I've used Special Tec V SAE 0W-20 (5 Liter) - Liqui Moly LM20200 and I've got a case of Rowe HIGHTEC SYNT RSV SAE 0W-20 (article number 20260) coming in for the next oil change.

Why are you switching from the Liqui Moly to ROWE? better brand ?
I wish we can find the Castrol Edge Professional V in the US Market, I emailed Castrol about availability and they said this oil is only for dealerships.

 

[jwasilko]

Why are you switching from the Liqui Moly to ROWE? better brand ?
I wish we can find the Castrol Edge Professional V in the US Market, I emailed Castrol about availability and they said this oil is only for dealerships.

We race in the American Endurance Racing series, and https://www.eeuroparts.com/ is a sponsor. We won a race and one of the prizes was a $100 gift card from them. Eeuroparts carries Rowe not Liqui Moly, so I'm giving it a try for free

 

[Kjmack]

Attachment isn't showing but I'm only seeing that 0w20 is recommended for extreme driving conditions. I believe 5w30 applies for normal driving conditions.

'15 V60 T5 FWD | Savile Gray

It should be visible now I reloaded the attachement, I was reading that since that engine-specific 0w20(vcc rbs0-2ae/sae) is not available in the US Market they switched to 5w30.

Volvo doesn't offer a definition for "Extreme Driving Conditions" also it uses the same words in the Octane rating with minimum of 87 octane for the Drive-E engines and then higher octane is recommened for Extreme driving conditions.. I assume that since I live in Mountains area with Humid weather that this is considered Extreme conditions?

Many car makers tend to use the 0w20 for increased fuel economy and more performance, Volvo Custom made this 0w20 oil for the Drive-E engines.. it's not any 0w20 SAE oil it's the Volvo vcc rbs0-2ae/sae 0w20

Also as a driver how do I predict if I will be driving in normal or extreme conditions in the next 10K miles??

0w20 for more performance ? Where are you getting that hogwash ? Oil pressure drops way off using a thin oil in performance cars and temps skyrocket . Your way over thinking your oil .Let me guess your doing 10k changes also . If your worried about keeping your engine healthy don't do 10k oil changes . And yeah LOL that goes for any car too.

 

[p.rico]

Let me guess your doing 10k changes also . If your worried about keeping your engine healthy don't do 10k oil changes . And yeah LOL that goes for any car too.

I've had more than a few intervals into the 9K mile mark and all have come back with metal ppm numbers in line with universal averages taken around 4-5K miles. If all you're doing is driving normal commute, you can do 10K with no adverse effects using a quality oil. This is on 30 weight FWIW.

 

[Kjmack]

Let me guess your doing 10k changes also . If your worried about keeping your engine healthy don't do 10k oil changes . And yeah LOL that goes for any car too.

I've had more than a few intervals into the 9K mile mark and all have come back with metal ppm numbers in line with universal averages taken around 4-5K miles. If all you're doing is driving normal commute, you can do 10K with no adverse effects using a quality oil. This is on 30 weight FWIW.

Metal is never going to be that high unless you have bigger issues . It's the carbon in a GDI that is so small it can't be measured .

 

[Venth]

0w20 for more performance ? Where are you getting that hogwash ? Oil pressure drops way off using a thin oil in performance cars and temps skyrocket . Your way over thinking your oil .Let me guess your doing 10k changes also . If your worried about keeping your engine healthy don't do 10k oil changes . And yeah LOL that goes for any car too.

Easy there. 0w20 should give better fuel economy if that is the performance he is looking for. It's also possible the 0w20 oil would improve the start/stop stuttering a lot of people complain about in these engines.

I'm of the opinion that fresher oil trumps expensive oil on long OCI. Why not try both and decide? Oil changes are not expensive - especially if you're DIY.

On the topic of extreme driving conditions, taking Volvo's chart for oil viscosity - it appears to be defined as ambient temperatures below -30C (-22 in freedom units) where 5/6 cyl engines need 0W-30 and 4 cyl engines need 0w-20. It makes sense from a physics standpoint but isn't spelled out in the manual.

