What are people using for oil?

[coyote]

Originally Posted by rice_classic

I picked up a case of 12 qts of 0w-20 amsoil for $45.

I thought that was a good deal.

I'd be paying more than that .... just for the postage.

[7thgear]

Originally Posted by rice_classic

I picked up a case of 12 qts of 0w-20 amsoil for $45.

I thought that was a good deal.

that is an amazing deal

[rice_classic]

Well, I did pay another $18 in "entry fee" to get into the GoodGuys Car show at the fair grounds (wrote it off as work expense) but yeah, I bumped into an Amsoil distributor who had a sign that said "OE 0w-20" $3.99/qt.

My line of questioning was:
1: Why is it only $3.99/qt? (That's his "show" pricing for events)
2: How many quarts do you have? (He had a case which he sold to me for $44.95)

edit: I would have bought 3 cases if he had that much.

[F1point4]

I'd like to use Amsoil Signature as well, but its bloody hard to find any locally. Where does everybody buy theirs?

Might default to Pennzoil Platinum or get Redline.

[UncleFester]

Originally Posted by F1point4

I'd like to use Amsoil Signature as well, but its bloody hard to find any locally. Where does everybody buy theirs?

Might default to Pennzoil Platinum or get Redline.

Online. You won't find legitimate Amsoil signature for less than $10 a quart.

[Black Tire]

Originally Posted by F1point4

I'd like to use Amsoil Signature as well, but its bloody hard to find any locally. Where does everybody buy theirs?

Might default to Pennzoil Platinum or get Redline.

I buy Amsoil 0W-20 Signature straight from Amsoil, and make sure that I plan ahead to have some on hand. I have never seen any local store to carry any in stock. You may contact Amsoil to see if there is an independent dealer in your area, but you will likely still have to order it then from them and wait for the shipment.

Originally Posted by UncleFester

Online. You won't find legitimate Amsoil signature for less than $10 a quart.

I am an Amsoil Preferred Customer and I just bought a case of 12 quarts of Amsoil 0W-20 Signature for $7.74 per quart direct from them, the total was $8.35 per quart with shipping. You can find out about the Amsoil Preferred Customer program on their website. If you order several cases a year or a combination of other products, it saves you money.

Originally Posted by empower-auto

This has only been scraped at over a few threads - I think we need a good resource.

What's out there for good 0W20 oil and how will the car react to different weight oils such as Castrol 0W30 or other oils in 5W20/5W30?

I may switch to Amsoil 0W-30 Signature for summer track days on a long track. 5W-anything should not be used as the thicker base weight will cause more wear at startup, where much of the wear occurs in a modern engine. The 5W oil is just too thick when cold, especially since our engines were designed to use 0W oils to avoid this problem. The 0W indicates that the oil is thinner at startup where this is needed. The second number is the weight of the oil when warm, so 30 weight makes sense for hard driven track cars in hot weather. The owners manual suggests that a thicker weight may be desirable for this use, but I am sure they are referring to the second weight number.

[empower-auto]

I can get a great deal on Amsoil 0w20 OE series. Is this stuff any good?

[Phaedrus29]

Originally Posted by Opie

Idemitsu....

I saw this at the dealership for $7.64 per quart. Is it good oil?

[RavenFR-S]

Amsoil SS 0w20

[rice_classic]

Originally Posted by empower-auto

I can get a great deal on Amsoil 0w20 OE series. Is this stuff any good?

Yes. Just picked up a case of 12 for myself.

[Black Tire]

Originally Posted by empower-auto

I can get a great deal on Amsoil 0w20 OE series. Is this stuff any good?

The OE series is Amsoil's lowest performance oil. That being said, its still Amsoil and is still 100% synthetic. Amsoil now has recommendations for fluids for the FR-S on their website:

Amsoil Recommendations for FR-S

[Opie]

Originally Posted by Phaedrus29

I saw this at the dealership for $7.64 per quart. Is it good oil?

It's the Subaru specified oil for the new FB engines, made for Subaru by Idemitsu: http://drive.subaru.com/spr11_whatmakes.aspx

[F1point4]

For those using Amsoil Signature, are you planning to follow Amsoil Change Interval Recommendation of a 15k/25k miles? (severe/normal driving)

I ended up getting me a case of this, and I still plan to change every 5k-7.5k

[rice_classic]

Originally Posted by F1point4

I ended up getting me a case of this, and I still plan to change every 5k-7.5k

That's probably the right idea. So the manual says this car should use Synthetic and then it says oil change interval is 7500 miles but in sever duty conditions to change at 3750 miles (even on syn!).

I'm only speculating here but in another thread where we discussed oil viscosity properties and Direct Injection it was noted that DI engines tend to pollute their oil with fuel more readily. Amsoil's "extended drain" interval is based on the performance on the oil and doesn't necessarily take into account how all engines (especially DI engines) treat/damage/pollute the oil.

This also goes back to why I bought the Amsoil OE and not the signature, because I plan on changing my oil every 3700 miles. (BTW: your trip indicator on your dash goes 4 digits long so you can use "TRIP B" to keep track of your oil change mileage!).


Anyone else find it funny how Amsoil has no recommendations for our tranmissions. It's important to note that.

[Black Tire]

Originally Posted by F1point4

For those using Amsoil Signature, are you planning to follow Amsoil Change Interval Recommendation of a 15k/25k miles? (severe/normal driving)

I ended up getting me a case of this, and I still plan to change every 5k-7.5k

I plan to change about every 4k miles with Amsoil Signature, plus additional changes after heavy track weekends.

Originally Posted by rice_classic

Anyone else find it funny how Amsoil has no recommendations for our tranmissions. It's important to note that.

