Eric,
	I looked into synthetics several times.  You can get the specs from
Mobil and Castrol (detailed specs give viscosity changes, vaporization,
etc.)  Bottom line seems to be that both Mobil-1, Castrol Syntec (5-50 and
10-30) have high ratings.  The Castrol ratings improved two years ago to
meet the new European ACEA, Japanese, and ASE-SJ ratings and at that time
became very similar to the Mobil-1 specs.  For a turbo engine, or a warm
climate, I use Mobil 15-50.  However, I chose the Syntec 5-50 for my GTI
because I start the car up cool and drive only 3 1/2 miles to work and do
the same over at night (with longer drives also).  I wanted the 5-weight
for good cold lubrication and the 50 weight for highway and warm weather.
	If your car sets out, you could put in Mobil 10-30 in the Fall and
15-50 in the Spring, or consider the 5-50 Castrol or Quaker synthetic.  If
your car is in a heated garage, then Mobil 15-50 year around would be a
good choice.  It is a good idea to drive the original petroleum oil several
thousand miles to seat engine parts, which you have done.  I changed to
synthetic at 2100 miles and probably would go 3-4000 miles if I did it now,
but not much further.  (My car does use some oil - about 1/8 quart in 6
months or 3000 miles!  Any less probably would mean that the oil wasn't
lubricating well).  Also, from a post on this list, the latest VW
maintenance guidelines are to change the oil every 5000  miles or 6 months
(down from 7500 miles in my '96 maintenance book), whichever comes first,
so I wouldn't go 10,000 miles on the first batch.
	Basically, the advice most people give boils down to drive several
thousand miles with the original oil, and then switch to a high-quality
synthetic.
		happy driving

*****************
At 3:58 PM -0500 8/31/98, Eric Liew wrote:
>I am about due for my 5K tuneup and I was looking thru the tech library for
>what oil to use and didn't come up with a conclusive answer. So I would
>really appreciate it if someone can point me to the best oil to use for my
>98 VR6. I live in Kansas so I see both extremes of hot and cold. The VW
>dealer recommended 20W50, and I've heard that 10W30 is better. Which is the
>truth? Also, I am thinking of going with Mobil 1 unless otherwise informed.
>Pls email me privately on this one. Thanks.
>
>el
>
>---
>Eric Liew
>Information Technologies Manager
>NKH&W, Inc.
>600 Broadway, 5th Floor
>Kansas City, MO 64105
>
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