 

[Kjmack]

0w20 for more performance ? Where are you getting that hogwash ? Oil pressure drops way off using a thin oil in performance cars and temps skyrocket . Your way over thinking your oil .Let me guess your doing 10k changes also . If your worried about keeping your engine healthy don't do 10k oil changes . And yeah LOL that goes for any car too.

Easy there. 0w20 should give better fuel economy if that is the performance he is looking for. It's also possible the 0w20 oil would improve the start/stop stuttering a lot of people complain about in these engines.

I'm of the opinion that fresher oil trumps expensive oil on long OCI. Why not try both and decide? Oil changes are not expensive - especially if you're DIY.

On the topic of extreme driving conditions, taking Volvo's chart for oil viscosity - it appears to be defined as ambient temperatures below -30C (-22 in freedom units) where 5/6 cyl engines need 0W-30 and 4 cyl engines need 0w-20. It makes sense from a physics standpoint but isn't spelled out in the manual.

totally with you on fresher oil Trump's boutique oil long intervals ." Freedom units" love it never heard it LOL

 

[volvjoe]

We race in the American Endurance Racing series, and https://www.eeuroparts.com/ is a sponsor. We won a race and one of the prizes was a $100 gift card from them. Eeuroparts carries Rowe not Liqui Moly, so I'm giving it a try for free

Oh great! congrats on the win!
I might just go with the Liqui-Moly if I couldn't source the Castrol Professional Edge V
I wonder what made you switch to the 0w20 instead of 5w30?

 

[volvjoe]

Easy there. 0w20 should give better fuel economy if that is the performance he is looking for. It's also possible the 0w20 oil would improve the start/stop stuttering a lot of people complain about in these engines.

I'm of the opinion that fresher oil trumps expensive oil on long OCI. Why not try both and decide? Oil changes are not expensive - especially if you're DIY.

On the topic of extreme driving conditions, taking Volvo's chart for oil viscosity - it appears to be defined as ambient temperatures below -30C (-22 in freedom units) where 5/6 cyl engines need 0W-30 and 4 cyl engines need 0w-20. It makes sense from a physics standpoint but isn't spelled out in the manual.

Also I'm still not sure about the Volvo definition of Extreme Conditions, I need to emails them after the break and get that cleared, in other parts of the manual they list (Mountain driving, Towing, Humid area,..) as extreme conditions.
And you mentioned those tempretatures, do you think having this oil in the summer is not a good idea?

 

[volvjoe]

0w20 for more performance ? Where are you getting that hogwash ? Oil pressure drops way off using a thin oil in performance cars and temps skyrocket . Your way over thinking your oil .Let me guess your doing 10k changes also . If your worried about keeping your engine healthy don't do 10k oil changes . And yeah LOL that goes for any car too.

Well don't you think if it's more slick inside the cylinder that it will make the movement easier and therefor increase performance even by a little bit?
but for the fuel economy I was reading that it's a sure gain 3.5% to 5.0+% MPG which translates into 1 to 2 extra MPG.. not too bad I'll take it

 

[volvjoe]

While doing the research I found this post by user (TonyJag) about 0W20 being the original oil for Drive-E cars:

"Our dealer found the following in their Volvo diagnostic system under the design and function section:
"Oil system - General
The engines from the VEA family have an oil system with a variable oil pump, piston cooling and oil level sensor. Service intervals are 30,000km/one year (market dependent). The engine oil used is a fully synthetic oil with SAE 0W20 viscosity with designation VCC RBS0-2AE. The oil, which is specially developed for Volvo, must be used in all markets. The exception is the USA where, due to legal requirements on the market, ACEA A5/B5 5W30 is used. In order to optimize the engine's internal friction, the lubrication system has a fully variable oil pump. The oil pump's variable displacement contributes to reduced fuel consumption. None of the engines in the VEA family have a dipstick.""

