15,000km service

[BEK-46P]

Ended up taking the car to Ultratune Hurstville for a first service. Very pleased with their work, I would recommend them to anyone in the area.
Quoted me $130 before they realised the car needed full synthetic oil, which bumped the price up to $170. Not sure how legit that claim was but still happy with the results.

It could be my imagination, but the car runs smoother now. Gearbox is less notchy and the car is less sluggish in low gears. Not bad from a first service!

[tomtom]

Good to hear BEK. My car is due in for a 15000km service. The gear box (like you mentioned in a previous post... cant remember what context exactly) is getting a bit notchy as I've noticed recently.

Hopefully my service will clean it up a bit too

:)

[Hoya]

synthetic oil helps the car drive better when its cold.

[cbrmale]

They are fitted with synthetic oil at the factory (Mobil 1 0W30). I run Castrol Edge on my 2.2, 0W40 for extra protection at higher temperatures. I also recommend 6 month / 7,500km oil changes for all Astras, as Opel engines run low oil temperatures and there is a lot of water build up from cold-start condensation. After 6 months I would have about 1.5 litres of water in the oil of my 2.2, and about 1 litre in my wife's XC Barina. With the 2.2, five litres goes in and a lot more than five litres comes out!

This is why your car ran better, because you now have oil rather than emulsified oil / water (I kid you not).