Quote:
Originally Posted by StraightOuttaCanadaEh
lol we're all confused
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The engine is designed to run with the minimum oil level at the lower dot (it's actually a hole drilled into the dipstick so you can actually see the film of oil if it reaches that hole ). The extra litre you can add to reach the top drilling (on my Alfa it is two litres!) is the safety margin adopted by most engine makers to allow for oil consumption between changes, that is all. Where you like to have your oil level on your dipstick between those two points is entirely a personal preference which has nothing to do with engine performance or protection.
If you corner very hard you should probably fill the sump close to the top mark to allow for surge. If you track your car fill to the top mark for maximum oil cooling.
What you should never do is allow anyone to overfill the sump. Too much oil can seriously damage your engine. Too little never will as long as it never gets below the lower mark.
I also say again that the dipstick on these cars can be very hard to read accurately. I think the handbook says you need to look at both sides of the dipstick and the lower level you can see the oil line is the correct one. I note that is quoted below. I always check twice for this reason. I owned an Audi that was worse. Sometimes you needed to check three or four times to be confident you had the right reading. Electronic dipsticks are much more reliable and, interestingly, display a little meaningless graphic (for traditionalists who still think oil level is important, it isn't) with text that is meaningful: oil low add oil, or oil ok, or see your dealer!