What brand of oil do you use?

[swc7916]

I used to be particular about the oil that went in my cars and only used Valvoline, but anymore I've gotten to where I use whatever is on sale or is the lowest price at Costco. This week it is Chevron. Since I change the oil every 3 months or 3,000 miles and always replace the filter with a genuine Subaru filter, I figure that any brand-name oil is as good as the next. In reading the Suburb Service website (an independent Subaru garage near Seattle) I found this statement: "We use factory-recommended Castrol in you car, plus we use only GENUINE SUBARU oil filters. The other guys typically use high paraffin base, less expensive motor oil..."

 

Does the factory recommend Castrol motor oil? Is there a quantifiable difference between motor oils? What oil do you use?

[TheBrian]

SuperTech all the way. That's Wal-Mart's house brand. It's made by Sopus (Quaker State / Pennzoil), and it's API certified for use in non-historic cars (just like all motor oil sold anywhere but Dollar General).

 

I also run SuperTech oil filters, using the rationale "At least it's not a Fram."

 

There really isn't any indication on the packaging that $2/qt oil is better than $1/qt oil. I presume the difference is mostly marketing and markup.

 

My owners manual from 1996 says the factory specifies API service grade SG motor oil, and they recommend 5W30. So I guess, if you really wanted to, you could say SuperTech 5W30 is factory recommended oil.

[swc7916]

SuperTech all the way. That's Wal-Mart's house brand.

 

I've been in a Wal-Mart once.

[Andyjo]

Fram Oil Filter (they have that nice grip on them)

and a case of NAPA 10w-30 does the trick for my subaru.

And i tend to only change it every 5000 miles :-\

[unverviking]

I use NAPA brand oil and their GOLD filters. The Oil is made by Valvoline, the filters are made by WIX. The new packaging totes the WIX name on them now.

 

I change at the start of every quarter (Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct) not paying attention to the mileage.

[Brumby Boy]

I do all the work on my brumby at work, we are "sponsered" by castrol, meaning as long as we use castrol products we get free drum pumps and storage tanks etc. so as you have probably guesed i use castrol GTX Protec in the engine, castrol multitrax in the gearbox and diffs. And as i work at a subaru dealership i always use genuine oll filters, brake fluid and coolant, the later of which are made by castrol belive it or not.

 

 

PS i have never had a problem with my or any other engines using these products. hope that helps.

 

PPS i also servise only by the book but once i get a diesle or turbo it will be twice as often as the book sais

[86subaru]

castrol gxt 20w50 , in turbo wagon, amsoil 10w40 in dl wagon change it at 12,000mi change filter at 6,000 mi , car really likes amsoil , bosch ,wix, mobile 1 , got mobil `1' for 2.50 ea, got wix for 2.00 ea , may change to royale purple in turbo wagon , castrol gtx 1.50 qt

[NV Zeno]

I've got almost 300,000 miles on my car, and over that time I've used everything from that $2.99 gallon jug stuff (I think it used to be called "Turbo XT") at Target, to all the major brands except Pennzoil. No synthetics, either.

 

I just change it every 5000 miles or so, and use a genuine Subaru oil filter. I've never had any engine problems.

 

Just my 2 bucks

[floater]

I use Chevron 5-30 and Purolator filters. I will buy whatever brand oil is on sale but its usually the Chevron. Below is an article on oil filters and why I don't use Fram filters.

 

 

http://www.scuderiaciriani.com/rx7/oil_filter_study/

[Spazz698]

I use NAPA brand, 1.09 (with tax!) a quart. Hell I cant bring myself to put expensive oil in my car when I know perfectly well it'll leak out before I get the chance to do an oil change on it.

But the oil filter needs replacement (its about 10k overdue, not my fault I'm a busy person and my car is busier than I am, when I do get the time it's being borrowed by someone willing to fill the tank)

[edrach]

In reading the Suburb Service website (an independent Subaru garage near Seattle)

I've been using Castrol 10W-30 for close to 35 years (first VW products, then BMW, and now Subaru) and OEM filters at 2500 mile change interval. My cars usually last 250K miles or more. Nice to see that Suburb Service agrees with me; not that I'd go there for service.

[Setright]

Yes, for sure spend the extra cash on the Genuine filters. Some of the other filters named here aren't bad, but the Subaru is a sure-fire, no risk, best option.

 

I like Mobil 1, and have had good results with it for a long time, in many cars.

 

Castrol products are good too. I use their brake fluid and trans oil for the rear diff.

 

Shell in the manual gearbox, and Shell in the coolant. Mobil in the steering pump.

[Tiny Clark]

If it meets the current API standards and you change it regularly, then whatever you choose should be OK. I use Castrol myself.

 

Or, you could go check out bobistheoilgod.com, or whatever it is, and see what he recommends.

[nkx]

castrol gtx in the buggy, mobil 1 in the wrx, both use purolator pureone oil filters

[jamal]

I use Chevron 5-30 and Purolator filters. I will buy whatever brand oil is on sale but its usually the Chevron. Below is an article on oil filters and why I don't use Fram filters.

