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2013 GLI 6mt - gear oil

zrickety

The Fixer
Yes, OEM is used in millions of vehicles but it is by no means the best. There are superior lubricants. I would not say any are a 'lifetime' fluid.
 

SuPeR GTi

Go Kart Champion
Yes, OEM is used in millions of vehicles but it is by no means the best. There are superior lubricants. I would not say any are a 'lifetime' fluid.

so by putting amsoil or any other competitive top brand you expect to shift faster or something? The oem oil does the job, and approved by the engineers that designed the gearbox itself. if you compare oem to amsoil or another top brand the lubrication properties are so minuscule that the extra wear and tear wouldn't be noticeable if you drove the car for another 20 years. I would be more concerned with the oil change interval rather than what brand is "best"

who knows, im guessing people like to experiment, which isnt a bad thing. I just like to use something thats proven itself close to 100% of the time.
 

zrickety

The Fixer
I agree that change intervals are more important. If you drove the same oem fluid for 20 years, I'm pretty sure your syncros and bearings would have issues. I'm not sure that would be the case with other brands. I like 50k intervals, but there other factors. It's not so much experimenting as other engineers making proven improvements. The truth is any gear oil would work short term. Most manufacturers consider a lifetime to be 100k, after that expect things to break down. The mobil 1 is on the shelf locally for about $10, so it's a no-brainer for me.
 

Saabstory

.:R32 OG Member # 002
The oem oil does the job, and approved by the engineers that designed the gearbox itself.
Let's rephrase this quote and look at your signature block:

The oem dogbone mount does the job, and approved by the engineers that designed the suspension itself.
or
The oem tune does the job, and approved by the engineers that designed the ECU itself.
or
The oem flywheel does the job, and approved by the engineers that designed the transmission itself.

People "upgrade" to aftermarket products for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is cost and/or quality. The OEM fluid does the job, but it is not the best quality, even at the same/similar price-point.
if you compare oem to amsoil or another top brand the lubrication properties are so minuscule that the extra wear and tear wouldn't be noticeable if you drove the car for another 20 years.
Actually not true. Many other products on the market have far better lubricating properties both while cold, and at operating temperatures, which is of course what is most important. The OEM oil is designed to work in all temperatures without major issues; it is not designed to be the best in any particular geographic region, or best when cold, etc.
 

cbenjes

Go Kart Newbie
I lost a synchro at 105K miles in my New Beetle on OEM fluid. Switched to Redline MTL and had no tranny problems for the next 160,000 miles. I run MTL in all my manual trannies with zero problems. MTL > OEM. YMMV.
 

kern417

Go Kart Champion
I replaced with OEM with my wavetrac install. It was the one that was recommended by everyone at the time. I don't know what is in other oils that could affect it, but it seemed like people viewed using non-oem gear oils like putting in other brand coolant besides g13. So i guess things have changed?
 
Well I Chose the amsoil due to its flashpoint and viscosity. Wanted something that'll hopefully work well on cold morning starts here in central florida, and also the high heat

So far, SMOOTH. Smooth shifts, like butta. Also the clutch peddle feel is better? Feels like it releases faster, similar to when i first had my HS RSR Clutch installed. Not sure if gear oil would even make difference in that.
 

Pmanpop

Go Kart Champion
Well I Chose the amsoil due to its flashpoint and viscosity. Wanted something that'll hopefully work well on cold morning starts here in central florida, and also the high heat



So far, SMOOTH. Smooth shifts, like butta. Also the clutch peddle feel is better? Feels like it releases faster, similar to when i first had my HS RSR Clutch installed. Not sure if gear oil would even make difference in that.


Interesting. I have amsoil account but i had bought oem gold a couple months ago and used that. Might change to amsoil if i start tracking or go up in power for more protection.
 

SuPeR GTi

Go Kart Champion
Let's rephrase this quote and look at your signature block:


or

or


People "upgrade" to aftermarket products for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is cost and/or quality. The OEM fluid does the job, but it is not the best quality, even at the same/similar price-point.

Actually not true. Many other products on the market have far better lubricating properties both while cold, and at operating temperatures, which is of course what is most important. The OEM oil is designed to work in all temperatures without major issues; it is not designed to be the best in any particular geographic region, or best when cold, etc.


