Is it that much different?
 

Always use the right oil when changing the CDT. But wife has a Peugeot 307 and I am changing the oil. It needs 5w30 fully synthetic. halfords sell 5 litres specially formulated for Peugeot and Citroen at £39.99. 5 litres of same grade for a Ford is £28.99. Is there really £11 difference in what is in the tin? Also noticed they sell oils for most makes, same grade but lots of prices. Would it really make a difference to the engine to use ford in a Peugeot?

If the ACEA standard is the same then you're paying for the words "specially formulated". :D What that means is that Halfords and Peugeot Citroen have reached a business agreement for the former to use the latter's brand name on its products to enhance sales. That will come at a cost to Halfords; £11 in this case.
No.

Simon

The only thing that matters is the ACEA standard.

If it's a 1.6 hdi, be very careful which oil you use,it has to be low ash oil as these have a real issue with carbon build up and eventually turbo failure. Volvo use this engine too but specify their own grade and haven't seen this issue on those yet.

How does the ACEA standard work? Handbook says 3, none of the oils in Halfords have 3. Is 5 better?

It's usually presumed so, but may not be universally correct. This is an account of what the specs indicate.The last sentence is worth considering.

Quote:

ACEA A1/B1 Stable, stay-in-grade oil intended for use at extended drain intervals in gasoline engines and car & light van diesel engines specifically designed to be capable of using low friction low viscosity oils with a high temperature / high shear rate viscosity of 2.6 mPa*s for xW/20 and 2.9 to 3.5 mPa.s for all other viscosity grades. These oils are unsuitable for use in some engines. Consult owner manual or handbook if in doubt.

ACEA A3/B3 Stable, stay-in-grade oil intended for use in high performance gasoline engines and car & light van diesel engines and/or for extended drain intervals where specified by the engine manufacturer, and/or for year-round use of low viscosity oils, and/or for severe operating conditions as defined by the engine manufacturer.

ACEA A3/B4 Stable, stay-in-grade oil intended for use in high performance gasoline and direct injection diesel engines, but also suitable for applications described under A3/B3.

ACEA A5/B5 Stable, stay-in-grade oil intended for use at extended drain intervals in high performance gasoline engines and car & light van diesel engines designed to be capable of using low friction low viscosity oils with a High temperature / High shear rate (HTHS) viscosity of 2.9 to 3.5 mPa.s. These oils are unsuitable for use in some engines. Consult owner manual or handbook if in doubt.

TC

The more expensive oil has been tested to the PSA specifications relevant to your engine. Tiff is correct in his post in that the PSA 1.6hdi engines are fussy about oil.

Personally, I would only use the oil meeting the PSA specifications for the engine fitted to the car. Unless of course the engine is very old in which case the oil type may not make a huge difference.

We are in the same situation with our Astra Twintop fitted with the GM 1.8VVT engine. I only use the Shell helix Ultra variant tested to the relevant GM specifications.

I think that I'd better clarify my earlier comments in view of recent posts.
Are these two cars diesels Roy?
And the viscosity or "grade".
Tiff; how does the consumer establish from the carton whether a particular engine oil is "low ash"? :shrug:

Simon

Simon.
On the oil containers here in France I have seen the words --Low Ash-- on the labels of some of them.---:}

Low ash oils are essential if you've got a car with a Particulate filter (DPF) ;)
As our cars don't have one there's no need to worry if it's low ash or not.

Russ