Anyone running Shell Rotella T6 in their GT?

I am a long time Mobil 1 user and I have to say I am not impressed. I just started using Shell Rotella T6 in my motorcycle and so far I am impressed at its performance (makes the gearbox really smooth) and its price.

 

Has anyone run this in your LGT?

I am, though I'm not running the stock engine. In general, there's a a lot of Subaru guys running T6.

Im running it in my GT. I burned subaru synthetic, changed over to this and havent burned a drop.

I think the general consensus on these forums is that shell rotella t6 is the best oil for the money, lots of people use it in their LGT and are very happy with it.

I use it in my WRX, LGT, SV650, and Z1000. Simplifies my life.

Thanks everyone, I too am looking to simplify things by reducing the number of vendors/products I deal with......

Rotella T6 5W-40 is used by lots of us on here. It's a good price too, ~$22/gal at Wally World (the only thing I'll buy at that store).

 

M1`5W-30 is too thin for our turbo engines, though their 0W-40 Euro car oil is another good choice.

I know many people that use T6 and love it! I personally use Eneos 5w-30 and I don't burn any oil now. I use to not be able to run my outsite vent because of the strong oil burning smell but now I can.

I know many people that use T6 and love it! I personally use Eneos 5w-30 and I don't burn any oil now. I use to not be able to run my outsite vent because of the strong oil burning smell but now I can.

 

Eneos is great oil, mind telling us how much for a qt ?

 

Where do you buy it from ?

I get mine from NAPA. Gallon jug for about $27 here in Oregon.

Thanks

I am a long time Mobil 1 user and I have to say I am not impressed. I just started using Shell Rotella T6 in my motorcycle and so far I am impressed at its performance (makes the gearbox really smooth) and its price.

 

Has anyone run this in your LGT?

 

I use it in my WRX, LGT, SV650, and Z1000. Simplifies my life.

 

Ok, tell me I am wrong, but as long as I have been riding, I was always told to only use moto-specific oils. Something about friction modifiers and the fact that the engine and tranny share oil. Car engine oil is actually "too slippery" for moto transmissions and can lead to slippage, false neutrals, spitting out gears, etc...

BTW I use Rotella in my GT, but not in my SV...

Run rotella in almost everything from my stage 3 lgt, moms saab 9-5, dads tahoe. If I am it running t6 I am running chevron oil from costco.

I use it in both my SV650 and GT. No issues what so ever.

+1 for T6.

I am also using T6 in my LGT. I used Mobil 1 all the way until I did my motor rebuild and I decided to finally make the switch. Although I was leaking oil before my rebuild I was still burning some before the leak started. Now after my rebuild I have gone just about 3000 miles and I haven't seem to lose any so far. I have been checking every 50 miles just to be cautious and it is in the same spot every time.

Did a little research on Mobil 1 and why subaru owners hate it, and apparently there isn't a mineral that is present in Mobil 1 like in Rotella, and the oil as soon as it hits the turbo just breaks down completely and isn't adequate cooling for the turbo itself.

Do the switch to T6 and never look back

Ok, tell me I am wrong, but as long as I have been riding, I was always told to only use moto-specific oils. Something about friction modifiers and the fact that the engine and tranny share oil. Car engine oil is actually "too slippery" for moto transmissions and can lead to slippage, false neutrals, spitting out gears, etc

You are not wrong, generally speaking, but T6 is wet clutch compatible. It meets the JASO-MA standard for motorcycles, even though they haven't paid the exorbitant fees required to display the seal of certification on their containers. Why not? Because it's marketed for heavy duty truck applications, and being motorcycle friendly isn't a real big marketing point to that goal. The fact that people all over the world are raving about it in their motorcycles seems to be all the certification Shell thinks they need in that arena. I've even heard rumors that the KTM factory racing team runs it in their Motorex bottles, although if it's true, there's no way they'd admit it.

I use Shell Rotella T6 because:

20k miles and no issues, oil consumption, excellent Blackstone results and my grandpa is in the commercial.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R71fZoH4b90

Ok, tell me I am wrong, but as long as I have been riding, I was always told to only use moto-specific oils. Something about friction modifiers and the fact that the engine and tranny share oil. Car engine oil is actually "too slippery" for moto transmissions and can lead to slippage, false neutrals, spitting out gears, etc...

BTW I use Rotella in my GT, but not in my SV...

 

You shouldn't use regular automobile motor oil in your motorcycle. Friction modifiers such as molybendum disulfide and some organic ones such as gylcerol monooleate interact with steels and other metals in such a way as to prevent metals from coming into direct contact with each other, which prevents a motorcycle clutch (which is essentially around 10 steel plates and 10 friction plates sandwiched together) from functioning properly, since motorcycle clutches operate in a bath of motor oil. You aren't likely to grenade your transmission, but the friction plates in the clutch will suffer.

