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I will take this as a suggestion, not frustration. But telling someone to “do what suits you” goes against the spirit of the this community-we are here to share, contest, and learn together. Manufacturers already give us manuals; discussion here help us clear doubts. I have mostly had great experiences with members worldwide, which is why this comment felt a bit out of place. If this thread offends you, kindly step away-just as I won’t be responding to you any further. Cheers,

For the convenience of everyone, posting the picture of flap for clear interpretation about the VW recommended fuel spec. Kindly share your recommendations accordingly. I would still mention here that people in India have been using RON91 in RON95 recommended cars and I am yet to come across any major engine failure because of that. Power and FE loss could be imperceptible by common people though. I have been using RON95 since the start, but is it worth to spend that extra money just because VW stated and is it really harmful to use RON91 is what I am puzzled about - and hence the thread 😀 Another interesting piece of information is that the latest models of VW/Skoda with same 1.0 TSI engines have min. recommended fuel as RON91 and RON95 for better performance. This even more puzzles me that can 1.0 TSI withstand RON91 and am I spending more for RON95 just like that? Thanks,

My 2021 Skoda Rapid NA 1.0 TSI (India) lists min. RON95 as required fuel on the fuel lid. In India RON95 and above are premium fuels while standard fuel is RON91. Premium fuels are expensive to standard by ₹10 - ₹50 per Ltr. Given the cost difference, most people fill the standard fuel only given the limited FE of 1.0 TSIs. Very few would go for premium fuels. Will using standard fuel (RON91) effect the running, longevity and performance of the engine? Will they ruin the engine over time? Experts please share your opinion and recommendations. Thanks,

Follow-up post: Got the engine (DSHA, Skoda Rapid NA India) filled up with Castrol EDGE Eurocar 0W-20 ACEA C5. This was done after flushing the engine first with Castrol Engine Shampoo (essentially an engine flush chemical) and then filling the new oil. Earlier oil in the vehicle was VW 502 (5W-40). Initial few 100 Kms feedback: Engine sounds refined (surprisingly). It takes less time to reach normal RPM (980) during a cold-start. The cranking time is notably lesser (many milliseconds less). Throttle inputs are more responsive than earlier. Vehicle is running more smooth. At idle after warm-up, the vehicle is notably silent; in fact at times it is difficult to realize that the vehicle is ON. I am not sure how could 0W-20 brings the above improvements over 5W-40 when I was always wary of NVH increase due to this change. It could be because the engine is tuned to use 0W-20 only. Will update long-term feedback here as it comes by. Cheers,

This is the piece of information (and its official confirmation) that I am looking upon. Do you have any written document from VW stating this or is this based on your experience with VW Engines? It would be really good of you if you can share any VW published document about it. On further research I have figured out that all the 1 Ltr TSI Engines (both 81 KW & 85 KW) engine codes start from "D". This is applicable to all the models VW & Škoda sell in India. Hence, it is imperative (based on your given information) that they will consume VW 508 00 which is 0W-20. If this is true for all Engines produced after the year 2017 (which I could relate to because - here in India, Škoda service cost calculator utility divides the models in terms of before and after 2017 - see the screenshot below) - then I am quite sure VW 508 00 is the oil to be used in DSHA engine without affecting normal functioning and in fact would be the best suited for this engine (as per the designed specifications). @AGFalco @nta16 @Ootohere I am thankful to all of you for contributing towards an in-depth discussion on this issue which could help me arrive on to a conclusion. @AGFalco if you could share a written document published by VW somehow, that will give further peace to me 🙂 About my preference of 0W-20 over 5W-40 / 5W-30 - I would again like to mention that I put my complete trust on VW designers and engineers. They have designed and developed such good products and technologies, I find no reason to not trust them for their Engine Oil recommendations (no offences to your POV too). As for the lesser engine wear protection with VW 508 00 I want to mention that 0W-20 has been developed for better engine protection than the previous generation oils. Moreover, a thin oil does not necessarily imply a lesser protection at higher temperatures because the oil is supplemented with a robust additive package which makes sure the oil holds its viscosity in extreme woking conditions of the engine. Also, in India, OE VW 508 00 oil sold by VW is manufactured by Shell in HongKong. This oil is made up of GTL (Gas-to-liquid) Base Oil manufactured in Shell's state of the art Qatar refinery. You may refer to it more here. But it is a much better engineered product. Hence until it is a Shell product, it could be trusted even more. Nevertheless, I am looking forward to even more discussions on many other subjects pertaining to my Rapid in times to come. Thanks,

