And your opinion is based on what?
NONE of which have the appropriate VW approval.
What a load of uneducated bullsh*t! Of course Castrol Edge and Mobil 1 ESP are fully synthetic!
It must be officially 'Approved' to VW 504.00/507.00. 'Meets' or 'Complies with' don't cut it. Also, there are vastly differing qualitied of Approved oils. Whilst they all must satisify all testing requirments - some just barely meet said requirements, whilst others meet those with considerable ease.
My opinion is based on studing various available data sheets and personal experience.
So no professional, nor independently verifiable sources?!
Anyone can study data sheets! Anyone can but a non-approved oil their engine and not have it self destruct.
It takes a professional, or at least a competent person is au fait with both tribology and automotive engineering - to not only extrapolate statistics from data sheets, but more importantly, to correctly interpret said data, and then understand and respect the information which is NOT provided on data sheets.
5/30 Castrol Edge and Mobil 1 ESP 5/30 are not fully synthetic oils, oil base is mineral with synthetic additives...
BS.
Perhaps you would like to state exactly which base stocks they are made from!
Just because oil do not have 504.00/507.00 standard written on it dosn't mean it can not be used in your car.
The fuel filler flap on my GTI effectively states unleaded petrol is to be used. I
could put diesel in my tank. I could cut my lawn with a pair of nail scissors. I could put lumps of coal in my washing machine. I could take a dump in a frying pan.
See where your logic fails?
The simple fact is that VW/Audi developed their engines to be lubricated with an appropriately approved oil meeting one of VWs own oil standards. If you choose to put the wrong oil in your car, then that is up to you - but don't expect VW to honour any warranty, or even offer any goodwill - in the event of an engine failure - irrespective of whether the failure was due to lubricants or not. You also affect the resale value of your car, it may fail emissions tests, and you may damage other components.
ETTO, though.
As per above this oils do not have 504/507 approval but do have ECEA C3 approval which is exactly the same thing but oil company decided not to pay VW for a licence to use their approval, simple as.
You really are a hive of mis-information! Are you actually aware of the implications of that sentance?
I was close to perform oil test similar to one below but financial implication stopped me from doing it.
http://www.animegame.com/cars/Oil%20Tests.pdf
Gosh - how many times have I seen that pdf??????? What a surprise, an Aussie car mag tests oils, and shock horror - an Aussie oil wins the test!!!! For the record, the test which that mag used is NOT used in any of the API, ACEA or OEM oil standards, nor is it referenced by the likes of ASTM, NLGI, DIN, ECE or ISO organisations.
I have performed similar oil tests, using the correct Timken bearing rig - not to specificaly test oil - but to actually assess the credibilty and reliabilty of the Timken test. This was a small part of my 3rd year thesis in Automotive Engineering of Performance Tuning of a Single Cylinder Two-Stroke engine. Basically, whilst the Timken bearing test is useful, and
can provide meaningful results in lubricating oils, it is relatively easy to create false 'fails'. The Timken bearing test is more accurate for testing greases. An this is why there are many, MANY more functional tests for lubricating engine oils.