 

[Kjmack]

While doing the research I found this post by user (TonyJag) about 0W20 being the original oil for Drive-E cars:

"Our dealer found the following in their Volvo diagnostic system under the design and function section:
"Oil system - General
The engines from the VEA family have an oil system with a variable oil pump, piston cooling and oil level sensor. Service intervals are 30,000km/one year (market dependent). The engine oil used is a fully synthetic oil with SAE 0W20 viscosity with designation VCC RBS0-2AE. The oil, which is specially developed for Volvo, must be used in all markets. The exception is the USA where, due to legal requirements on the market, ACEA A5/B5 5W30 is used. In order to optimize the engine's internal friction, the lubrication system has a fully variable oil pump. The oil pump's variable displacement contributes to reduced fuel consumption. None of the engines in the VEA family have a dipstick.""

Interesting , I wonder if cars sent to the U.S. markets are in anyway different than their counterparts elsewhere ? You would think there would be more out there on this subject .My gut feelings are I really don't have alot of faith in Volvo engineer's . That's why I don't do long intervals I guess .

 

[volvjoe]

Interesting , I wonder if cars sent to the U.S. markets are in anyway different than their counterparts elsewhere ? You would think there would be more out there on this subject .My gut feelings are I really don't have alot of faith in Volvo engineer's . That's why I don't do long intervals I guess .

Well at least now we know the truth, 0W20 RBS0-2AE is the main and factory oil for the Drive-E, but due to regulations they hooked us up (US Market) with a generic 5W30 instead of the Custom-made Engine-Specific 0W20 RBS0-2AE that is Drive-E Exclusive.

I'm definietly buying 0W20 RBS0-2AE for my next oil change, I found Liqui Moly 20200 for $30\5Quartz online.

And regarding your question whether cars sent to US markets are different... I don't know but I think Drive-E is a Drive-E usually they don't redesign the engine to fit a specific market oil. my S60 is made in Sweden, and if I'm not mistaken the North America Volvo S60 is identical (US+Canada) they only change the Setting to KM instead of Mi for the speedometer at dealerships pre-delivery.

 

[Venth]

While doing the research I found this post by user (TonyJag) about 0W20 being the original oil for Drive-E cars:

"Our dealer found the following in their Volvo diagnostic system under the design and function section:
"Oil system - General
The engines from the VEA family have an oil system with a variable oil pump, piston cooling and oil level sensor. Service intervals are 30,000km/one year (market dependent). The engine oil used is a fully synthetic oil with SAE 0W20 viscosity with designation VCC RBS0-2AE. The oil, which is specially developed for Volvo, must be used in all markets. The exception is the USA where, due to legal requirements on the market, ACEA A5/B5 5W30 is used. In order to optimize the engine's internal friction, the lubrication system has a fully variable oil pump. The oil pump's variable displacement contributes to reduced fuel consumption. None of the engines in the VEA family have a dipstick.""

That post is is very old going back to 2014. Castrol has long lost the monopoly on Volvo spec oil (e.g. Motul, Total, Mobil, etc) yet Volvo still recommends 5W-30 on their latest 2019 North American cars.
It would be worth looking into the latest online VIDA to check the most updated information. Did you hear anything back from Volvo?

 

[Venth]

Interesting , I wonder if cars sent to the U.S. markets are in anyway different than their counterparts elsewhere ? You would think there would be more out there on this subject .My gut feelings are I really don't have alot of faith in Volvo engineer's . That's why I don't do long intervals I guess .

Absolutely, local regulations are the biggest source of this. A great example of this would be towing rating and factory installed hitches available between European and North American vehicles due to stronger US regulations on tow stability.
For something more on-topic: 2018 Polestar cars in the USA run a smaller capacity oil pan (page 375) while the UK (page 423) run the same size as the other engines.

 

[Kjmack]

Interesting , I wonder if cars sent to the U.S. markets are in anyway different than their counterparts elsewhere ? You would think there would be more out there on this subject .My gut feelings are I really don't have alot of faith in Volvo engineer's . That's why I don't do long intervals I guess .