 

Specifically, you should avoid any oil that carries the API "energy conserving" label such as the ones below:

http://www.cabenasauto.com/images/Auto-Repair-Acworth-Georgia-API_label.gif

 

You can use motorcycle-specific oils. Heavy duty diesel oils, such as Mobil Delvac and Shell Rotella are also acceptable and have shown good resistance to additional shearing action present in a motorcycle gearbox.

 

I have run Shell Rotella 15W-40 conventional and Rotella T6 5W-40 'synthetic' in my motorcycles for almost 100k miles without issue. It's a nice, robust oil and the price is right.

 

EDIT: And last I heard, Shell Rotella T6 did acquire JASO-MA certification, which hiked up the price per gallon by about five bucks several years ago.

EDIT2: Looked into it a bit, T6 does NOT have a JASO-MA certification, but Shell states that it meets or exceeds JASO-MA specifications, and this is written directly on the jug.

I am also using T6 in my LGT. I used Mobil 1 all the way until I did my motor rebuild and I decided to finally make the switch. Although I was leaking oil before my rebuild I was still burning some before the leak started. Now after my rebuild I have gone just about 3000 miles and I haven't seem to lose any so far. I have been checking every 50 miles just to be cautious and it is in the same spot every time.

Did a little research on Mobil 1 and why subaru owners hate it, and apparently there isn't a mineral that is present in Mobil 1 like in Rotella, and the oil as soon as it hits the turbo just breaks down completely and isn't adequate cooling for the turbo itself.

Do the switch to T6 and never look back

 

I think you might have read some misinformation about Mobil 1.. I just quickly glanced at some UOA's at bobistheoilguy.com and both mobil 1 and rotella t6 contain the same minerals. Mineral content will vary a lot among different oil weights and brands, for example the M1 report I'm looking at has 987ppm of calcium, and the rotella t6 report has 797ppm of calcium.

 

And as far as the oil breaking down once it hits the turbo, and not adequate for cooling the turbo.. That simply isn't true, really no other way to put it.

 

One other thing I want to throw out there since I feel like a lot of people might not know this. When you look at a motor oil VOA (virgin, unused oil), or a motor oil UOA (used oil analysis), only metallic additives which produce ash will show up on the report. Ashless, non-metallica additives will not show up in a voa or uoa. Over the years, ashless additives have become more common in modern motor oils, which is one of the reasons why you will see lower amounts of additives in a voa or uoa. Basically what I'm trying to say is that while voa's and uoa's are cool and can be helpful, they don't tell you the whole story about an oil, so it's not fair to condemn an oil based off a $20 voa/uoa.

Basically what I'm trying to say is that while voa's and uoa's are cool and can be helpful, they don't tell you the whole story about an oil, so it's not fair to condemn an oil based off a $20 voa/uoa.

 

It is extremely difficult to get the 'whole story' on a specific motor oil, lest you have some connection with engineering or technical sales groups in petroleum companies. At times, a UOA or a VOA is all we can get our hands on. Just saying.

I totally understand what you're saying and I don't disagree. I just wanted to make it clear that an oil may contain more additives than the voa/uoa says, because the oil may contain ashless additives that don't show up in the testing. So while uoa's are a great tool for the money, I think the focus should be on how the oil performs in the uoa, and not how much of a particular additive an oil has or doesn't have. I don't want to drift off topic too much, I just wanted to mention this after hearing that rotella might have an additive that mobil 1 doesn't have.

Quick note on mobil 1. I use the full senthetic extended performance 15,000 mile. Its the only mobil 1 I would recommend. This probably sounds dumb but I get it at Walmart in 5 quart. Also bosch oil filter at walmart, but subaru filter is good so not necessary plus subaru always puts a new crush washer with filter when I get it from them. Not avaliable in 5w-40.

+1 on T6. Ran it in my sludgebox 1.8T Passat, now running it in my LGT. My friend runs it in his Caterpillar Thomas Bus, E30 325is BMW, 740i BMW (I6 Twin Turbo), other friend in his 04 WRX... You get the point. We believe in T6 above all other oils. Even Castrol Full Synthetic ACEA A3/B4 burned like mad in my 1.8T. T6 hardly ever burned, and is less susceptible to heat expansion. That bumped my oil pressure up about 2 psi when hot.

 

The previous owner of my LGT ran dino oil for 70k miles, anytime I got on the gas it would smell like burning oil. The T6 doesn't burn at all. The turbo is probably ready to come out after being run with dino for so long, though. Nothing I can do about that.

I've used T6 exclusively for a couple years, and burn less oil than previous oils, including Mobil 1.

 

Also, I just bought a gallon yesterday, and there was a $5 mail-in rebate at O'Reilly's, bringing my total to $16.99.