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I love the educational opportunities of an oil thread. There is the real world and there is the laboratory of minutiae and opinion.
BRP recommends their summer blend 5W-40 for 4Tec engines. It used to be 10W, but I don't know why they changed especially since our skis never see temps cool enough to need a 5W. At least now, they put the weight on the bottle. They still don't say if it is JASO MA or MA2 certified. They do list it is as being safe for wet clutches.
The reason that it is inferior to other oils, at least in the lab is that it is API SM certified. Just like with most things from the EPA, the latest API certs are usually a compromise of lubrication vs environmental concerns. Any oil that is SM/N will be of lower quality in our machines than SL or SJ. Its all about the phosphorus and zinc in the additive packages. ZDDP protects bearings and decreases wear, but the European Union wanted the levels decreased and Rotax being Austrian conformed with a lower quality oil.
SN only allows a max of 800 parts per million of zinc/phos and SL/SJ allows 1400 ppm. That is why most motorcycle oil will be SL or SJ rather than SN. As I have written in other oil threads, almost any 40 wt oil that doesn't state that it is "energy conserving" in the API starburst and is MA certified will work just fine. Yes, that certainly includes full synthetics that BRP clearly states with a notice as never to use with SC equipped engines. That is total nonsense as synthetics are no "slicker" than mineral based oils. Almost every synthetic motorcycle oil is MA certified for wet clutches. Its simply wrong of BRP to tell you that you can only use their semi syn or a mineral based alternative oil. This must be a bit of covering their butts and the pre 08 SC washer failures. Lawyers shouldn't write shop manuals.
All this being said, if you want to use XPS 5W-40, do so and support your local dealer or the GH website. You will be missing the very best lubrication and protection for your engine, but you most likely will never know it. I also want to add that my favorite oil (Rotella T6 5w-40) no longer has a gasoline API rating. Shell did not want to lower the zinc....again to conform to the EU, so it dropped the API rating other than the CJ-4 diesel rating. As crazy as it sounds, you may want to avoid Rotella and use one of the many fine motorcycle oils that have an API gas rating to avoid any warranty issues with BRP.
BRP recommends their summer blend 5W-40 for 4Tec engines. It used to be 10W, but I don't know why they changed especially since our skis never see temps cool enough to need a 5W. At least now, they put the weight on the bottle. They still don't say if it is JASO MA or MA2 certified. They do list it is as being safe for wet clutches.
The reason that it is inferior to other oils, at least in the lab is that it is API SM certified. Just like with most things from the EPA, the latest API certs are usually a compromise of lubrication vs environmental concerns. Any oil that is SM/N will be of lower quality in our machines than SL or SJ. Its all about the phosphorus and zinc in the additive packages. ZDDP protects bearings and decreases wear, but the European Union wanted the levels decreased and Rotax being Austrian conformed with a lower quality oil.
SN only allows a max of 800 parts per million of zinc/phos and SL/SJ allows 1400 ppm. That is why most motorcycle oil will be SL or SJ rather than SN. As I have written in other oil threads, almost any 40 wt oil that doesn't state that it is "energy conserving" in the API starburst and is MA certified will work just fine. Yes, that certainly includes full synthetics that BRP clearly states with a notice as never to use with SC equipped engines. That is total nonsense as synthetics are no "slicker" than mineral based oils. Almost every synthetic motorcycle oil is MA certified for wet clutches. Its simply wrong of BRP to tell you that you can only use their semi syn or a mineral based alternative oil. This must be a bit of covering their butts and the pre 08 SC washer failures. Lawyers shouldn't write shop manuals.
All this being said, if you want to use XPS 5W-40, do so and support your local dealer or the GH website. You will be missing the very best lubrication and protection for your engine, but you most likely will never know it. I also want to add that my favorite oil (Rotella T6 5w-40) no longer has a gasoline API rating. Shell did not want to lower the zinc....again to conform to the EU, so it dropped the API rating other than the CJ-4 diesel rating. As crazy as it sounds, you may want to avoid Rotella and use one of the many fine motorcycle oils that have an API gas rating to avoid any warranty issues with BRP.
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