I think this is a more complex recommendation for Amsoil since the manual recommends GL-3 oil for the manual transmission and they do not make a specific GL-3 oil (possible warranty issues without a GL-3 label). It may be that it is not worth their time at this point (not enough of these cars around yet) to do more in depth research to see if one of their oils would work and be able to be certified as GL-3 to satisfy any warranty requirements. Another possibility is that they looked at the requirements and specs of the Toyota oil and decided that is was good enough that it was not worth their time to bother with an alternative.

[empower-auto]

Bought Redline 0W20. Life is good.

[Tainen]

Originally Posted by rice_classic

I picked up a case of 12 qts of 0w-20 amsoil for $45.

I thought that was a good deal.

holy crap. where???? Let me in on that.

[OrbitalEllipses]

Originally Posted by rice_classic

This also goes back to why I bought the Amsoil OE and not the signature, because I plan on changing my oil every 3700 miles. (BTW: your trip indicator on your dash goes 4 digits long so you can use "TRIP B" to keep track of your oil change mileage!).

Trip A: How long ago I filled up.
Trip B: Oil change.

Always done it like that.

[rice_classic]

Originally Posted by Tainen

holy crap. where???? Let me in on that.

GoodGuys Car Show at the Puyallup Fair grounds. One of the vendors (and there's hundreds) was an amsoil guy. I saw a sign that said "OE 0w-20, $3.99/qt"

Me: Is that price for real?
Him: yup, that's the "show" price, I only sell it at that price when I'm at events like this and I only take cash.
Me: How many qts you got?
Him: I'll sell you a case (12) for $45.
Me: How many cases you got?
Him: Just 1
Me: Tough luck, I would have bought 10.

Note to future self, attend car show, look for Amsoil dude.

[rice_classic]

Originally Posted by Black Tire

I think this is a more complex recommendation for Amsoil since the manual recommends GL-3 oil for the manual transmission and they do not make a specific GL-3 oil (possible warranty issues without a GL-3 label). It may be that it is not worth their time at this point (not enough of these cars around yet) to do more in depth research to see if one of their oils would work and be able to be certified as GL-3 to satisfy any warranty requirements. Another possibility is that they looked at the requirements and specs of the Toyota oil and decided that is was good enough that it was not worth their time to bother with an alternative.

Don't know if I mentioned this here but I already changed my transmission oil. As someone who's been around Hondas for 15 years I can tell you that I'd bet $100 the transmission fluid this car comes with is identical to Honda MTF. It was the same color, odor, feel... you name it.

I'm kicking myself for not putting a collector and capturing some Blackstone Labs and comparing it to Honda MTF.

[jdmitr]

You all do realize that using thicker oils like 5w30 and 15w40 in this stock engine is a bad idea!?! Right?! You all realize that the engineers that designed the tolerances in the engine designed it for 0w20. The thicker oil you run in it will cause drag on the engine which will cause a loss of power....more heat and less mpg. Not only that but the thicker you go past recommendations the more chance you have of starving the engine of proper lubrication to bearings, cams and cylinders. This is even more crucial on boxer engines since the cylinders are horizontal. Oil is the "cushion" between these parts and it is harder to "push" thicker weight oil into small orifaces and in between moving parts which causes more wear and tear and premature failure.

If the engine has been rebuilt to a more loose tolerance for racing then it will require a thicker weight oil. Take for instance Cosworth subaru engines. They don't recommend 5w30 but 15w50/20w50 because they are designed to not just because it is the "thing" to do. Just try running 0w20 in an engine that is designed for 10w40 and run the piss out of it. Guaranteed it will make some not so sweet noises. It works the other way around...except you wont hear the noises so much until something wears out and you have catastrophic failure. Just be careful what you put in your engine.

[Entropy]

Originally Posted by jdmitr

You all do realize that using thicker oils like 5w30 and 15w40 in this stock engine is a bad idea!?! Right?! You all realize that the engineers that designed the tolerances in the engine designed it for 0w20. The thicker oil you run in it will cause drag on the engine which will cause a loss of power....more heat and less mpg. Not only that but the thicker you go past recommendations the more chance you have of starving the engine of proper lubrication to bearings, cams and cylinders. This is even more crucial on boxer engines since the cylinders are horizontal. Oil is the "cushion" between these parts and it is harder to "push" thicker weight oil into small orifaces and in between moving parts which causes more wear and tear and premature failure.

If the engine has been rebuilt to a more loose tolerance for racing then it will require a thicker weight oil. Take for instance Cosworth subaru engines. They don't recommend 5w30 but 15w50/20w50 because they are designed to not just because it is the "thing" to do. Just try running 0w20 in an engine that is designed for 10w40 and run the piss out of it. Guaranteed it will make some not so sweet noises. It works the other way around...except you wont hear the noises so much until something wears out and you have catastrophic failure. Just be careful what you put in your engine.

I gotta call BS on this post. Sure putting 20W-50 in an engine designed for lighter weight oil is probably not the best, but using 5W-30 is not going to hurt a thing. At the temps that these engines run at, 5W-30 is so thin, you're not going to "starve the parts of oil," that is just ridiculous.

Regardless of how advanced an oil is, 0W-20 does NOT provide the same protection that a slightly thicker oil does, especially in more extreme conditions (which is why the manual recommends thicker oil for us folk that like to go fast).

Ya in colder weather you might lose a HP or two with 5W-30, but I'll take the added protection that it provides when I mash the right pedal for extended periods of time. OEM recommends 0W-20, not because it protects the engine better (it doesn't), but because it helps them achieve their MPG goals... and those set forth by regulations.

Thanks, try again.