 

 

http://www.scuderiaciriani.com/rx7/oil_filter_study/

 

Heh, that's what I was going to post.

 

I've always used pennzoil 10-30, and 10-40 sometimes when I'll be driving through the desert during the summer. I was at pepboys yesterday and they were out, so I decided to try some Mobil 1 semi-synthetic. I guess I'll see how that goes. I use Proline ProOne filters.

[Scoobaroo]

Walmart Supertech 5w30 and a Supertech filter every 5k miles. No problems. You can't beat a $6 oil and filter change.

 

 

SL/SM oil is SL/SM oil. They're all the same within about 1%.

Paying more simply fattens the wallets of CEO's and pays for magazine and TV ads.

[thingol]

In both the wagons (both EJ22), I now run Mobil 1, of varying weights based on the time of year. I have always used Purolator Pure One filters (with the anti-drainback valve, that retains oil in the filter.....not so important for the subarus, with the filter on the bottom, but very important for the RX-7, w/ the filter on the top).

 

Previously, I used Castrol GTX 10w-30, or 20w-50 exclusively (and liked it), but the Mobil 1 really made the engine in my 96 quiet down, so I am going to stick with it. I still run pure Castrol GTX dino oil in the RX-7, but that is a different story.

[forester2002s]

I use the cheapest API-tested oil that I can find (usually at WalMart). I change the oil and filter every 3000km (2000 miles).

 

And I use Fram filters. I know that they have a bad rap. But I've cut several open after changing them, and they all look fine to me. Is there any evidence that Fram filters cause engine failures?

 

In over 40-years of maintaining my own cars, I've never had an oil-related engine problem.

[86subaru]

see 2 bucks ea for mobile 1''s ,1.48 qt castrol gtx 20w50 = 5.92 + 2 = 7.92 a oil change , every 3,000mi , there is a difference in oil and filters , if i can not afford 1.92 difference , then it's time to start walking or back to horse and buggy

[Johngenx]

I've been using Mobil 1 synthetic for many years in my various MB cars with great success. I change the oil and filter every 7500km (about 4500mi) and have sold all my cars with over 400,000kms (250k-miles) on them without the need for an engine to be opened. I sold two of my cars to friends, and both cars went well over 500K before requiring any top end work, and bottom-ends are still tight.

 

When we began to buy Subaru products, I naturally began using the same products/schedule.

 

One reason I use synthetic is that we have cold winters and I want the low pour point of the sythetic oil. It's not uncommon for overnight temps to drop below -30C.

 

As to filters, I always go OE. Not sure about Subaru, but MB OE filters are very high quality. Many MB owners cheap out and buy a Fram filter only to watch their oil pressure drop from 3.0bar to less than 2.0bar. Fram filters are junk and I would never install one.

[Flowmastered87GL]

I use Castrol 10W30 in EJ cars and 20W50 in EA cars

 

I try to stick to genuine subaru filters, I try to avoid Fram at all cost as I belive they are little more than cardboard inside.

 

I also heard its bad to keep changing your oil brand as the engine can become accustomed to a certain type of oil. So going castrol, cheap stuff, chevron.... may protect a bit less

[MDW25gt]

SuperTech all the way. That's Wal-Mart's house brand. It's made by Sopus (Quaker State / Pennzoil), and it's API certified for use in non-historic cars (just like all motor oil sold anywhere but Dollar General).

 

I also run SuperTech oil filters, using the rationale "At least it's not a Fram."

 

There really isn't any indication on the packaging that $2/qt oil is better than $1/qt oil. I presume the difference is mostly marketing and markup.

 

My owners manual from 1996 says the factory specifies API service grade SG motor oil, and they recommend 5W30. So I guess, if you really wanted to, you could say SuperTech 5W30 is factory recommended oil.

 

 

 

Whats wrong with Fram??

[subiefan]

I use Castrol GTX 20W50 in the summer and Castrol GTX 10W30 in the winter. I used to use Valvoline, but I switched to Castrol and my engine noise decreased considerably. Castrol GTX all the way! I use a Fram filter, but after reading that article I may be changing that. Anyone know of a high quality filter?

________________

1993 Impreza FWD - 180k miles and still going

as strong as ever!

[TheBrian]

see 2 bucks ea for mobile 1''s ,1.48 qt castrol gtx 20w50 = 5.92 + 2 = 7.92 a oil change , every 3,000mi , there is a difference in oil and filters , if i can not afford 1.92 difference , then it's time to start walking or back to horse and buggy

Well, I did the math, and here's what I came up with.

 

Five quarts of oil, one filter.

 

SuperTech oil change: $.79*5 + $2 = $6 oil change.

Valvoline/Fram: $2*5 + $3 = $13

Mobil1/Bosch: $4.5*5 + $5 = $27.50

 

Run the car for 201,000 miles, changing the oil every 3000 miles, you change the oil 67 times. Which would cost you $402, $871, or $1842.50, depending on your choice of oil. So you could be lining the pockets of predatory corporations with quite a bit of money. And I think the amount of money you could save is significant.

[nkx]

Anyone know of a high quality filter?!

 

Purolator makes the OE Subaru oil filters.