2001 Legacy Outback Oil Brand Recommendation

[mwynne]

Hey guys,

 

I heard bad things about Mobil 1 oil and Subarus generally not liking it. Just wondering if you guys had any suggestions for good oil to be using.

 

Cheers!

[mattocs]

For synthetic I like Valvoline SynPower. For regular I like Castrol GTX. Both make high mileage versions.

 

I've never heard about the Subaru and Mobile 1 thing.

[Fairtax4me]

I've heard some talk about Subarus not liking Mobil 1 but the stuff I've read about is always someone getting a new (to them) car with 150k+ miles and switching to Mobil. Then in 10k miles it puts a rod through the block and they blame the oil.

I've never read about one having trouble if it has been run since day one brand new on Mobil 1. Now that's just what I've read, I have no personal experience with the matter. A good place to research oils and read other people opinions and experiences with them is the forums at Bobistheoilguy.com.

 

My personal favorite in the Subaru is Valvoline maxlife 5w30 combined with a purolator filter. However on the last change in my wagon I used Amsoil OE synthetic 5w30 and a Wix filter. Mostly because I was ordering several other types of oils, and their OE branded oil was cheaper than what i normally buy from the parts store. It actially made the lifters quiet down quite a bit, but it had Castrol Gtx in it before that. It needs to be changed again and this time it's getting Castrol again, so I'll get to see if the lifter noise comes back.

[GeneralDisorder]

Mobil 1 is good stuff. It's run sucessfully in Subaru's all the time. A freind of mine has 100k on Mobil 1 in his 350 HP STi and it looked like the day it was made inside when we did the t-belt job.

 

He and I have both switched to the Rotella T6 synthetic though. Better additive package.

 

GD

[Mike104]

I use Valvoline Synthetic 5W30 on mine with Subaru Filters (got a good deal). I recently found some Valvoline MaxLife Synthetic (was at local discount store local auto places did not have it) to use on my 2004 Ford Exploder. I'm surprised that engine made it past 100k without a skipped timing chain or head gasket. The race is on to see if the transmission or engine dies first on that POS.

[idosubaru]

it doesn't matter on non-turbo engines. change it frequently and don't run it low.

 

you aren't going to reach oil brand induced issues in this motor.

 

that's the beauty of this discussion, no one oil is going to get you to 300,000 miles when another brand could not...so everyone is right.

 

pick however/whatever you want. 200,000 and 300,000 miles are rather easy to get out of a subaru - oil choice is not the way to maximize the practicality of that.

[GeneralDisorder]

Yep - any synthetic will get you beyond 300k on a non-turbo.

 

As for the turbo's - Mobil 1 or Rotella T6 are the best choices - commonly availible, inexpensive, and both get good oil analysis results.

 

GD

[Rooster2]

it doesn't matter on non-turbo engines. change it frequently and don't run it low.

 

you aren't going to reach oil brand induced issues in this motor.

 

that's the beauty of this discussion, no one oil is going to get you to 300,000 miles when another brand could not...so everyone is right.

 

pick however/whatever you want. 200,000 and 300,000 miles are rather easy to get out of a subaru - oil choice is not the way to maximize the practicality of that.

 

Same thought on that it doesn't make any difference which brand of oil you use on a non-turbo engine. I don't think any oil company makes bad oil with bad additives. I have used Wal-Mart brand oil for many years now, with no issues. Biggest thing is to change oil on time, and don't let the oil level get low in the engine.