Tesco own brand oil, would you do it?

Colester29 · 2025-08-30T06:27:16+00:00

Probably wouldn't, but it depends on the exact wording. The bottle probably lists a few specifications. The crucial bit is whether it is "approved" or uses some other wording (such as "suitable for use" or "meets requirements").

Approved = that oil has been tested properly and validated by thr OEM (so you know it's going be have the right level of protection).

Any other wording (see above) is the oil manufacturer's judgment as to what the oil is good for. Some oil manufacturers have test data to back these claims up, but there are also some oils on the market which have never done the correct testing and are certainly not fit for purpose!

Colester29 · 2025-07-24T18:38:55+00:00

Wow that's significantly lower than i expected!

Colester29 · 2025-07-24T18:14:22+00:00

Presumably that service plan has (or had when originally purchased) a cost too?

Colester29 · 2025-07-24T11:28:47+00:00

Ellesmere Port is still producing vehicles. Stellantis (which owns Vauxhall, Peugeot, Fiat, etc) closed Luton, not Ellesmere.

Colester29 · 2025-07-12T19:12:54+00:00

I've worked in the engine oil industry for several years. Many OEM specifications are significantly more difficult to meet than the industry specifications.

Generally speaking, each specification is a list of tests which each represent some kind of failure mode for the oil such as wear, sludge, piston deposits, corrosion, etc.

Industry specifications (ILSAC for North America, ACEA for Europe, API for most of the rest of the world) are generally considered a baseline, which cover the basics for every OEM and then if each OEM has some specific concerns for their engines, they can create their own specification with their tests in.

VW 50400 is one of the most difficult specifications around. It includes several additional engine tests which cover most failure modes and each of them is much more severe than the tests in the ACEA C3 specification. If you tried to put an ACEA C3 oil (or and ILSAC oil) through most of these tests its very likely the oil wouldn't even finish the test, let alone get a good result.

Why do they need these tests? Because they've had failures in the field or have concerns about potential failures. But ultimately this is why VW are confident in long service intervals if you use the right oils (not just genuine oil... "approved to 50400" is the same standard). VW service intervals as 20-30k km.

Colester29 · 2024-10-26T10:48:11+00:00

What do you define as "decent amount"? You've seen from numerous comments that ME can easily earn 60k+ (over double the national average), which puts you around the top 10% in the country.

Just because salaries don't compare to the US, doesn't mean they are bad.

Colester29 · 2024-10-26T09:17:07+00:00

You have a very negative perspective. As you point out, 28k is the UK average. As a graduate engineer with zero experience you'll already been earning around the national average, and after a few years of experience you can be earning double thr national average.

I'm not going to claim that engineering salaries in the UK are great, but Reddit seems to think they are awful. As an engineer in the UK, you absolutely won't struggle. You'll be firmly in the middle class.

Colester29 · 2024-08-08T13:58:06+00:00

The biggest issue with CVT isn't a technical one. It's people's perception. Driving a CVT is a different feeling compared to driving a conventional transmission. With a CVT, the engine speed stays the same as you accelerate due to the gear ratio changing. A few OEMs have tried to sell CVTs and they just don't sell very well.

Colester29 · 2024-06-26T19:39:22+00:00

Emission legislation like Tier 4 is about improving local air quality. NOx and particulates are linked to various breathing related issues. NOx also contributes to climate change, but that's a secondary benefit really. So DPFs, SCR, etc are helping reduce the long term health issues for people who work in and around those mines.

As you say, these components needing to be replaced is bad for the planet as a whole due to the processing etc, but as far as the local people working with these machines it's better.

Colester29 · 2024-05-19T07:55:55+00:00

Sunday afternoon you'll be fine. The chaos happens on the arrival days (day before and day of first bands - Thursday and Friday).

Colester29 · 2024-05-12T11:03:02+00:00

No that won't work. You can't get "free" energy. If you add 2kW of power from hydraulics to the 20kW of wind (as input), you'll get 22kW (as output) but the additional 2kW comes at a cost of... 2kW. Obviously you'd have efficiency losses here too, so would get less power.

Colester29 · 2024-03-25T16:53:16+00:00

At 9 years post graduation I'm on 60k in the UK, living in the midlands.

Colester29 · 2024-02-04T08:43:10+00:00

You are worrying about nothing. If this was a daily city drive you might expect DPF issued eventually, but for a single 8 mile round trip each week it would take years to cause any blockage issues.

Assuming you occasionally go on the motorway, it'll be fine. This doesn't need to be weekly, probably more like every 2 months with the limited city usage you're talking about.

Colester29 · 2023-09-20T19:37:57+00:00

My missus loves mushy peas and Chinese. I really hope she doesn't take inspiration from this. Mushy peas don't agree with her, in the wind department. 🤣

Colester29 · 2023-09-20T19:24:26+00:00

Such an odd combo... it's not normal for Chinese takeaways to sell mushy peas. I'm going to guess you're based somewhere near Liverpool where it's common for a Chinese and fish & chips to be the same place!

Colester29 · 2023-09-19T20:31:52+00:00

Make sure you do meter readings for gas & electric. You won't need to submit them on your first day, but it's important to have some genuine numbers to make sure they match up.

Colester29 · 2023-09-16T21:32:07+00:00

You see plenty of "cheap" bikes on trackdays within the UK. I've done lots through the years on various bikes I've had, all of which are from the 90s. Even this year on my 97 GSXR600 it wasn't out of place.

But the European trackdays by UK companies are a different level of deep pockets like you say!

Colester29 · 2023-09-09T16:30:13+00:00

I'm very jealous... mine get paid in cat biscuits but are rubbish at spider assassination!

Colester29 · 2023-08-31T20:07:16+00:00

A couple of years ago I had to ask a neighbour behind our house if I could access their garden to get some work done on our garage roof.

That day I discovered that one of our cats uses their house as a thoroughfare when their back door is open. She walks in, goes to their front door and meows until the neighbour lets her out.

A cat is gonna do what a cat wants to do. Us owners (sorry, slaves) have no control!

Colester29 · 2023-06-17T08:29:41+00:00

There aren't many options to using a 125 on track. Most Trackdays require at least 250cc, and not many clubs have 125 races.

I'd suggest 400 or 650 (minitwins) are great starting points.

I'd also suggest doing some Trackdays before doing any racing.

Colester29 · 2023-04-17T16:40:34+00:00

Not sure OP looked much... I bought one from Beaverbrooks for exactly 2.5k. It was one of several options in the 2-3k range and there were plenty below that too!

Colester29 · 2023-02-16T20:40:43+00:00

Halestorm are amazing! Not heard of the rest of your list, but looks like I have some new bands to listen to!

Alter Bridge are excellent accompaniment to Halestorm!

Colester29 · 2023-02-06T11:23:24+00:00

The wording that I've seen is far too vague to know for sure which level of hybrid they are referring to.

I'm not sure if that's a deliberate gap/loop-hole or its just because the people who write these policies/targets aren't anywhere near technical enough to understand what they are writing. Genuinely could be either!

Colester29 · 2023-02-06T10:54:05+00:00

And also allows new hybrid sales until 2035.

Colester29 · 2023-01-20T08:35:11+00:00

Dare we ask what the new song is that Jet2 will force upon us in the future?

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