How long did you run normal oil before switching to synthetic?

500 miles.

I swaped to Motul at my first oil change. 17 months and 33k later, and I don't burn a drop.

2000 miles, then I switched back. My 2005 ate Mobil. Besides , I change oil and filter every 3000 miles. You buy a 30,000 dollar car and skimp on oil change?

At 90k ,Oil and filters, figure 30 each time (and that is way high). That's 900 bucks. One new motor 10,000 bucks.

Another way to look at it is the cost of 93 versus 89.. 20 cents a gallon(more like 50) 90,000 miles?????

Penny wise, pound foolish.

I'll pick option A.

Thanks for the replies. I’ll switch soon, as I’m already over 500 miles.

Rob,

I’m not sure what you mean by, ‘A penny wise and a pound foolish.’ Synthetic cost close to double normal oil and gives better protection. That’s why I like using it. I’ve gotten over 200k on my last 3 cars and sold them in great running condition. Are you thinking that I want to use synthetic so I can go umpteen thousand miles between changes? If so, I understand your comment, but assure you that it’s not the case here.

I would wait til about 1500-3000 miles.

Make sure if you use synthetic oil, and plan to extend your oil change milage, you get a filter that can handle the extended range.

The 2011 Turbo cars come with synthetic from the factory...

-mike

I would say its totally useless to run synth on a 2.5i. Buy dino oil, add if/when necessary, change it every 3k miles and do the other maintenance- I bet your car runs over 200k miles.

There's people here running reg dino oil on their GT's for over 100k miles.

Thanks for the replies. I’ll switch soon, as I’m already over 500 miles.

 

Rob,

 

I’m not sure what you mean by, ‘A penny wise and a pound foolish.’ Synthetic cost close to double normal oil and gives better protection. That’s why I like using it. I’ve gotten over 200k on my last 3 cars and sold them in great running condition. Are you thinking that I want to use synthetic so I can go umpteen thousand miles between changes? If so, I understand your comment, but assure you that it’s not the case here.

Ok, in this case you are right. As long as you change the oil frequently. Me, I change Dino oil sometimes at 1500 miles. Unlike you, some people think they can go a year on synthetic.

On the other hand I can get a quart of Castrol dino for 1/4th to a third of the cost of synthetic. That means I can change the oil three times for the same cost as synthetic.

I just like clean oil:lol:

Robin:)

Anyone here know anything about BG Fluids?

What the hell is dino oil. LOL.

I would wait til about 1500-3000 miles.

 

Make sure if you use synthetic oil, and plan to extend your oil change milage, you get a filter that can handle the extended range.

 

The 2011 Turbo cars come with synthetic from the factory...

 

-mike

What's a good filter? Is the one from the 09 RX 8 a good bet? Amsoil? Mobil 1? What filter is good?

I do oil changes every 3K miles or three months.

If you are doing them every 3k then the filter doesn't matter.

For extended oil change intervals, an Amsoil filter is what I would suggest. They are setup to filter for extended periods of time. We routinely do 7-8k intervals on turbo cars using Amsoil fluid coupled with the amsoil filter. For 3k intervals we use the Subaru filters.

-mike

Ok, in this case you are right. As long as you change the oil frequently. Me, I change Dino oil sometimes at 1500 miles. Unlike you, some people think they can go a year on synthetic.

 

On the other hand I can get a quart of Castrol dino for 1/4th to a third of the cost of synthetic. That means I can change the oil three times for the same cost as synthetic.

 

I just like clean oil:lol:

 

Robin:)

There once was a time that I thought this. It didn't end well for my Ols. I may be slow, but I learn real good.

Anyone here know anything about BG Fluids?

 

What the hell is dino oil. LOL.

Dealers of all makes use BG products.

http://www.bgprod.com/products/products.html

Some people refer to standard conventional oil as dino because some of it is pumped out of the ground (dinosaur fossils). Although, petroleum does not actually come from dinosaurs. http://www.dinosaursfaq.com/Dinosaur/Does-Oil-Come-From-Dinosaurs.html

-Dennis

Bottom line. You want clean oil. If your car burns oil, find out why. If it doesn't like a particular brand, find out one that it does. UOA (used oil analysis) is a good indicator for the "health" of your engine, but it's not a tell-all.

I change every 3k with synthetic. I don't have to, I'm sure, but I do anyway. If I slack a little, no big deal. It costs me the same to do a change with Motul as it does to do a change with anything else. No brainer for me.

Beginning with MY 2011, SoA is moving to 7,500 mile oil intervals for all cars.

-Dennis

I don't buy longer OCI's, personally. Why? Because there is no lack of financial gain for manufacturers recommending them.

Cars are often rated on a "cost to own" scale. Fewer oil changes drops the cost of ownership, and makes the brand look significantly better. A 7,500 mile OCI is double what they used to recommend. That means the number of oil changes per year cuts in half, and on 15,000 miles/yr estimates, it adds up. 2 oil changes instead of 4, a savings of 50%.

Longer OCI recommendations are not always in the best interest of longevity. As far as Subaru is concerned, the car only needs to last a minimum of 100,000 miles (the longest warranty they offer). If it blows up at 100,001 then they did their job very well. Personally, I have in mind a much longer life than 100,000 miles. If I limited my cars to 100,000 mile service lives, then I would be buying a new car every 3 years and there would be no point in spending any kind of substantial money on a car.

Just my outlook. The investment, as RobinLSD said, is marginal. I change oil at 3k, transmission and rear diff fluids at 15k. Everything else, I do on schedule or when convenient.

Wow that's a very agressive schedule. Heck that's on par or slightly longer than we do with our track cars!

To each his own though and I don't mind custys who insist on 3,000 mile oil changes. We've done blackstone testing on the Amsoil w/Amsoil filters on turbo subies and it comes out almost the same as new after 7500-9000 miles.

On a side note, my 2011 STi Manual states 3,250 mile intervals for all Turbo cars, so I think there is some conflicting info being given out by Subaru or they updated the 2011 manuals on the later production cars.

-mike

The decision was made after the manuals were printed and they're not doing such a good job on getting the word out, IMO. You should mention it to them when you see them! I found out from newbie's at nasioc emailing SoA!

Then, this was in the November TechTips:

http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/attachments/oil-fuel-discussion/18209d1292786673-subaru-synthetic-vs-dyno-oil-synthetic-oil-use.jpg

Someone on the Outback forum did a used oil analysis in a new 2011 n/a Outback running the Subaru oil. It wasn't all that impressive, IMO, and I would definitely run something more robust in a turbo if I went past 3,750 miles.

-Dennis

I will mention it to them when I e-mail the CFO this week

-mike

Good luck on the drive!

-Dennis

I would say its totally useless to run synth on a 2.5i. Buy dino oil, add if/when necessary, change it every 3k miles and do the other maintenance- I bet your car runs over 200k miles.

 

There's people here running reg dino oil on their GT's for over 100k miles.

Don't you know you are not allowed to use common sense and logic in this forum.

 

Good luck on the drive!

 

-Dennis

Thanks Dennis! We have to get an old-school meet together soon by the way.

-mike