Oh its true. We go to aftermarket parts when we see evidence of an improvement in something, whether its cosmetic or mechanical. With oil, which is what the thread started about, you cant say motul is clearly better then amsoil for example, because if you do study these oils, you find out how different they are formulated but how closely related the results are when tested, espically with the vw 502 certification to be meet.

Wouldn't finding a balance be best? Why would i want an oil thats only best in cold and not so good in a warm region? Or vice versa. Finding an equilibrium is key to a person that daily drives this car in many conditions (most of us on this board)
 

kern417

Go Kart Champion
i mean, i checked my wavetrac manual over the weekend and the recommended fluid was oem. i'm more worried about something with additives that could damage the diff.

yeah you could upgrade pretty much everything on your car but it isn't necessary. maybe when it breaks, especially if the aftermarket replacement is cheaper, but not just because.
 

Saabstory

.:R32 OG Member # 002
What I am saying is that most any of the quality aftermarket oils: Motul, Amsoil, Redline, etc; all are better than OEM. OEM is a very thin fluid for a manual; it is actually far closer to an ATF than a standard manual oil. By its very nature it is impossible for it to protect as well as the thicker "premium" manual oils with friction modifiers.

(Manual Tranny Fluids)



VI Vis@40C Vis@100C

128 159.0 18.3 = AMSOIL CTL SAE 50 Powershift GL-1

..............16.7 = Motul MOTYLGEAR 75-90 GL-4/-5

..............15.6 = VW G50/G51 GL-4

185 90.0 15.6 = Redline MT-90 75-90 GL-4

..............15.2 = Mobil 1 Synthetic 75W-90 GL-5

..............15.2 = Motul Gear 300 75-90 GL-4/-5

..............15.0 = Elf Tranself Synthese FE 75-90 GL-4/-5

132 116.0 14.9 = AMSOIL AGL 80W-90 GL-5

177 84.5 14.7 = AMSOIL MTG 75-90 GL-4

..... 76.6 14.2 = VW G052-911

133 76.2 11.0 = AMSOIL CTJ SAE 30 Powershift GL-1

183 56.2 10.6 = Redline MTL 70-80 GL-4

194 47.1 9.6 = AMSOIL MTF Synchromesh Trans fluid (GM/Chrysler) GL-?

208 41.6 9.1 = Penzoil Synchromesh trans fluid GL-?

198 34.0 7.5 = Redline D4 ATF Dexron III / Mercon / API GL-4

138 40.5 7.1 = AMSOIL CTG SAE 10W Powershift GL-1

..... 31.2 6.5 = VW G-052-171-A2 GL-?

..... 35.1 6.4 = VW G-055-726-A2 GL-?

..............6.3 = VW G52 (part numbers G052726A2 / G05272601) GL-?





(Automatic Tranny Fluids - except for Redline D4 dual-use)



VI Vis@40C Vis@100C

.............8.3 = Honda CVT Fluid

.............7.6 = Mobil 1 Synthetic ATF



198 33.5 7.5 = Redline D4 ATF Dexron III / Mercon / API GL-4

.............7.4 = Mobil 1 Synthetic Dexron/Mercon

197 32.5 7.2 = Redline Synthetic ATF Dexron II / Mercon

.............7.1 = Mobil 1 Synthetic Multi-vehicle ATF

138 40.5 7.1 = AMSOIL Ford type F auto trans fluid

168 37.4 6.8 = AMSOIL Automatic Transmission Fluid ATF

..........5.5-6 = Ford Mercon SP

I am not saying OEM fluid won't work... I am simply saying there are other fluids that work even better.
 
Last edited:

zrickety

The Fixer
Oem fluid is by no means the gospel, but I understand some people are more comfortable with it. I've had very positive experiences with mobil 1 and it's very stable, they have a customer for life.
 
UPDATE:

colder weather on this Amsoil Gear fluid.... Its like shifting into rocks when below 55*F outside.

Once car gets to temp, its buttery smooth

When shifting when its cold, Its hard... again like shifting into rocks and really feel it 'clunk' into gear.
 

zrickety

The Fixer
Sorry to hear that. Mobil 1 is a touch stiffer shifting cold, but no means rocky or clunky.
 
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