Well at least now we know the truth, 0W20 RBS0-2AE is the main and factory oil for the Drive-E, but due to regulations they hooked us up (US Market) with a generic 5W30 instead of the Custom-made Engine-Specific 0W20 RBS0-2AE that is Drive-E Exclusive .

You can't say that 0w20 is factory fill , especially when the person making the claim did it in 2014 when the Drive E wasn't even out . Go ahead and use it , nobody is saying not to . Manual says you can so go for it . I won't .

 

[volvjoe]

Did you hear anything back from Volvo?

I did not hear back from them, I bet they are taking the time crafting well the reply email lol.

 

[volvjoe]

Well at least now we know the truth, 0W20 RBS0-2AE is the main and factory oil for the Drive-E, but due to regulations they hooked us up (US Market) with a generic 5W30 instead of the Custom-made Engine-Specific 0W20 RBS0-2AE that is Drive-E Exclusive .

You can't say that 0w20 is factory fill , especially when the person making the claim did it in 2014 when the Drive E wasn't even out . Go ahead and use it , nobody is saying not to . Manual says you can so go for it . I won't .

2015 models were out in the streets in 2014, over this summer I was driving model year 2019 rental car.
And sure thing they updated the user manual to recommend the generic 5w30 which they DID NOT recommend it in any other market other than the US due to regulations, I think they tested the engine and they found the SECOND best results and hooked us with it!!

... I opened the user manual for 2018 Volvo S60 from many other markets (Australia,France, UK, etc) and found that they only recommend the use of their custom made 0W20 and not a single mention to 5W30, please check the attachements.

In the 2nd picture attached I see my VERY SAME Engine code (B4204T11) and next to it the 0W-20 as the official oil grade.
So those were some strong proofs that were not from 2014

 

[Kjmack]

Well at least now we know the truth, 0W20 RBS0-2AE is the main and factory oil for the Drive-E, but due to regulations they hooked us up (US Market) with a generic 5W30 instead of the Custom-made Engine-Specific 0W20 RBS0-2AE that is Drive-E Exclusive .

You can't say that 0w20 is factory fill , especially when the person making the claim did it in 2014 when the Drive E wasn't even out . Go ahead and use it , nobody is saying not to . Manual says you can so go for it . I won't .

2015 models were out in the streets in 2014, over this summer I was driving model year 2019 rental car.
And sure thing they updated the user manual to recommend the generic 5w30 which they DID NOT recommend it in any other market other than the US due to regulations, I think they tested the engine and they found the SECOND best results and hooked us with it!!

... I opened the user manual for 2018 Volvo S60 from many other markets (Australia,France, UK, etc) and found that they only recommend the use of their custom made 0W20 and not a single mention to 5W30, please check the attachements.
View attachment 47163
View attachment 47165

In the 2nd picture attached I see my VERY SAME Engine code (B4204T11) and next to it the 0W-20 as the official oil grade.
So those were some strong proofs that were not from 2014

Yup I'm not disputing that you can use it at all . It's right there in black and white . Give it a try and let us know how it goes .

 

[Wampo]

2015 models were out in the streets in 2014, over this summer I was driving model year 2019 rental car.
And sure thing they updated the user manual to recommend the generic 5w30 which they DID NOT recommend it in any other market other than the US due to regulations, I think they tested the engine and they found the SECOND best results and hooked us with it!!

... I opened the user manual for 2018 Volvo S60 from many other markets (Australia,France, UK, etc) and found that they only recommend the use of their custom made 0W20 and not a single mention to 5W30, please check the attachements.
View attachment 47163
View attachment 47165

In the 2nd picture attached I see my VERY SAME Engine code (B4204T11) and next to it the 0W-20 as the official oil grade.
So those were some strong proofs that were not from 2014

This is all very interesting! I'm curious though what regulations were holding this oil back? My wife's '12 Civic uses 0W20 and many other 4cyl cars do as well I wouldn't doubt. What about this bespoke Volvo 0W20 didn't jive with US markets? I just changed my oil this morning with 5W30 but in 5k I'll snag the 0W20 liqui moly.

'15 V60 T5 FWD | Savile Gray