@nta16 Thanks for taking time to go through my query and then suggest your opinion. Yes, your understanding about my vehicle is spot-on and yeah I want to put the correct engine oil in the engine as per designer's specifications. Fuel efficiency or longevity for me rates below the designer's specification for the engine. In fact, I trust the designer blindly for the fact that they are much more able than we customers to optimise the performance, fuel efficiency and longevity of the engines and hence their recommendations are paramount. In India, call it unfortunate, Škoda doesn't responds to customer query through their HQ service / technical teams. In stead, they route all queries back to the dealers for answering. So ultimately, customers are left to whatever little knowledge dealers have (they are busy making money on mass servicing, without any concern about the effectiveness of the service) with them which usually is not so up-to-date and not scientific in nature. My owner's manual suggests the engine oil grade as VW 502 which is quintessentially a 5W-40 engine oil. However, I suspect it could be an old printed (2020) owner's manual / not-updated by Škoda (may be) - and then it is further reinstated by the fact that a service bulletin (attached below) issued by VW in Jan'21 recommends VW 508 for 1 Ltr TSI 81 KW (DSHA engine). I could not find a 2021 printed owner's manual (one printed after the service bulletin) for Skoda Rapid NA India vehicle anywhere which could suggest VW 508 as a recommendation. The vehicle model was discontinued in Dec'21 in India. Hence, may be Škoda didn't bother to update it. After that, Škoda Slavia with 1 Ltr TSI 85 KW engine was launched in India which does get VW 508 Engine Oil recommended by Škoda. Same is true for Škoda Kushaq, Kylaq, VW Taigun & Virtus with 1 Ltr TSI Engines which were all launched after Skoda Rapid NA India was discontinued. What I feel is, because of this laxity (or call it no interest to do so for a discontinuing model) by Škoda to update service teams about 1 Ltr TSI 81 KW (DSHA engine) - the engine oil usage of VW 502 is continuing still. There is no issue with the VW 502 as such, but what I feel is that VW 508 is a newer grade with low SAPS for GPF and has been co-engineered with 1 Ltr TSI by Škoda/VW only to be used in it - hence it is essential to use VW 508 only in 1 Ltr TSI. What I am looking upon is that I get some sort of confirmation from Škoda or VW from Europe or from any of you guys too that VW 508 will not have any adverse effect on 1 Ltr TSI DSHA series engine and in fact is the designed spec. oil for that Engine. I am not getting enough resources from Škoda here in India nor anything such over the internet anywhere. Hope I was able to clearly state my concern and hence seek a suitable response to it. Thanks, ERWIN 0W20.pdf

Got your point on fuel efficiency thing and appreciate you taking out time to respond to my queries here. Currently I am extracting ~10 Km / Ltr in city conditions and ~16 Km / Ltr on highways. Yes, VW 1 L TSI DSHA does has a GPF. No, we don’t have severe cold climate temperatures here in India. The lowest it goes is 5 degree Celsius, that too in peak winter months of Dec-Jan. Otherwise it is ~30-40 degree Celsius usually with peaks reaching ~48 degree celsius during summers. Thanks,

@Ootohere Thanks for a prompt response. I get your point here and let me tell you that I am not too inclined towards Fuel Efficiency / Emissions. What I am priortising here is the OEM fill spec. (because I have an OCD of keeping things the way they were designed), the optimum performance (smoothest drive and gear shifts) and longevity of the engine. About the engine oil standard, I have caught hold of the below service bulletin (ERWIN 0W20) from one of the automotive forum here back in India (TeamBHP). This clearly shows VW 508 (0W-20) is recommended by VW for DSHA engines. To feed my OCD for keeping things the designed way, I am contemplating for a VW 508 engine oil. I also want to validate the authenticity of the service bulletin if somebody can pull the complete bulletin from ERWIN. What I am interested to know is that: Will it improve the performance (as mentioned above) over the VW 502 (5W-40) currently running in my engine and, Will it impact the longevity of the engine negatively (engine seizure or any turbo harm or rubber seal erosions etc.)? ERWIN 0W20.pdf

I drive a 1 L TSI in my Rapid NA (India). This is a Mar'21 manufactured car. Transmission is Automatic (6 speed TC). The engine is turbocharged 81 KW, 175 Nm torque. I am contemplating to put VW 508 (which is 0W20 SN) in my engine but Skoda dealers say it is not recommended by manufacturer and hence I need to stick to VW 502. For my engine code DSHA, I suspect factory fill was VW 508 only and authorised workshops putting VW 502 during annual service is a degrade to fuel efficiency and performance. Hence I wish to retort to VW 508 on this year's scheduled service. Any recommendations basis prior similar experiences? Thanks,

I drive a 1 L TSI in my Rapid NA (India). This is a Mar'21 manufactured car. Transmission is Automatic (6 speed TC). The engine is turbocharged 81 KW, 175 Nm torque. I am contemplating to put VW 508 (which is 0W20 SN) in my engine but Skoda dealers say it is not recommended by manufacturer and hence I need to stick to VW 502. For my engine code DSHA, I suspect factory fill was VW 508 only and authorised workshops putting VW 502 during annual service is a degrade to fuel efficiency and performance. Hence I wish to retort to VW 508 on this year's scheduled service. Any recommendations basis prior similar experiences? Thanks,