Hello hello!
Just had the car serviced last week.
So, I've run Millers Nanodrive @ 5.5L for the last 2 or 3 services if I remember correctly, serviced at 6000 miles. I can only say that using that oil has been tremendous and I did indeed notice the smoothness of the engine once I had put it in. However, if left after 6000 miles, it goes downhill fast; you'll eventually lose the smoothness. I can attest, before anyone mentions, that I do rag the balls off the car in all the right ways and I believe that putting in the best of oils will serve me better in the future once Gordan becomes a high miler. He's currently sitting at 35,000 Miles, so plenty of time.
Anyway, for this service I spotted a deal for Shell Helix Ultra on OpieOils; for £20 I get 6L and a pouch for the 1L that comes with the 5L, great! I thought that it was such a good deal that when I went to add Nanodrive to my cart and saw the numbers above £50 just for oil, I thought nope! Time to try something new. Google incoming and research done, I thought that Shell Helix Ultra would be the perfect fit; it keeps the engine clean due to being made from Natural Gas and has been designed to be a high-end Shell Tier Oil.
I also thought that I'd try some proper top end gearbox oil, since it doesn't really need changing at all once some good stuff has been put in there; more of an experiment. I went ahead and picked up some Millers TRX Synth GL5.
For brake fluid, this isn't a track car, so I thought some normal Castrol DOT 4 would do. I picked up 2L of the stuff and I've got a bottle completely unopened under the stairs, doh!
So, the results...
The engine oil, I'd actually put on par with the Nanodrive stuff. It's not nanodrive, but it's close. There was certainly an increase in smoothness due to the oil being fresh. Overall, I'd say it's a brilliant deal and if they say it cleans the engine more efficiently, then I'll take their word for it. Shell hasn't been a brand on my BS list for a long time. Most would say snake oil, but don't hate me for it. Even if it is all placebo in the end, at least I can sleep soundly at night!
The gearbox oil, holy poo! What a difference! When I had the car at 12K Miles, it used to crunch in every gear, it was fairly nasty; a proper lemon gearbox. I had the oil changed to some FUCHS Titan Sintofluid just after I got Gordan and have had that in until now and it made the world of difference. However, going over to Millers has further backed up my faith in them. While FUCHS are good, Millers is most certainly better! The gear shifts now feel like they are bumping in to a cushion, it genuinely feels smoother.
The brake fluid, brilliant. All I can say! I had the original brake fluid in there for 6 years and this month it really felt like a spounge. Back to normal again now! Face in the dashboard!
